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Cox, Virginia. Lyric Poetry by Women of the Italian Renaissance, Forum for Modern Language Studies, Volume 53, Issue 3, July 2017, Page 374, https://doi.org/10.1093/fmls/cqx023
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As a timely follow-up to her monograph, Women’s Writing in Italy, 1400–1650, in the present volume Virginia Cox offers a comprehensive collection of poetry written by women in the Italian Renaissance. Many of the texts contained in this volume have never before appeared in English translation, or even in a modern edition in the original Italian. Cox offers both, with the addition of a generous critical and stylistic commentary. The relative obscurity of some of these authors, even to specialists, makes the book an essential addition for anyone interested in the literary production of the Italian Renaissance. In particular, the post-Tridentine writings included in the anthology shed new light on the actual importance and value of women writers to the intellectual production of an historic period traditionally perceived as misogynist. Through these texts and their reception, women are re-positioned on the literary scene of Counter-Reformation Italy.
The book is a marvellous tool of discovery, and functions as such on a number of different levels. The reader may choose to read either the original or the translation, to compare them, or to prioritize the historical and literary context given by the critical commentary that follows each text. The extensive indexes allow the reader to explore all the texts by an individual author, as well as simply to read the book as it is presented, following a thematic order. An index of references and citations adopted in the featured texts is available in the appendix, offering the opportunity for further investigation. A glossary of useful terms and short biographies of all authors present in the anthology are also given. The translations, of the highest standard, make these texts approachable by all English-speaking readers, in a form that is as respectful of the original as it possibly could be. The volume is also very affordable, which makes it a very appropriate choice as a course book. These features contribute to making this volume an excellent and self-contained addition to learning and teaching in higher education.
