Monday 10th February 2024 _ 17:30 Al Akhawayn University, Auditorium 4 – Al Akhawayn University Ifrane
The Italian Cultural Institute of Rabat, the Italian Embassy in the Kingdom of Morocco, the CIDM, Italian National Music Committee in collaboration with the Al Akhawayn University have the pleasure to invite you to the Conference « he writes things and you write words: Poetics and Reception of Michelangelo’s Poems » by Gandolfo CASCIO, Professor of Italian Literature at the University of Utrecht as part of the second Edition of « Young Italian Musical Talents in the World 2025 » Festival.
“He writes things and you write words”: Poetics and Reception of Michelangelo’s Poems
Michelangelo wrote his poems (Rime) in order to tackle head-on the themes on which, as an artist, he could not express himself as he wished, and to do so he chose a harsh language, far removed from the clarity of the 16th century. Generally speaking, critics have been cautious, often grumpy, towards this ‘second profession’ of his; while of a completely different quality has been the reception among the writers who sensed his calibre.
During this master class, the fundamental elements of Michelangelo’s poetics will be illustrated, and an attempt will be made to point out the names and modes of some relationships between these poems and those of other various authors: from Aretino to Wordsworth, from Stendhal to Montale and Morante.
In the end, the aim will be to define and establish Michelangelo’splace within the Italian and European literary canon.
Biography
Gandolfo Cascio teaches Italian Literature at Utrecht University, where he also directs the Observatory on Dante Studies project. His research focuses on the aesthetics and philology of reception, particularly the relationships between writers and the creative dynamics of stylistic appropriation (overt or covert). The authors to whom he devotes the most attention are Dante and Michelangelo for the early modern tradition, and Sandro Penna and Elsa Morante for the contemporary tradition. He is the author of the monographs Michelangelo in Parnaso. La ricezione delle Rime tra gli scrittori.