Cette étude se propose d’enquêter sur les temporalités dans les Novelle (1554 et 1573) de Matteo Bandello et dans les Ecatommiti (1565) de Giovan Battista Giraldi Cinzio. Ces deux ouvrages se distinguent des autres recueils de nouvelles du XVIe siècle par leur proximité chronologique et, surtout, par leurs singularités et nouveautés structurelles : émiettement temporel et formel de l’histoire-cadre dans le recueil de Bandello ; et irruption, au milieu des successions narratives du novelliere de Giraldi, d’un long texte théorique, Dialoghi della vita civile, dont les trois parties correspondent aux trois âges de la vie (l’enfance, l’adolescence et l’état adulte). Nos auteurs, qui ont vécu les secousses des Guerres d’Italie, puis la stabilité retrouvée sur des bases nouvelles, rendent compte, par des choix très différents dans l’approche du modèle du Décaméron, d’une période de transformation sociale, politique, culturelle et scientifique qui questionne plusieurs aspects de la nature et de la maîtrise du Temps. Après une première partie consacrée à l’analyse du temps chronologique et des données concrètes et mesurables (indication de l'heure, représentation des âges de la vie humaine), l'étude examine la mise en fiction des temporalités dans les deux recueils, afin de saisir les possibles enjeux théoriques de la construction narrative de la durée. L'analyse se focalisera en particulier sur les rapports entre « temps du récit » et « temps de l'histoire », ainsi que sur les liens entre dimensions temporelle et spatiale.Enfin, l'étude abordera la question de la mise en écriture du présent historique des auteurs, à partir des conceptions linguistiques et historiographiques de chacun. De ce point de vue, les perspectives différentes (mais parfois convergentes) de Bandello et de Giraldi infléchissent la mise en écriture de l’Histoire dans leurs recueils respectifs, en déterminant une élaboration complexe du rapport entre passés proche et lointain, présent et futur. / This study aims to investigate temporalities in Matteo Bandello’s Novelle (1554 and 1573) and Giovan Battista Giraldi Cinzio’s Ecatommiti (1565). These two literary works are distinct from other sixteenth-century collections of novellas in their chronological proximity and, above all, their structural innovations and peculiarities: temporal and formal fragmentation of the frame story in Bandello’s collection; and the irruption, amid the narrative sequences of Giraldi’s novelliere, of a long theoretical text, Dialoghi della vita civile, made up of three parts that correspond to the three stages of life (childhood, adolescence and adulthood). The authors, who experienced the upheavals of the Italian Wars, then stability restored on a new foundation, approach the model of the Decameron in very different ways, while each giving an account of a time of social, political, cultural and scientific change that questions many aspects of nature and man’s mastery over Time. After a first part, which concentrates on the treatment of chronological time and concrete, measurable data (indications of time, representations of the stages of human life), the study considers the fictional presentation of time lines in the two collections, in order to grasp the possible theoretical issues of the narrative construction of time scales. The analysis will especially focus on the relationships between “narrative time” and “discourse time”, as well as on the links between temporal and spatial dimensions. Finally, the study addresses the issue of putting the historical present of the authors in writing, relying on the linguistic and historiographical views held by each of them. From this point of view, the different (though sometimes convergent) perspectives of Bandello and Giraldi influenced the way in which History was put in writing in their respective collections, triggering an intricate relationship between near and distant past, present and future.

This thesis explores the relationship between the many literary texts referring to the deaths of Ugo d'Este and Parisina Malatesta, who were executed in Ferrara in 1425 in accordance with an order by Niccolò III d'Este after he discovered their incestuous relationship. The texts are divided in three categories: (1) the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian novellas and their translations; (2) the seventeenth-century Spanish tragedy; and (3) the nineteenth- and twentieth-century Romantic works. Although these categories divide the various texts chronologically, they also represent a thematic grouping as the texts within each category share common themes that set them apart from those in the other groups. While the various texts all tell the same story, each approaches the tragedy slightly differently based largely on the audience for which it was intended. Thus, the time and place of each text greatly affects its telling. Still, the fact that substantial differences exist between texts that were produced in both geographic and temporal proximity suggests that these are not all-determining factors. Although scholarship exists analyzing individual texts, a comprehensive study of the literary accounts relating to the tragedy has never been undertaken. Rather than detracting from the story, the differences put forth in each of the literary texts enrich the global reading experience by offering many perspectives on the tragedy. In addition, these differences influence how the reader reacts to each of the other texts. Familiarity with one version of the story changes the way a reader approaches the others. A parallel reading of the different versions of the story also shows the power culture has on interpretation. Texts referring to a singular event from one time and place sharply contrast with those that are the product of other circumstances.