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Affecting change : aspects of rhetoric, poetics and logic in the minor poems of Guido Cavalcanti

This thesis studies the use of rhetoric, poetics and logic in thirteenth-century Italian poetry, specifically that of Guido Cavalcanti. The poetic production of Cavalcanti is examined as an example of the synthesis of science and poetry, and secondly as an example of the use of persuasive techniques. / In particular, I examine his so-called minor poems as examples of the theory of love expressed in "Donna me prega". My work hinges on two aspects: the fact that the central metaphor in the poetry of Cavalcanti represents the phenomenology of love as a passion of the body using medical terminology from Avicenna, and that the radical Aristotelianism (marginalised by the ecclesiastical condemnations) defines Cavalcanti's philosophical and scientific discourse. Cavalcanti combats the opposition of his readership to his radical Aristotelianism with persuasive techniques, rhetorical and poetic, and with logic found in Aristotle, his commentators Gundisalvus, al-Farabi, Avicenna, Averroes, and Roger Bacon.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.99598
Date January 2006
CreatorsSaunderson, Andrea.
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Department of Italian.)
Rights© Andrea Saunderson, 2006
Relationalephsysno: 002595352, proquestno: AAIMR32556, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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