Venetian literature

Venetian literature is the corpus of literature in Venetian, the vernacular language of the region which roughly corresponding to Venice from the twelfth century. The Venetian literature, after an initial period of splendour in the sixteenth century with the success of artists such as Ruzante, reaches its maximum zenith in the eighteenth century, thanks to its maximum exponent, dramatist Carlo Goldoni. Subsequently, the literary production in Venetian undergoes a period of decline following the collapse of the Republic of Venice, succeeding anyway during the twentieth century to reach peaks with wonderful lyrical poets such as Biagio Marin of Grado.

Origin

The first evidence of the birth of vernacular Venetian (and Italian) is Riddle Verona, dating between the end of eight and early ninth century, written in a language halfway between Latin and the vernacular.

The first fragment entirely in Venetian, dating back to 1100, is the "Ritmo bellunese" which deals with the events at Belluno in the years 1183 to 1196.

Also dating to the twelfth century are the verses of love song "Quando eu stava in le tu' cathene".

Thirteenth century

In the thirteenth century we are witnessing in Veneto an explosion of compositions designed to meet the literary tastes of the emerging urban classes. Especially remarkable is the production of the "School Veronese", with Giacomino da Verona, author of the poem in two parts, "De Gerusalem Celesti" ("On the Heavenly Jerusalem") and "De Babilonia Civitate Infernali" ("On Babylon, the Infernal City"). Published anonymously from this era are "Lamento della Sposa Padovana" or "Bona çilosia"

Fourteenth century

Throughout the fourteenth century, the centre of literary production Venetian continues to be Padua. At the end of the century, Count Carraresi commissioned "Bibbia Istoriata Padovana" and "Liber agregà of Serapion" also called "Erbario Carrarese" (held at British Library, London), being a translation from the Latin "Carrara Herbarium", a treaty of medicine originally in Arabic. An important writer from this period is Francesco di Vannozzo (~1330-1389). [cite book | title = Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe | author = Glanville Price | pages = p.264 | isbn = 0631220399 | year = 1998 ]

"Cronaca de la guera tra Veniciani e Zenovesi" by Daniele da Chinazzo is a chronicle of the War of Chioggia between 1379 and 1381.

Original works fourteenth century are those that go together under the name of Franco-Venetian literature characterized by a unique mix of vulgar Veneto with French medieval. Among the best known works are the anonymously authored l"Entrée d'Espagne" and its continuation, "La prise de Pampelune" by Niccolò da Verona.

Later

Notable is a manuscript titled "Dialogue ... on the New star" attributed to Galileo (1564–1642).

The language enjoyed substantial prestige in the days of the Venetian Republic, when it attained the status of a lingua franca in the Mediterranean. Notable Venetian-language authors are the playwrights Ruzante (1502–1542) and Carlo Goldoni (1707–1793). Both Ruzante and Goldoni, following the old Italian theater tradition ("Commedia dell'Arte"), used Venetian in their comedies as the speech of the common folk. They are ranked among the foremost Italian theatrical authors of all time, and Goldoni's plays are still performed today. Other notable works in Venetian are the translations of the Iliad by Casanova (1725–1798) and Francesco Boaretti, and the poems of Biagio Marin (1891–1985).

References

*Elettra Bedon. "Il filo di Arianna. Letteratura contemporanea in lingua veneta". Longo Editore, 1999. ISBN 9788880631958
*Bruno Rosada. [http://www.golfovenezia.it/docs/articles/lett_veneta.pdf "I secoli della letteratura veneta"] . Complementi dell'Offerta Formativa, a cura della Regione Veneto e della Provincia di Venezia. Arti Grafiche Venete, Venezia, 2002.