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CURSES AND LAUGHTER: THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL INVECTIVE IN THE COMIC POETRY OF HIGH AND LATE MEDIEVAL ITALY by NICOLINO APPLAUSO A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Romance Languages and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2010 11 University of Oregon Graduate School Confirmation of Approval and Acceptance of Dissertation prepared by: Nicolino Applauso Title: "Curses and Laughter: The Ethics of Political Invective in the Comic Poetry of High and Late Medieval Italy" This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Romance Languages by: Regina Psaki, Chairperson, Romance Languages Massimo Lollini, Member, Romance Languages David Wacks, Member, Romance Languages Steven Shankman, Outside Member, English and Richard Linton, Vice President for Research and Graduate StudieslDean of the Graduate School for the University of Oregon. June 14,2010 Original approval signatures are on file with the Graduate School and the University of Oregon Libraries. III © 2010 Nicolino Applauso iv An Abstract of the Dissertation of Nicolino Applauso for the degree of in the Department of Romance Languages Doctor of Philosophy June 2010 to be taken Title: CURSES AND LAUGHTER: THE ETHICS OF POLITICAL INVECTIVE IN THE COMIC POETRY OF HIGH AND LATE MEDIEVAL ITALY Approved: _ Dr. F. Regina Psaki My dissertation examines the ethical engagement of political invective poetry in thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Italy. Modem criticism tends to treat medieval invective as a playfully subversive but marginal poetic game with minimal ethical weight. Instead, I aim to restore these poetic productions to their original context: the history, law, and custom of Tuscan cities. This contexts allows me to explore how humor and fury, in the denunciation of political enemies, interact to establish not a game but an ethics of invective. I treat ethics as both theoretical and practical, referring to Aristotle, Cicero, and Brunetto Latini, and define ethics as the pursuit ofthe common good in a defined community. Chapter I introduces the corpus, its historical and cultural background, its critical reception, and my approach. Chapter II discusses medieval invective in Tuscany and surveys the cultural practice of invective writing. Chapter III approaches invectives v written by Rustico Filippi during the Guelph and Ghibelline wars. Chapter IV explores invectives by Cecco Angiolieri set in Siena, which polemicize with the Sienese government and citizenry. Chapter V examines invectives in Dante's Commedia (Irif. 19, Purg. 6, and Par. 27), focusing on his unexpected humor and his critique of the papacy, the empire, and Italian city governments. My conclusion examines the ethical function of slanderous wit in wartime invective. These poems balance verbal aggression with humor, claiming a role for laughter in creating dialogue within conflict. Far from a stylistic or ludic exercise, each invective shows the poet's activism and ethical engagement. This dissertation includes previously published material. vi CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Nicolino Applauso GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene Florida State University, Florida University of South Florida Universita di Bologna, Italy DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy in Romance Languages, 2010, University of Oregon Master of Arts in Italian, 2004, Florida State University Bachelor of Arts in Italian, 2002, University of South Florida AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Medieval Italian literatur