Sicilian school of poets

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The Sicilian School of Poets ( Scuola siciliana ) is a group of poets who were particularly active from 1220 to 1250 .

The approximately 30 authors who are attributed to her belonged to the circle of the court of Emperor Frederick II , where cultural and literary influences from southern France ( trobadord poetry ) and the Arab-Muslim world mixed with the Norman and Greek heritage. Even if they are called "Sicilian", Apulians, Calabrese and Tuscans can also be found among them. The term "Sicilian" goes back to Dante : "[...] because everything that the Italians write is called Sicilian [...]" What the authors have in common is that they belong to the court chancellery of the emperor, who wrote some poems himself, five of which have survived. In contrast to the contemporary (poor) professional minstrels, the rhetorically trained court lawyers wanted to demonstrate their own artistry.

Some lyrical forms, the Cupid conception and the theory of poetry were adopted and modified from Provencal poetry.

language

Before the 1220s, “Italian” writers wrote in Latin, Old French or Provencal. The language of the Scuola Siciliana, on the other hand, is a supra-regional, artificial mixed language with Sicilian and Tuscan elements, also influenced by neighboring linguistic areas. Most of the poems have lost their original wording.

to form

From the canzone , the Sicilian School of Poetry developed the subsequently extremely successful genre of the sonnet , the invention of which is commonly attributed to Giacomo da Lentini , the most important representative of the group.

subjects

The basic constellation between the lyrical ego and the honored woman is modeled on the relationship of the vassal to his liege lord or that of the official to his emperor, so that the lady is and remains unreachable. Love is triggered by the love god Amor, who unfolds his power through the gaze of a beautiful and high-standing woman and continues to work inside the lyrical self. Since sensual fulfillment can never be the goal, because with it the spiritually conceived love would die, the lyrical ego strives for inner refinement in order to prove itself worthy of the mistress. In the poetry it tries to express the uniqueness of its relationship, which in view of the fixed distribution of roles remains a ritual. Since the mysterious nature of this relationship can only be approximated, the poetry often remains hermetic and only accessible to the initiated (also to lovers).

Authors

The Sicilian school of poetry includes, in addition to the aforementioned, a. Pier delle Vigne , Stefano Protonotaro, Guido delle Colonne, Mazzeo di Ricco, Rinaldo d'Aquino, Giacomino Pugliese. In addition to Friedrich himself, three other kings are represented: in addition to his sons Enzio and Manfred , his father-in-law Johann von Brienne .

Impact history

The Sicilian School of Poetry had a major influence on the further development of Italian poetry in terms of form and content. The Dolce stil novo grew out of it .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/De_vulgari_eloquentia/I._Buch_–_Zwölftes_Kapitel
  2. ↑ Volker Kapp (ed.): Italian history of literature. Metzler, Stuttgart; Weimar 2007, p. 13.
  3. ^ Manfred Hardt: History of Italian Literature. From the beginning to the present. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1996, p. 27.