Printed Voices: The Renaissance Culture of Dialogue

Prevalent but long-neglected genres such as dialogue have recently been attracting attention in Renaissance studies. In view of the pervasive and varied nature of this genre’s use in the European Renaissance, it has become crucial to widen the perspective so as to take into account more diverse approaches to this hybrid form. For this reason, Dorothea Heitsch and Jean-Francois Vallee have assembled a broad collection of essays by international scholars that presents comparative, interdisciplinary, and theoretical inquiry into this neglected area.

The contributors - who bring with them different linguistic, cultural, and disciplinary backgrounds - examine dialogue from a variety of perspectives, taking into account various factors linked to the upsurge of the genre in the Renaissance. These factors include the emergence of a complex and multifarious subjectivity, the advent of modern utopias, the social and political importance of courtliness, the rise of print culture, religious and scientific controversy, the prevalence of pedagogy and rhetorical culture, the ethos of humanism, the gendering of dialogue, and Renaissance ‘logocentrism.’ Discussed are some of the most important works in Italian, French, German, Neo-Latin, and English, as well as some lesser known texts, making Printed Voices a truly essential volume for the Renaissance scholar.