Linguistic Theory and Poetic Practice in the Work of Giacomo Leopardi

FAIN: FA-12178-78

Margaret R. Brose
Regents of the University of California, Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz, CA 95064-1077)

To finish research and complete the writing of a book on the poetry, poetics, and linguistic theories of Giacomo Leopardi. The techniques of contemporary rhetorical and linguistic theories will be employed to characterize Leopardi's evolution as a poet and to examine the fundamental themes of his poetry in its various phases. The second section of the book analyzes his theories of language and poetics set forth in his notebooks (Lo Zibaldone), letters, and prose pieces, in order to place him within the context of European Romanticism. A conclusion will be drawn regarding his work as it anticipates aspects of modernist poetics.