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| - THE PRESENT COLLECTION OF ESSAYS GATHERS UNDER A COMMON HEADING A MAJOR POET, A HISTORIAN WHOSE THOUGHT RADICALLY TRANSFORMED WESTERN POLITICAL THEORY, AND THREE MINOR STORYTELLERS. ITS TOPIC IS THE PRESENCE OF THE TUSCAN CITY IN THE VERY TEXTURE OF THE WORKS WRITTEN BY THOSE AUTHORS, IN THE YEARS BETWEEN THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE. ONLY TWO OF THE WRITERS CONSIDERED, I.E. DANTE AND MACHIAVELLI - WHO CHRONOGICALLY DELIMIT THE SCOPE OF THIS STUDY - REFLECTED EXPLICITLY AND IN A SYSTEMATIC FASHION ON THE ISSUES WHICH BESET THEIR CITY, FLORENCE, IN THEIR RESPECTIVE TIME PERIODS. THE POET AND THE HISTORIAN ARE IN FACT SEPARATED BY TWO ENTIRE CENTURIES. BY THE 1500'S, THE MERCHANT SOCIETY WHICH HAD COME INTO BEING, THROUGH AN ACTUAL REVOLUTION IN DANTE'S TIMES, WAS DISSOLVING UNDER THE DOUBLE IMPACT OF ITS INTERNAL CRISES AND THE PRESSURE OF FOREIGN ARMIES BORN OUT OF THE SAME FEUDAL MATRIX FROM WHICH THE CITIES HAD EMERGED. THE WORKS OF THE SHORT STORY WRITERS ALSO REFRACT THE ISSUES PERTAINING TO THE TIMES AND URBAN ENVIRONMENTS THAT PRODUCED THEM, ALBEIT IN A FRAGMENTARY MANNER, GIVEN THE STORYTELLERS' PRIMARY CONCERN WITH ENTERTAINING THEIR READERS. THE CITY NECESSARILY EXERTED ITS INFLUENCE THROUGH ITS HOLD ON THE MINDS AND EMOTIONS OF ITS CITIZENS. MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE EXAMPLES CHOSEN, THE COL- LECTIONS BY FRANCO SACCHETTI FROM FLORENCE, GIOVANNI SERCAMBI FROM LUCCA, AND GENTILE SERMINI FROM SIENA, CLEARLY SHOW THAT THE CITY'S INFLUENCE IS MANIFESTED HERE AT THE LEVEL OF ECRITURE IN AS STRIKING A FASHION AS IN THE WORKS WRITTEN BY GREATER AUTHORS.
- UN GRAND POETE, UN HISTORIEN DONT LA VISION DE LA CHOSE POLITIQUE BOULEVERSA LA MANIERE DE PENSER DE L'OCCIDENT CHRETIEN, DES CONTEURS PARFOIS OBSCURS SONT REUNIS DANS CETTE SERIE D'ETUDES SOUS UN DENOMINATEUR COMMUN : LA CITE TOSCANE DES SIECLES QUI SOUDENT LE MOYEN AGE A LA RENAISSANCE ET SA PRESENCE CAPILLAIRE DANS LEUR OEUVRE. DES AUTEURS ABORDES, DEUX SEULEMENT, DANTE ET MACHIAVEL, QUI CONSTITUENT LES BORNES CHRONOLOGIQUES DU SUJET, MENERENT UNE VERITABLE REFLEXION ET EURENT UNE ATTITUDE COHERENTE SUR LES PROBLEMES QUI SECOUERENT LEUR CITE, FLORENCE, AUX EPOQUES OU ILS VECURENT RESPECTIVEMENT. DEUX SIECLES SEPARENT EN EFFET LE POETE ET L'HISTORIEN, AU BOUT DESQUELS LA SOCIETE MARCHANDE QUI SE METTAIT EN PLACE PAR UNE VERITABLE REVOLUTION A L'EPOQUE DE DANTE SE DECOMPOSA LENTEMENT, SOUS LA DOUBLE POUSSEE DES CRISES INTERNES ET DE CES ARMEES ETRANGERES QUE SECRETAIT LA SOCIETE FEODALE AU SEIN DE LAQUELLE LES CITES S'ETAIENT EPANOUIES. BIEN QUE DE FACON FRAGMENTAIRE, MEME DANS L'OEUVRE DES CONTEURS, DONT LE BUT PRINCIPAL EST DE DIVERTIR, SE REPERCUTENT LES PROBLEMES DE L'EPOQUE ET DE LA CITE OU ELLES PRIRENT NAISSANCE. LES EXEMPLES CHOISIS (LES RECUEILS DU FLORENTIN SACCHETTI, DU LUCQUOIS SERCAMBI ET DU SIENNOIS SERMINI) MONTRENT EN OUTRE QUE L'INFLUENCE DE LA CITE, EN RAISON DES STRUCTURES MENTALES QU'ELLE NE POUVAIT PAS MANQUER D'ENGENDRER PAR SON ENRACINEMENT DANS LES ESPRITS ET DANS LES COEURS, SE MANIFESTE SUR LE PLAN PLUS SECRET DE L'ECRITURE DE FACON TOUT AUSSI ECLATANTE CHEZ LES ECRIVAINS DITS \"MINEURS\" QUE DANS L'OEUVRE DES PLUS GRANDS.
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