La Vita Nuova (Poems of Youth)
Cervigni and Vasta have reedited and translated Dante's autobiography under the influence of Paul Ricoeur's theories of temporality and narrative. They delete the chapter and paragraph divisions of Michele Barbi's standard Italian edition in order to shift the focus from the visual assumptions of our contemporary print culture to the oral assumptions of the medieval manuscript culture. The new edition of the Italian is faced with a serviceable translation. In addition to a lucid and informative introduction and appendixes on editorial matters, this version includes a concordance. While this is an important contribution for Dante specialists, the modern translations of Mark Musa (1973) and Barbara Reynolds (1969) remain the versions of choice for students and general readers.?T.L. Cooksey, Armstrong State Coll., Savannah, Ga.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.