Boccaccio and the Rise of the Novella in Germany

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

With his collection of tales the

Decameron

(manuscript 1349-53) Giovanni Boccaccio became one of the most famous authors in world literature, influential up to the twentieth century in Europe. The black death of 1348 provides the stark backdrop and frame for the inlaid 100 stories, including anecdotes, folk and fairy tales, and novellas based on extremely varied sources found in Roman antiquity, in the Orient, in French

fabliaux

(burlesque verse tales), and in the contemporary Italian scene. In the hills outside of Florence, seven patrician ladies and three men tell ten stories each from a perspective that displays the highest virtues of the rising merchant middle class – ingenuity, perspicacity, and living by one's wits – in dealing with life's challenges and the pitfalls of amorous…

2374 words

Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Boccaccio and the Rise of the Novella in Germany". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 June 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=13860, accessed 19 March 2024.]

13860 Boccaccio and the Rise of the Novella in Germany 2 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.