Ethics and Literature: The Knight's Mission

CYCLE: Ancient Modern: A Journey Through European Literatures 
SPEAKER: Stefano Jossa
DATE: Tuesday, June 24, 6:00 PM 
LOCATION: Palazzo Altemps, Via di Sant'Apollinare 8

What do the Jedi of Star Wars, the elves of Lord of the Rings, and the wizards of Harry Potter have to do with the various Orlandos, Rinaldos, Bradamantes, and Marfisas of the narrative tradition stemming from the Chanson de Roland, culminating in Orlando Furioso, and entering crisis with Don Quixote? Strictly speaking, not much; but they are united by chivalry, which made them wandering characters, fighting heroes, enamored champions, and world explorers. This long duration of knights, which compels the modern to reread itself within the ancient and the ancient to project itself towards its outcomes, prescribes a cross-eyed gaze, between ethics and literature, because, before being a literary fantasy, chivalry is a code of conduct. Let's discover how it works and if we still want to call ourselves knights.

Stefano Jossa is the creator and editor of the Oxford Handbook of Italian Literature (Oxford University Press, 2024 – in progress). He has published with Einaudi La più bella del mondo. Perché amare la lingua italiana (2018); with Laterza Un paese senza eroi. L’Italia da Jacopo Ortis a Montalbano (2012); and with Il Mulino L’Italia letteraria (2006). He collaborates with Il manifesto and Il sole 24 ore.