A Meeting at the University of Bologna on the Phenomenon of Poetic Improvisation in Eighteenth Century Italy

The volumes “L'improvvisazione poetica nell’Italia del Settecento. La storia e le forme” and “L'improvvisazione poetica nell’Italia del Settecento. Un catalogo” will be presented on Friday, 15 March at 5 p.m., at the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies (Aula I - Via Zamboni 32, Bologna). At the event, Lorenzo Bianconi, Emeritus Professor at the University of Bologna, Carlo Caruso, professor of Philology of Italian Literature at the University of Siena and Paola Italia, professor of Philology of Italian Literature at the University of Bologna, will discuss with the author, Marco Capriotti.

The phenomenon of poetic improvisation was a distinctive feature of eighteenth-century Italy. Travellers of the Grand Tour flocked from all over Europe to witness performances of improvised poetry in Italy, which were held in every academy, court, or salon. It was a social phenomenon, as it spread among both lower classes and aristocracy, and was widely practised across Italy, even by women.

The two volumes of “L’improvvisazione poetica nell’Italia del Settecento” meticulously reconstruct, for the first time, the history, social dynamics, spaces, and practices that defined an art form blending literature, music, and theatre – an art form once considered worthy of the highest honours. However, with the advent of modernity, it experienced a rapid and irreversible decline.