The Symmetrical Patterning in Franciscan Writings of the Late Middle Ages

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Pages:272
ISBN:0-7734-2535-7
978-0-7734-2535-4
Price:$199.95 + shipping
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A study of palindromic structures (words or phrases that can be read the same way forwards and backwards) in the works of Bonaventure, Dante, Boccaccio, and the Franciscan writers of the late Middle Ages. Provides the conceptual basis for the use of the palindrome while demonstrating that palindrome was not just an ornamental style of writing, but also a reflection of humanity’s perception of the world. Significant attention has been paid to Franciscan theology as it relates to human endeavors and God’s creation.

Reviews

“The hidden palindromic structures that Sr. Lucia reveals within the Franciscan texts are analogous to those traces of the divine that may be perceived in the world.” – Prof. Benjamin G. Lockerd Grand Valley State University

“In short, this monograph, a full-length study of the palindrome in any language, strikes me as essential work, a significant achievement by any standard, and I am glad to endorse it without the slightest reservation.” – Prof. Giuseppe Mazzotta Yale University

“… a complete study of palindromic structures, brings an inner structure that allows the reader to understand not only the rhetorical complexity of Medieval writing.” – Prof. Santa Casciani John Carroll University

Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter I: Francis and Early Franciscan Writings

Francis

The Vita prima

The Vita sancti Francisci versificata

“The Canticle of Creatures”

Chapter II: Bonaventure and Hugh of St. Victor

Bonaventure

Itinerarium mentis in Deum

De arca Noe morali et mystica

Chapter III: Aquinas, Albertus and de Lira

Summa theologiae

Adoro devote

Super Dionysium de ecclesiastica hierarchia

After Bonaventure and Aquinas

Nicolas de Lira

Chapter IV: Dante, Klement and the Greeks

Epistola

Comedia

Anagogy

Protreptikos pros Ellenas

Antilogic

Protreptikos pros Ellenas and Stromata

Plato’s Parmenides and Aristotle’s Physica

Protreptikos pros Ellenas

Chapter V: Dante’s Antilogic

The End and the Beginning

The Palindrome of Persons

The Mate to the Palindrome of Persons

Wings and Quarterfolds

Paradiso XI-XII

Chapter VI: Boccaccio’s Decameron

Genealogiae deorum gentilium

The Decameron

Gianni and Restituta

The Structure of the Tale

Frate Cipolla

Conclusion

Works Cited

Index

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