Journal | Lexis
Journal issue | Num. 38 (n.s.) – Giugno 2020 – Fasc. 1
Research Article | Lo spazio, lo sguardo, la voce
Lo spazio, lo sguardo, la voce
Intertestualità e intermedialità nel Peristephanon 9 di Prudenzio
Abstract
A good example of literature’s power to continuously rewrite geographic space by renewing inherited paradigms could be found in Prudentius’ Peristephanon, which provides a sort of re-mapping of the Western landscape in a martyrial perspective. My paper focuses in particular on the narration of Cassian’s martyrdom, providing a new in-depth analysis of Peristephanon IX. Firstly, the poet claims possession of the martyr’s place, Forum Cornelii, by dismissing its pagan past; then, in the ekphrasis of the fresco depicting the martyr, he enacts a complex itinerary of the gaze and elaborates a complex retractatio of the description of Juno’s temple of Verg. Aen. 1.446-465; finally, the introduction of a second-degree narrator provides an authoritative interpretation of the image, leading to appropriate devotion to the saint. The poem, thus, provides both an interesting example of integrated intermediality, and a reflection on the hermeneutical risks of unmediated viewing in a Christian scopic regime.
Submitted: March 31, 2020 | Accepted: May 25, 2020 | Published June 30, 2020 | Language: it
Keywords Intertextuality • Late Latin Poetry • Prudentius • Intermediality • Literary representation of space
Copyright © 2020 Francesco Lubian. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/Lexis/2210-8823/2020/01/013
