Italian Comedy from the Renaissance to Dario Fo



This course offers an overview of Italian comedy from the 16th to the 20th century, in order to show the evolution of the genre. Particular attention is given to changes in structure, to comedic mechanisms, and to linguistic innovations that draw on the rich dialectal substratum of the Italian language. We will examine Commedia dell’arte, erudite comedy, comedy of manners, operetta, and contemporary satirical monologues, culminating with analyses of specific oeuvres by Dario Fo, a hundred years from his birth. Three comedies will be read and analyzed in their entirety, while excerpts will be provided for others.