The Site of Petrarchism

Treating the subject of early modern national expression from a broad comparative perspective, The Site of Petrarchism will be of interest to scholars of late medieval and early modern literature in Europe, historians of culture, and critical theorists.

William J. Kennedy is a professor of comparative literature at Cornell University. He is the author of Rhetorical Norms in Renaissance Literature, Jacop Sannazaro and the Uses of Pastoral, and Authorizing Petrarch.

Kennedy offers with his new book yet another landmark for Petrarchan studies... Combining sociological investigation, historical contextualization, social psychology, bibliographical evidence, refined close readings, and a breathtaking erudition, this major contribution to a general history of nationalism in Europe takes pain to differentiate with great subtlety the French, English, Spanish, or German concepts and realities of national communities. -- Cecile Alduy Renaissance Quarterly Imbued with historical learning and literary acumen, Kennedy's study is required reading for all scholarly toilers in the sites of Renaissance lyric. -- Mary Moore Spenser Review 2004 The book's international perspective makes it especially valuable to anyone seeking a sense of how Petrarch was read and understood in a broader European context. -- Robert C. Evans Sixteenth Century Journal 2006 The wealth of materials contained in the book is impressive, the prose is compelling, and the argument is persuasive, detailed, and powerful. -- Patricia Phillippy Journal of Literature, History, and the Philosophy of History 2006 This is a book worth reading. -- Richard Helgerson Comparative Literature Studies 2005