Italian poet and scholar Dante is best known for the monumental epic poem The Divine Comedy, which still counts as one of the masterpieces of world literature even today, over 700 years after its first appearance. However, Italian literature goes beyond Dante; there are many other classic Italian authors worth reading.
Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533)
Recognized as a crucial figure in the development of Italian Renaissance literary culture, Ariosto is best known for his poem Orlando Furioso, which presents a rich variety of characters and mixes romance with epic. The poem was wildly successful in Ariosto's lifetime and inspired artists and musical composers well into the 170Os.
Italo Calvino (1923-1985)
Calvino was an Italian journalist and the author of the postmodern classic If on a Winter's Night A Traveler published in 1979. The unique frame tale in the story sets it apart from other novels. Musicians such as Sting have used the novel as inspiration for their albums. At the time of his death in 1985, he was the most translated Italian author in the world.
Umberto Eco (1932-2016)
Eco is probably best known for his book The Name of The Rose, published in 1980.The historical murder mystery novel combined the author's love of literature and Semiotics, the study of communication. Eco was a semiotician and a philosopher. Many of his stories dealt with themes of the meaning and interpretation of communication. Along with being an accomplished author, he was a-so a well-known literary critic and college professor.
Alessandro Manzoni (1785-1873)
Manzoni is most famous for his novel The Betrothed written in 1827. Set in northern Italy in1628, at a time when the country was under Spanish rule, the novel is said to have helped to shape a new unified Italy. The book is also seen as a masterpiece of world literature. It's safe to say Italy wouldn't be Italy without this great novelist.
【小题1】What do Orlando Furioso and lf on a Winter's Night A Traveler have in common?| A．They are classic epic poems. |
| B．They have influenced musicians. |
| C．They are widely translated. |
| D．They came out during the Renaissance. |
| A．Ludovico Ariosto. | B．Italo Calvino. | C．Umberto Eco. | D．Alessandro Manzoni. |
| A．The Betrothed | B．The Name of The Rose |
| C．Orlando Furioso | D．If or a Winter's Night A Traveler |
