Nina Siciliana
Encyclopedia
Nina Siciliana was the composer of one Italian
sonnet
, and a candidate to be the first Italian poetess. She only came to light in 1780, along with 74 other poets, in the Étrennes du Parnasse (or Choix de Poësies). She is now considered legendary
by most scholars.
Adolfo Borgognoni first proposed that Nina was a fictional construct of male poets in 1891 and was soon followed by Giulio Bertoni. Specifically Borgognoni thought she was invented by the successors of printer Filippo Giunti
: essa [Nina] nacque in Firenze, nella officina degli Eredi di Filippo Giunti, l'anno del Signore 1527 ("this one [Nina] was born in Florence, in the office of the heirs of Filippo Giunti, the year of the Lord 1527"). The historicity of Nina—and tangentially the sex of the author of the poem traditionally assigned to her—has been debated ever since. Liborio Azzolina tried to resuscitate her and also Compiuta Donzella
, whom Borgognoni, with less supporters, also ascribed to later male poets' imaginations. More recently the Italian scholar Lino Pertile has called her fantomatica (phantomlike) and Paolo Cherchi dismissed her as "mythical", to be followed by Anne Klinck.
Francesco Trucchi was the first to assign a poem to Nina: the sonnet Tapina in me, c'amava uno sparvero ("Alas for me, I loved a sparrowhawk"), probably composed in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century. Nina was apparently inspired to write by the poems Dante da Maiano
addressed "To his Lady Nina, of Sicily". Francesco de Sanctis, the foremost Italian literary critic of his day, praised la perfetta semplicità of Nina and Compiuta. One recent scholar who accepts Nina's existence and derides doubters has noted similarities between Nina and Alamanda de Castelnau
.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
, and a candidate to be the first Italian poetess. She only came to light in 1780, along with 74 other poets, in the Étrennes du Parnasse (or Choix de Poësies). She is now considered legendary
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
by most scholars.
Adolfo Borgognoni first proposed that Nina was a fictional construct of male poets in 1891 and was soon followed by Giulio Bertoni. Specifically Borgognoni thought she was invented by the successors of printer Filippo Giunti
Filippo Giunti
The press of Filippo Giunti and Bernardo Giunti was a leading printing firm in Florence from the turn of the sixteenth century. The first of the Giunti presses was established in Venice by Luca Antonio Giunti the elder , a Florentine...
: essa [Nina] nacque in Firenze, nella officina degli Eredi di Filippo Giunti, l'anno del Signore 1527 ("this one [Nina] was born in Florence, in the office of the heirs of Filippo Giunti, the year of the Lord 1527"). The historicity of Nina—and tangentially the sex of the author of the poem traditionally assigned to her—has been debated ever since. Liborio Azzolina tried to resuscitate her and also Compiuta Donzella
Compiuta Donzella
Compiuta Donzella, called either di Firenze or Fiorentina, was the earliest poetess of the Italian language, active in the second half of the 13th century. Three of her sonnets survive in a single manuscript, and one is half of a tenzone. Compiuta may be her given name, but more probably a senhal...
, whom Borgognoni, with less supporters, also ascribed to later male poets' imaginations. More recently the Italian scholar Lino Pertile has called her fantomatica (phantomlike) and Paolo Cherchi dismissed her as "mythical", to be followed by Anne Klinck.
Francesco Trucchi was the first to assign a poem to Nina: the sonnet Tapina in me, c'amava uno sparvero ("Alas for me, I loved a sparrowhawk"), probably composed in the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century. Nina was apparently inspired to write by the poems Dante da Maiano
Dante da Maiano
Dante da Maiano was a late thirteenth-century poet who composed mainly sonnets in Italian and Occitan. He was an older contemporary of Dante Alighieri and active in Florence....
addressed "To his Lady Nina, of Sicily". Francesco de Sanctis, the foremost Italian literary critic of his day, praised la perfetta semplicità of Nina and Compiuta. One recent scholar who accepts Nina's existence and derides doubters has noted similarities between Nina and Alamanda de Castelnau
Alamanda de Castelnau
Alamanda was a trobairitz whose only surviving work is a tenso with Giraut de Bornelh called S'ie.us qier conseill, bella amia Alamanda. In the past she was usually considered fictitious and the "tenso" was considered a piece of Giraut's writing...
.
External links
- Nina Di Dante/siciliana (1290 - ) by María José Prieto Manfredi. Her poem in its original language, with brief commentary in Spanish.