Boccaccio`s "Decameron" - Rewriting the Christian Middle Ages and the Lyric Tradition

This study develops a new interpretation ofTheDecameron,Giovanni Boccaccio's masterpiece, which has found new popularity in the wake of COVID.Dino S.Cervignioffers aninclusive and novel reading of thecollection,theorizingthat the first ninety tales offer a parodicrewritingof the Christian Middle Age, while the last ten tales craft a reconstruction of society based on human and liberal principles such as generosity and sacrifice. Still relevantto this day,The Decameronoffersa notabledescription of the bubonic plague of 1348 which devastated Western Europe-drawingstriking parallels with the current global pandemic.Furthermore,Boccaccio's concluding message applies to all of usin the present moment, plunged as we are into a world of intellectual and ethical chaos, exhorting us to practice forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, mutual acceptance, and generous open-mindedness.No other book onThe Decameronoffers such a relevant, up-to-date reading oftheclassic work.