French Literature Reviews - 2026
V. Atturo, Medieval Emotions. Bibliography of Studies 1941-2014
Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Valentina Atturo, Emozioni medievali. Bibliografia degli studi 1941-2014 con un’appendice sulle risorse digitali. Testi, studi e manuali, 30. Roma, Bagatto Libri, 2015. ISBN 9788878062160
Within the Augustinian-rooted "immense hall of memory," the passions weave "dangerous" relationships with the perceptual sphere of the five senses and the body. This is undoubtedly a crucial, though not exclusive, aspect that runs through the Middle Ages, closely touching upon theological thought, history, philosophical and literary reflection, as well as the medical and "therapeutic" dimensions. Memory traces, Thomas Aquinas maintains, are passiones comparable to an interior painting: it is a figuram imprinted on the imagination and preserved there forever. It is a short circuit occurring between body and spirit, between imaginatio and memories, engaging the "affective" component, vividly represented by the heart.
These "intermittences of the heart" are the emotions: unquestionably a "difficult" theme (to identify, delimit, and portray), yet equally undeniably one of great fascination and perennial relevance.
Holding a Ph.D. in Romance Philology and Literatures, Valentina Atturo is currently a post-doctoral research fellow in Romance Philology and Linguistics at the Department of European, American, and Intercultural Studies ("Sapienza" University of Rome). She earned her specialization diploma in "Archival Science, Paleography, and Diplomatics" (State Archive of Rome, 2013) and completed her advanced studies at the Vatican School of Library Science (2014). She is the author of several studies on the troubadours, early Italian lyric poetry, Dante, and Boccaccio. Her research also focuses on the vocabulary of emotions in the Roman d’Eneas.
The study of emotional history within the medieval period involves navigating a vast intersection of theological inquiry, philosophical texts, literary monuments, and historical documentation. Scholars examining these centuries frequently encounter the complex interplay between sensory perception, corporeal experience, and intellectual reflection inherited from classical and patristic traditions. Within medieval scholarship, the conceptualization of the inner life often engages with theories of memory, imagination, and bodily affect, reflecting an era where psychological and physiological dimensions were deeply intertwined. Academic interest in this domain continues to draw upon diverse methodological frameworks ranging from philological analysis to cultural history.
Emozioni medievali compiles scholarship published between 1941 and 2014, providing a structured overview of research concerning medieval emotions alongside an appendix on digital resources. Valentina Atturo brings her background in Romance philology, archival science, and librarianship to this inventory of secondary literature. Readers interested in medieval cultural history, Romance philology, and the history of mentalities may find this reference work relevant to their research. The volume documents decades of academic inquiry into how medieval culture understood the passions.