Immanuel of Rome’s Bisbidis: An Italian Maqāma?

Abstract Although Immanuel of Rome’s Bisbidis abounds with onomatopoeic inventiveness, it has received little critical attention aside from its status as a curiosity: a dazzling poem by the only Italian Jew with extant medieval Italian lyrics. While this paper explores Immanuel’s familiarity with wo...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Levy, Isabelle 1983- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2021
In: Medieval encounters
Year: 2021, Volume: 27, Issue: 1, Pages: 78-115
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B ʿImanuʾel ben Shelomoh 1265-1330, Bisbidis / Maqamah
IxTheo Classification:AX Inter-religious relations
BH Judaism
CC Christianity and Non-Christian religion; Inter-religious relations
KBJ Italy
Further subjects:B maqāma
B Italy
B Immanuel of Rome
B Italian lyric
B Hebrew literature in Italy
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Description
Summary:Abstract Although Immanuel of Rome’s Bisbidis abounds with onomatopoeic inventiveness, it has received little critical attention aside from its status as a curiosity: a dazzling poem by the only Italian Jew with extant medieval Italian lyrics. While this paper explores Immanuel’s familiarity with works by Cecco Angiolieri, Dante Alighieri, and other duecento Italian poets, it aims to demonstrate the ways in which Bisbidis embodies the medieval Hebrew-via-Arabic genre of the maqāma. After providing background on secular medieval Hebrew literature composed in the Mediterranean region and situating Immanuel’s composition in its literary-historical context, I evaluate several components – including thematic, formal, and philological correspondences – that Bisbidis shares with the Hebrew maqāma.
ISSN:1570-0674
Contains:Enthalten in: Medieval encounters
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700674-12340095