The Syntax of Desire: Language and Love in Augustine, the Modistae, Dante

391 Pages·2007·2.293 MB·

by  Elena Lombardi

THE SYNTAX OF DESIRE
LANGUAGE AND LOVE IN AUGUSTINE,
THE MODISTAE, DANTE
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ELENA LOMBARDI
The Syntax of Desire
Language and Love in Augustine,
the Modistae, Dante
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
© University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2007
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada
ISBN 978-0-8020-9070-6
Printed on acid-free paper
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Lombardi, Elena, 1969–
The syntax of desire : language and love in Augustine, the Modistae,
Dante / Elena Lombardi.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8020-9070-6 (bound)
1. Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo – Language. 2. Dante Alighieri,
1265–1321 – Language. 3. Speculative grammar. 4. Dante Alighieri,
1265–1321. Paradiso. 5. Dante Alighieri, 1265–1321. Inferno. 6. Desire
in literature. 7. Love in literature. I. Title.
P156.L64 2007 415 C2007-902065-8
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario
Arts Council.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its
publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book
Publishing Industry Development Progam (BPIDP).
For my father
‘If winter comes ...’
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 3
1. Augustine: The Syntax of the Word 22
The Semiotic Universe of Mankind: Augustine’s ‘Theory of
Things’ 27
The Performative Universe of God 37
Time and the Syllable 47
The Syntax of Love and Desire in Speech and Universe 52
The Analogy 58
Love, Desire, and the Interior Word 66
2. Modistae: The Syntax of Nature 77
The Modistae 81
Grammar and the System of Knowledge 85
Reality, Mind, Language 95
The Parts of Speech: Permanence and Becoming 101
Syntax and Desire 108
3. Dante: The Syntax of Poetry 121
Heavenly Refutations 123
The Pros and Cons of Babel 134
Language and Languages: The Parallel Episodes of Inferno 26–27
andParadiso 15–17 140
A Map of Language 145
A Map of Desire 160
Language, Desire, and the Poem 168
viii Contents
Epilogue 175
‘I am afraid we are not rid of God, because we still have faith in
grammar’ 176
Desidero, ergo sum 193
Conclusion 208
Notes 211
Selected Bibliography 357
Index 377
Acknowledgments
This book was born in the wonderful cultural environment created at
New York University by my graduate teachers: John Freccero, Maria
Luisa Ardizzone, Barbara Spackman, and Francesco Erspamer. In differ-
ent ways and disciplines they have shaped and developed my thinking.
John Freccero has inspired this book with his extraordinary teaching
and writing on Dante and Augustine.
At McGill, I was blessed by the friendship of Maggie Kilgour and Amil-
care Iannucci, ‘la cara e buona imagine paterna,’ and by the brightness
of my students. A very special thanks goes to John Zucchi, who trusted
my work with great patience and understanding.
This book has benefited of the invaluable help of three readers: Ma-
nuele Gragnolati, Cristoph Holzhey, and Eric Ormsby. Zyg BaraÛsky has
been a very precious advisor and source of inspiration over the years.
For sharing their lives with mine I thank Stefano Albertini and Julio
Anguita, Giovanna Bertazzoni, Carla Bino, Annamaria Digirolamo,
Francesca Cadel, Ilaria Fusina, Nicola Gardini, Mici Gragnolati, Alex-
ander Ignatiev, Hana Levy, Giulio Tonellotto, Laura Toppan, and Maria
Ludovica Vertova.
This book wouldn’t have been written without the support and the
love of my mother Lucia, my sister Alessandra, my partner Sergey, and
our son Alessandro, and with the incorporeal but providential help of
my father Erminio, my aunt Dina, and my grandmother Felicita.