A che serve parlare di fonti? (cortese invito a farsi venire qualche dubbio)

Abstract

The question in the title summarizes both contents and aims of this article – the latter investigating if and under what conditions the study of a work’s antecedents can be useful in order to fully understand it. This essay examines a number of examples and cases (starting from ancient Hercules Oetaeus to medieval Scotus Erigena, up to contemporary Arnaldo Colasanti), all aiming to discuss the various phenomenology of sources. It is worth reminding that scholars dealing with literature and poems base part of their research also on aesthetic reasons.

Keywords

• quotation
• literature