Biography

Giada Guassardo studied at the Scuola Normale Superiore and the University of Pisa, and later earned a PhD in Modern Languages from the University of Oxford (Balliol College, 2021). She has held postdoctoral research positions at the Fondation Barbier-Mueller (Geneva), the Istituto Nazionale di Studi sul Rinascimento (Florence), and the University of Milan, where she also taught as an adjunct lecturer of Italian Literature. She is the author of the monograph The Italian Love Poetry of Ludovico Ariosto: Court Culture and Classicism (Florence, 2021), a commentary on Ariosto’s lyric poetry (2021), and an upcoming commentary on the capitoli in terza rima by Niccolò da Correggio. Her research focuses on various Italian poets from the 15th to the 19th century, with particular attention to self-fashioning and classical reception.

Project Summary

This project examines the theme of the ‘unpleasant landscape’ (locus horridus) in Italian literature from Petrarch to the mid-16th century: while, indeed, the idyllic locus amoenus has received significant critical attention, descriptions of inhospitable or threatening nature have been largely overlooked, despite the fact that they, too, appear as a canon, characterized by recurring elements. This research aims precisely to explore how wild, hostile, barren places are described, and further investigates the use of this topos across a range of genres (including lyric and narrative poetry, bucolic texts, chronicles, and autobiographical writings). The analysis will distinguish two possible approaches adopted by authors: on the one hand, the ‘subjective’ perception of nature as menacing, reflecting the speaker’s inner turmoil; on the other, the ‘objective’ portrayal of nature as destructive or damaged by human action. By tracing the influence of classical models, the humanist elaboration of literary conventions, and the impact of key historical experiences (e.g., wars, exile, court service) in the shaping of the topos, the study highlights its role as a tool for negotiating individual and collective crises, expressing disillusionment, vulnerability, or a critique of human arrogance. Ultimately, these representations reveal a complex, evolving relationship with the natural world — one that anticipates both modern introspective discourse and ecological awareness.