Biography

Jessica Goethals (PhD, Italian Studies, New York University) works on the intersection of history and literature, the publication and performance of prophetic and popular works, literary connections between Spain and Italy, and the questione della lingua. Her recent publications explore historical and poetic responses by Luigi Guicciardini and Pietro Aretino, respectively, to the 1527 Sack of Rome. She is also the co-editor and translator of Margherita Costa’s The Buffoons for Toronto’s Other Voice series. She has held postdoctoral fellowships at NYU and the University of Pennsylvania and has received research grants from organizations such as the Renaissance Society of America and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Project Summary

This project explores literary responses to the Siege of Florence and fuoriuscitismo, from 1529/30 to the nineteenth century in written and performed texts composed primarily in the vernacular. This study considers the Siege and the Sack of Rome as two intertwined, tumultuous events that shared a literary, as well as a political-military, legacy.