Storytelling as Plague Prevention in Medieval and Early Modern Italy

Through close readings of five Italian collections of novellas written over a 500-year period, Martin Marafioti explores the literary tradition of storytelling, and particularly its efficacy as a healing tool following traumatic visitations from the plague. In this study, Giovanni Boccaccio''s Decameron provides the framework for later authors. Although Boccaccio was not the first writer to deal...