In the proemio to the Decameron, Boccaccio argues that compassion is a human phenomenon, and suggests that literature is particularly necessary to domestic life. In the tales his characters relate to one another outside the city of Florence, they question, parody, and expose the joys and hypocrisies of human social life. How does narrative grapple with the absurdities of domestic and civic life? Narrative—telling and hearing—seems to be able to shift subtly between the pleasurable and the polemical, provoking both laughter and outrage. In reading generous portions of the Decameron, we will investigate the myriad ways narrative is essential to the dynamic relation between self and other, to conversation, and to both solitude and living together. 

Teachers joining us for our online summer seminar will meet each day July 22–25 from 3 to 5 p.m. EDT to discuss the text in a small, interactive class led by St. John’s faculty. There is no cost.