The Utopian Impulse, Exams of Italian

Download The Utopian Impulse and more Exams Italian in PDF only on Docsity!

Sterling Memorial Library, Yale University 8 June – 7 September, 2009

The Utopian Impulse

Although the word “utopia” did not exist until Thomas More coined it in the 16th century, the “utopian impulse,” or desire to imagine or create a perfect society, dates back to Ancient Greece and Rome. In the 15th^ through 18th^ centuries, however, there was a dramatic increase in expressions of the utopian impulse, for many reasons. One factor was the Italian Renaissance, in which the “rebirth” of ancient ideas included a focus on the planning of ideal cities and societies. As this humanistic interest spread throughout Europe, a second development arose: the European encounter with the Americas. This “New World” seemed to offer the potential for the actual creation of ideal communities. The 16th^ century also gave rise to the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic response, the Counter‐Reformation. These religious clashes fed the utopian impulse, as the various denominations sought to establish their ideal communities.

Looking at a range of items, including Platonic dialogues, architectural treatises and plans, literary and theatrical works, historical documents and texts, and maps of real and imagined places, this exhibition explores the many ways that the utopian impulse has found expression in the western world.

This exhibition was made possible through collaboration across the collections of the Yale University Libraries. The objects were selected from the Anne T. & Robert M. Bass Library, the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library (BRBL), Manuscripts and Archives (MSSA), the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library, the terling Memorial Library general collections, and the Yale Map Department of Sterling emorial Library.

S

M

Mia Reinoso Genoni Mellon Special Collections Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow

r disi terr Heinrich Bunting. D uthori

Athanasius Kircher. Topographia pa a estris ie gantze Welt in ein Kleberblat,

. eines lieben 5 in. , 1581. 12.2 x 15 in.

terrestris juxta mentem et conjecturas a s welches ist der Stadt Hannover, m Amsterdam, c.1675. 11.4 x 16. Vaterlandes Wapen. Magdeburg Yale Map Department, 6 1675. Yale Map Department, 11 1581.

Thomas More’sUtopia

Thomas More was a humanist, Christian scholar, and author, as well as a lawyer and statesman. For Utopia , More took as his model one of Plato’s most famous dialogues, The Republic. He was also influenced by Christian works, including the 4th‐century sermons of St. Ambrose and St. Benedict’s 6th‐century monastic rules. More began the text while part of an English delegation to the Low Countries, where he was also a member of the humanist circle of Erasmus.

The humanist debates in which he participated heavily influenced the ideas in Utopia , which was first published in Latin in Louvain (1516) and Basel (1518). Drawing on these discussions, More created a dialogue about socio‐political reform, addressing the real issues of Early Modern Europe through his fiction. Utopia is meant to appear, at first glance, to be the narrative of real events that take place in Antwerp. In the story, Peter Giles, a (real) colleague, introduces the (fictionalized) character of More to the (fictional) sailor Raphael Hythloday, supposedly one of Amerigo Vespucci’s crew. Hythloday has returned from a trip to the island of Utopia, and he speaks of the good elements of its society as well as in contrast to abuses present in English and other Europeans societies. In his tract, then, More describes an ideal society that has been realized elsewhere, if only in fiction. The name that More gives this society – “utopia” – highlights its identity between the ideal and the real: a neologism coined from Greek roots, “utopia” resonates with two ideas: “ eutopia,” a good or happy place, and “outopia,” no place.

In form and content, More’s Utopia came to define the genre of utopian literature. Some typical elements are: the dialogue form; the author as character(s); a blend of Christian mores and civic rules; the existence of a utopian civilization on an island and/or theretofore undiscovered world; a description of the structure of the city and society; and a reference to voyages to the Americas. However, the reforms that More espoused are not necessarily what one might expect: they range from a discussion of the fairness of the death enalty to his belief that men and women should have the (chaperoned) chance to see each ther naked before marriage, to ascertain the health of one’s future mate.

p o

Map of the island of Utopia.

Left: Thomas More. Libellus vere aureus nec minus salutaris quam festiuus de optimo reip. statu, deq[ue] noua insula Vtopia.... Louvain: Thierry Martens, 1516. 5.5 x 8.25 in. BRBL, If M81 r516.

Right: Thomas More. De optimo reipublicae statu, deque nova insula Vtopia. ... Basel, 1518. 6 x 8.25 in. BRBL, Zd 1309. Map is possibly by Ambrosius Holbein.

Tra nslat ing (and Transfo rming)Utopia

In the 16th^ and 17th^ centuries, More’s Utopia was translated into many languages. Each time, it was also transformed. Most of these changes were purposeful, meant to shape More’s vision to fit different cultures and societies. For instance, the French and Italian editions reworded their versions of the title to emphasize the “happy” (eu‐topian) nature of the work, perhaps to suggest that a utopia really was achievable. Sometimes these alterations were practical, as it cost less to produce an unillustrated work, as were the first Italian and English editions. They also reflected the changing ways that More’s work was understood. The first Dutch and Spanish editions, which were the last of these European translations, shortened the title to “The Utopia of Thomas More.” This shift reflects two developments: the work had become famous enough to be referred to with the shorthand title “Utopia,” and the publishers wished to emphasize that the author of the work was the celebrated humanist scholar, Thomas More. These choices reveal the ways in which Early odern editors marketed works to appeal to their buying public. Utopia remained popular n later.

M

i centuries, and new editions with new transformations continued to be created

The publications of these translations also helped inspire new utopian tracts. Notably, Anton Francesco Doni, who was responsible for the first Italian edition of More’s Utopia , composed the satirical work I Mondi, or The Worlds (Venice, 1552‐3). It includes a utopian world that is inhabited by madmen – the Mondo de' Pazzi. Fascinatingly, Doni also describes a star‐shaped city based on the ideals of Italian Renaissance urban planning and humanism. Doni’s work, in turn, was also translated and transmitted throughout Europe.

Chronology of the first editions in print: in Basel. Doni, printed in Venice.

1524, German. Translated by Claude Chansonnette, printed 1548, Italian. Translation prepared for print by Anton Francesco 1550, French. Translated by Jean LeBlond, printed in Paris. 1551, English. Translated by Ralph Robinson, printed in London. 553, Dutch. Translator unknown, printed in Antwerp. 637, Spanish. Translated by Don Jerónimo Antonio de Medinilla y Porres, printed in Córdoba.

1 1

Left: M g der uberaus herrlichen und gantz wunder L, 1974 3368.

.

ap of utopia. Thomas More. Ordentliche und außführliche Beschreibun barlichen doch wenigen bißhero bekandten Insul Utopia.... Frankfurt, 1704. Map 7 x 6 in. BMB Right: Detail, illustration of Doni’s star‐shaped city. Anton Francesco Doni. Les mondes celestes, terrestres et infernavx .... Translated by Gabriel Chappvis. Lyons: Honorati, 1578. 6.3 x 4.1 in. BMBL, Hd28 203k

From Utopia to Shipwreck

It is not until the 19 i

th (^) century that the word “dystopia” is coined, by John Stuart Mill n an 1868 speech to the British parliament:

It is, perhaps, too complimentary to call them Utopians, they ought rather to be called dys‐topians, or caco‐topians. What is commonly called Utopian is something too good to be practicable; but what they appear to favour is too bad to be practicable.

Yet in the 17th^ century, William Shakespeare was well aware of the problem of knowing whose utopia to choose, and of the difficulty of putting utopian ideas into practice. In works like Twelfth Night (1601) and The Tempest (1610‐11), Shakespeare explored the intricacies of locating and defining utopias, among many other plots and subplots. Both plays have been considered comedy or romance, and they both seem to have been inspired by stories of voyages to the New World – including documented, real reports as well as fictional or allegorical narratives.

In the 18th^ century the literary form of the novel was invented, and the shipwreck became a popular theme. Far from utopian, however, the islands featured in these works were dangerous and savage. Most notable is Daniel Defoe’s The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York, Mariner, published in London in 1719. The sole survivor of a shipwreck, Crusoe lives on a South American island for twenty‐eight years until he is rescued.

These renderings of shipwrecks by Shakespeare and Defoe remained popular throughout the following centuries and have also spawned a vivid literary and theatrical tradition. It remains active today, and still runs the gamut from comedy to drama, with or without romance. Some recent examples include the television shows Gilligan’s Island, Survivor, and Lost.

Left: Playbill for The Tempe and Harlequin's Invasion.

st

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, Covent Garden, England, Dec. 27, 1786. 7.1 x 9.8 in. ASA, Crawford Theater laybills, I, B. Box 23, Folder 161.

M P

Right: Playbill for Twelfth Night and High Life below Stairs. Theatre Royal, Drury Lan e, Covent Garden, England, Oct. 4, 1788. 7.1 x 9.8 in. MASA, Crawford Theater Playbills, I, B. Box 23, Folder 162.

Ideal Communities in Connecticut

The 17th^ century was also the time of the first permanent settlements in what would become the state of Connecticut. The Dutch had explored the area in the beginning of the century, and built a settlement near Hartford in 1633. The character of the region, however, was determined by the influx of English colonists in the later 1630s – transplants south from Massachusetts. These colonists had two main motivations, both of which resonate with the utopian impulse. They were seeking greater religious freedom, as well as looking for a more fertile land where agriculture, and thus their society, would flourish.

Originally called Quinnipiac and founded in 1638, New Haven became an important center for both sought‐after elements. The decision to rename it “New Haven” reveals that the community saw the town as a place of safety, plenty, and freedom. Its famous nine‐ square plan was also one of the earliest grid‐systems in the United States, reflecting an attention to city planning. When Yale University moved permanently to New Haven in 1 718, both the purpose of the university and the planning of its buildings became fundamental components of the physical and moral shaping of this society.

In the 18th^ and 19th^ centuries, Connecticut was home to numerous religious experiments, including the communities of the United Society of Believers, or the “Shakers.” A Protestant sect with origins in England, the Shakers came to New York in 1774. The nickname of “Shakers” is a shortened form of “Shaking Quakers,” a descriptor inspired by their practice of sitting in quiet meditation until a vision from God led them to shout out, sing, and/or shake. Although there was a period of initial skepticism and of fear of these unfamiliar practices, the Shakers did find a home in Connecticut. In the 1780s and 90s, the religion took root, eventually establishing a strong community in Enfield.

James Wadsworth. Plan of the city of New Haven, View of the hymn “Happy State,” from a Shaker taken in 1748. 24.4 x 18.1 in. manuscript. No date ‐ late 18th to 19th century. BRBL, ZZ35 5 1. Enfield, Connecticut. Inscribed by Henry Youngs, on October 16, 1856. 4.3 x 6.9 in. The Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Mx75 S4 En2.