Schmerz und Leid. Der weibliche Körper und der Geschlechterstreit in Laura Terracinas Discorsi sopra le prime stanze de’ canti d’Orlando furioso (1549/67)

Abstract

In the tradition of commentaries of Orlando furioso, Laura Terracina's Discorsi sopra le prime stanze de' canti d'Orlando furioso (1549/67) enters into a critical dialogue with the bestseller of the Italian Renaissance, the third version of Ludovico Ariosto's chivalric epic Orlando furioso (Ferrara 1532). Terracina's dialogue is aimed at the moral and socio-political dimension of the opening octaves of Orlando, whereby the poet displays a primarily pessimistic world view, which manifests itself not least in her re-reading of Ariosto's ambiguous positioning in the Querelle des femmes, which is deepened by Laura Terracina and decided in favour of women. The article uses exemplary passages to analyse the subversive recoding potential of the body discourse in Terracina's Discorsi in comparison to her reference text, Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando furioso.