After Machiavelli

After Machiavelli isan examination of the triangular relationship of re-writing- a dynamic process encompassing both creative newness and awareness ofhistorical profundity - the hermeneutic attitude," andMachiavelli's poiesis. Specifically,it addresses four questions: First, to what degree can we speak of intersection(interaction) among this triad? Second, what common ground do all threeactually share? Third, in what particular manner do the act of "re-writing"and the...
More Description

After Machiavelli isan examination of the triangular relationship of re-writing- a dynamic process encompassing both creative newness and awareness ofhistorical profundity - the hermeneutic attitude," andMachiavelli's poiesis. Specifically,it addresses four questions: First, to what degree can we speak of intersection(interaction) among this triad? Second, what common ground do all threeactually share? Third, in what particular manner do the act of "re-writing"and the "hermeneutic attitude" manifest themselves in thewritings of Niccoló Machiavelli? And last, what bearing does this have on thereader, heir to Machiavelli's literary legacy?

In answering these questions, Godorecci offers a closereading of a cycle of Machiavellian re-writings characterized by threeparticular cases: Machiavelli's rewriting of the works of others (Plautus's Casina, Terence's Andria, Livy's Ab urbecondita and Dante's De vulgari eloquentia), his own texts (the story ofVitellozzo Vitelli and the events in Sinigaglia at the court of Cesare Borgis),and the re-writing of him by others (in Gramsci's "modern prince"). Drawing onWilhelm Dilthey's ideas on experience, history, and hermeneutics, Godorecciprovides insights into Machiavelli's participation in the process of re-writingas expression of his own "hermeneutic attitude," which supports the universalvalidity of interpretation and (thus) clears space for others who come/take/run"after Machiavelli."