Marinism (Italian: ''marinismo'', or ''secentismo'', "17th century") is the name now given to an ornate, witty style of poetry and verse drama written in imitation of

Giambattista Marino Giambattista Marino (also Giovan Battista Marini) (14 October 1569 – 26 March 1625) was a Neapolitan poet who was born in Naples. He is most famous for his epic '. The ''Cambridge History of Italian Literature'' thought him to be "one of ...

(1569–1625), following in particular ''La Lira'' and ''L'Adone''.

Features

The critic James V. Mirollo, the author of the first monograph in English on the subject, distinguished the terms as follows:James V. Mirollo. ''The Poet of the Marvelous.''

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...

, New York, 1963. :''Marinismo'' first appeared in the last 9thcentury as a label for the themes and techniques of Marino and his followers. It continues to be used synonymously with ''secentismo'' and ''concettismo'', although the former has more pejorative connotations as well as wider cultural implications, while the latter embraces the European practice of the witty style. ''Marinista'' and ''Marinisti'' go back to the ''seicento'' 7th century Stigliani detractorrefers

1627 Events January–March * January 26 – The Dutch ship '' 't Gulden Zeepaert'', skippered by François Thijssen, makes the first recorded sighting of the coast of South Australia. * February 15 – The administrative rura ...

] to Marino's followers as ''i Marinisti'' (''Occhiale'', p.516). Elsewhere (''Epist.'', II, p. 304) he speaks of ''la trama marinesca'' (the Marinesque intrigue). The following discussion is based on Mirollo's analysis.

Themes

*"The activities of a Petrarchan lady who is designated simply as ''Donna'' or given the name ''Lilla''." The lady is impossible, inaccessible, cruel, and yet fully occupied with walks, rides, games, and tourism, all of which Marino describes and comments on at length. "To sum up, the poet favoured material dealing with (1) the domestic and social activities of the beloved lady and any odd features of her appearance; (2) the variety of disguises under which she might be found, from socialite to sea nymph; (3) the talent or renown of famous women living at the time." The famous women include the Princess of Stigliano, Signora N. Biscia, Signora V. Spinola, and others. *"Subjects that allow the poet to develop fully and richly the motif of sensual delight." This ranges from fantasies about kissing the beloved, to actual kissing, through to the sexual act itself. *"Curious and bizarre subjects, sometimes bordering on the grotesque and ugly ..''capricci''."

Ornament

*"Latinate inversion and displacement," which is used not for obfuscation but to place the vital elements of each sentence in prominent positions, either at the beginning of every couplet or at the end of a stanza. *Non-standard syntax of various kinds, separating nouns from their adjectives, or putting a subject after its verb. *Doubling and tripling, "when two words are similar but contribute to a single idea". *

Chiasmus In rhetoric, chiasmus ( ) or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek , "crossing", from the Ancient Greek, Greek , , "to shape like the letter chi (letter), Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses ...

and

antithesis Antithesis (: antitheses; Greek for "setting opposite", from "against" and "placing") is used in writing or speech either as a proposition that contrasts with or reverses some previously mentioned proposition, or when two opposites are introd ...

. *Repetition of words, and echo effects. *"

Alliteration Alliteration is the repetition of syllable-initial consonant sounds between nearby words, or of syllable-initial vowels if the syllables in question do not start with a consonant. It is often used as a literary device. A common example is " Pe ...

assonance Assonance is the repetition of identical or similar phonemes in words or syllables that occur close together, either in terms of their vowel phonemes (e.g., ''lean green meat'') or their consonant phonemes (e.g., ''Kip keeps capes ''). However, in ...

, and

consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract, except for the h sound, which is pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Examples are and pronou ...

Similitude and metaphor

The Marinist poet never hesitated to embark on a long string of comparisons with nature, most of them couched as

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...

rather than simile because this allowed for more striking statements. "There was hardly an area of human experience that could not be pressed into service for a comparison." Nevertheless, Marino leans heavily on both classical mythology and Christian imagery, adapting it freely to create a huge number of memorable word pictures: "gems, minerals, and precious metals ..flowers (especially the rose and the lily), birds, fire, snow, the seasons, the sea, and, above all, sun and stars ..milk, ivory, parturition, the arts and sciences, and a variety of actions and emotions useful for

personification Personification is the representation of a thing or abstraction as a person, often as an embodiment or incarnation. In the arts, many things are commonly personified, including: places, especially cities, National personification, countries, an ...

Legacy

Although it has some similarities with other European Baroque movements, such as

Euphuism Euphuism is an elegant literary style that was briefly in fashion during the Elizabethan era. The euphuism style employed the frequent use of alliteration, antithesis, balance, and simile, with references to nature and mythological tales. Euph ...

, '' préciosité'' and ''

Culteranismo ''Culteranismo'' is a stylistic movement of the Baroque period of Spanish history that is also commonly referred to as ''Gongorismo'' (after Luis de Góngora). It began in the late 16th century with the writing of Luis de Góngora and lasted throu ...

'', Marinism is essentially an Italian literary phenomenon. However its influence is detectable in English poets such as Richard Crashaw, who translated the first book of Marino’s religious poem ''La strage degli innocenti'' (The Massacre of the Innocents),

William Drummond of Hawthornden William Drummond (13 December 15854 December 1649), called "of Hawthornden", was a Scottish poet. Life Drummond was born at Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian, to John Drummond, the first laird of Hawthornden, and Susannah Fowler, sister of the ...

, whose poetry bear marks of a close study of Marino, and Edward Sherburne. Apart from Marino himself, Marinists of note include

Claudio Achillini Claudio Achillini (; 18 September 1574 – 1 October 1640) was an Italian philosopher, theologian, mathematician, poet, and jurist. He is a major figure in the history of Italian Baroque poetry. Biography Born in Bologna, he was a grandson to ...

, Giuseppe Artale, Ciro di Pers, Vincenzo da Filicaja, Girolamo Fontanella, Giacomo Lubrano, Marcello Macedonio, Giovan Francesco Maia Materdona, Bernardo Morando, Girolamo Preti, and Giovan Leone Sempronio.

References

Bibliography

* * {{cite journal , last = Maggi , first = A. , date = 2017 , title = Marinism , url = https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780190681173.001.0001/acref-9780190681173-e-0681 , journal = The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics , publisher =

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

, access-date = 8 June 2023 de:Schwulststil#Marinismus im italienischen Barock und Konzettismus in Spanien