Myths of Renaissance Individualism [Paperback]

The idea that the Renaissance witnessed the emergence of the modern individual remains a powerful myth. In this important new book Martin examines the Renaissance self with attention to both social history and literary theory and offers a new typology of Renaissance selfhood which was at once collective, performative and porous. At the same time, he stresses the layered qualities of the Renaissance self and the salient role of interiority and notions of inwardness in the shaping of identity. Myths of Renaissance Individualism , in short, will interest students not only of history but also of art history, literature, music, philosophy, psychology and religion.Prologue ''Individualism' - A Word Unknown to our Ancestors' The Inquisitor's Questions Spiritual Journeys A Journeyman's Feast of Fools Possessions The Proffered Heart Myths of Identity - An Essay Notes Bibliography Acknowledgements Index

'Myths of Renaissance Individualism gently but firmly cuts away the worst excesses of the postmodern critique of Renaissance identities. Suggesting some useful ways of rethinking the history of the self more broadly, Martin cogently asserts that Renaissance individualism must be studied in terms of Renaissance ideas. Using a mix of confessional literature and archival material, the author brilliantly draws from the essential 'I believe' of such documentation a vision of how humanists, intellectuals and everyday people viewed and understood themselves in this fascinating era. ' - Guido Ruggiero, University of Miami, USA

'John Martin's engaging discourse on how Renaissance men and women actually understood themselves disputes our traditional notions of Renaissance individualism in an erudite and compelling manner. With documentary, literary, and visual evidence, Martin convincingly posits that the Renaissance self was formed by an enigmatic and changeable relationship between interior and exterior identity, a relationship that can only be understood thrl3…