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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 Giovanni Battista was a common Italian given name (see Battista for those with the surname) in the 16th-18th centuries. It refers to "John the Baptist" in English, the French equivalent is "Jean-Baptiste". Common nicknames include Giambattista, Gia ...
(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, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...
, New York, 1963.
:''Marinismo'' first appeared in the last
9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...
century 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 The 7th century is the period from 601 ( DCI) through 700 ( DCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Common Era. The spread of Islam and the Muslim conquests began with the unification of Arabia by Muhammad starting in 622. After Muh ...
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 rural p ...
] 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 favored 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 Greek , , "to shape like the letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of wor ...
and
antithesis Antithesis (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 introduced together f ...
. *Repetition of words, and echo effects. *"
Alliteration Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...
,
assonance Assonance is a resemblance in the sounds of words/syllables either between their vowels (e.g., ''meat, bean'') or between their consonants (e.g., ''keep, cape''). However, assonance between consonants is generally called ''consonance'' in America ...
, and
consonant In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the vocal tract. Examples are and pronounced with the lips; and pronounced with the front of the tongue; and pronounced wit ...
."


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 often compared wit ...
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 occurs when a thing or abstraction is represented as a person, in literature or art, as a type of anthropomorphic metaphor. The type of personification discussed here excludes passing literary effects such as "Shadows hold their b ...
."


See also

* List of Marinist poets * ''
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 ...
'' *
Euphuism Euphuism is a peculiar mannered style of English prose. It takes its name from a prose romance by John Lyly. It consists of a preciously ornate and sophisticated style, employing a deliberate excess of literary devices such as antitheses, alliterat ...
* ''
Précieuses The French literary style called ''préciosité'' (, ''preciousness'') arose in the 17th century from the lively conversations and playful word games of ''les précieuses'' (), the intellectual, witty and educated women who frequented the salo ...
''


References

de:Schwulststil#Marinismus im italienischen Barock und Konzettismus in Spanien