Curator’s walkthrough: Nerida Newbigin on Cantus Interruptus In-Person
Join us at Fisher Library for a walkthrough of the exhibition Cantus Interruptus with curator Professor Emeritus Nerida Newbigin.
2024 marks the 550th anniversary of the birth of Ludovico Ariosto, author of the great Italian chivalric epic, Orlando Furioso. Ariosto's themes of chivalry, war, and love, along with his technique of cantus interruptus – leaving one character at a critical point to catch up with the fortunes of another, or else allowing a character to burst in and disrupt the narrative – paved the way for the familiar formats of radio and TV soap operas we know and love today.
To mark this anniversary, this exhibition includes a selection of epic treasures from Rare Books and Special Collections that highlight the appeal of multi-episodic stories and their evolution over time. Collection highlights include several copies of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso from the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as more recent publications such as Virginia Woolf's Orlando and David Lodge's Small World.
Come along to this walkthrough to hear Nerida speak about the origins of this literary technique and how it revolutionised storytelling for writers and storytellers ever since.