ABSTRACT
The previous chapter established a context within which to explore the relationship between the Italian ars nova tradition and the tradition of Italian lyric poetry at large and proposed a new analytical approach to the literary sources in which Trecento song texts are transmitted. Arguing that the “musicality” of song texts seems to be secondary to their meaning and function within these manuscripts, Chapter 1 asked us to look beyond individual poems to the broader material context in which they are placed. What specific evidence is there, though, that medieval readers saw song texts as part of a greater literary tradition?
