Teaching Boccaccio's Decameron and the Black Death Post Covid-19

Authors

Vanessa DiMaggio, University of Colorado Boulder

Publication Date

11-2024

Keywords

Giovanni Boccaccio, Decameron, Black Death, Covid-19, classroom teaching

Abstract

Giovanni Boccaccio’s introduction to the Decameron depicts one of the most gruesome and vivid portraits of the effects of the Black Death in Florence to come out of medieval Italy. Until 2020, students’ understanding of the plague in medieval Florence was, at best, one of lurid interest in the gory details of a disease that killed nearly 1/3 of the population of Europe, an interest far removed from their reality. However, with the rise of the Covid-19 pandemic, students began to understand the difficulties medieval Florentines faced in a way that was all too familiar. This shift in students’ perspective necessitated a shift in the way Bocaccio’s introduction to the Decameron was taught to them. Now, when we talk about the brigata who escape to the countryside, students can equate that group of young people with their own “quarantine crew.” When we discuss the different approaches the Florentines took to coping with the plague, students can identify which approach they took themselves. This essay discusses the ways one can use Boccaccio’s text to teach students not just about the plague in medieval Florence but about their own identities, experiences and understanding of the pandemic they’ve lived through.

Recommended Citation

DiMaggio, Vanessa (2024) "Teaching Boccaccio's Decameron and the Black Death Post Covid-19," Quidditas: Vol. 45, Article 11.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rmmra/vol45/iss1/11