Nuova collana / New Series: Opere perdute e anonime (Secoli III-XV)

The issues of anonymity and pseudo-epigraphy, evidently connected to the topic of lost literary works, have been a pressing concern for scholars of Medieval Latin Literature for many years. S.I.S.M.E.L’s «Integrated Archive for the Middle Ages» (www.mirabileweb.it) alone indicates more than 15.000 anonymous texts that have yet to be catalogued, published and put in relation to our current knowledge. Many more texts are still completely hidden inside the manuscripts, especially because as far as several types of sources are concerned the texts seem to multiply, and the existence of multiple redactions is the norm (whatever their degree of authorial intent). These data are matched by a complete awareness that anonymity constitutes a complex historiographical problem, and that such condition might be connected to a series of meaningful literary and cultural circumstances. A ‘History of Literature’ built around anonymous texts (texts written by “hidden” authors, “collective” authors or by several authors through the ages) can help us understand a peculiar aspect of the Latin Middle Ages, and their difficult emancipation from classical and late antiquity. This history of these texts marks a new important chapter in the history of human expression.