History, Politics, and Fiction in Seventeenth-Century Italy: The Case of Baroque Novels

Abstract

The article addresses the question of the relationships between history and fictional writings in seventeenth-century Italy through the example of so-called baroque novels. Its goal is twofold: on the one hand, it aims to understand the reasons why contemporary readers might interpret novels as works of history; on the other hand, it intends to show how historical novels helped to convey political information within a wider public sphere. To reach these goals, the article will delve into the Venetian situation of the 1630s and discuss the new fashion of the Italian romans à clef.