Hybrid Renaissance

Hybrid Renaissance Synopsis

Hybrid Renaissance introduces the idea that the Renaissance in Italy, elsewhere in Europe, and in the world beyond Europe is an example of cultural hybridization.The two key concepts used in this book are hybridization and Renaissance. Roughly speaking, hybridity refers to something new that emerges from the combination of diverse older elements.The book begins with a discussion of the concept of cultural hybridization and a cluster of other concepts related to it.

Then comes a geography of cultural hybridization focusing on three locales: courts, major cities (whether ports or capitals) and frontiers. The following seven chapters describe the hybridity of the Renaissance in different fields: architecture, painting and sculpture, languages, literature, music, philosophy and law and finally religion. The essay concludes with a brief account of attempts to resist hybridization or to purify cultures or domains from what was already hybridized.