Una bella roba. ‘Novellare’ als Erzählkonzept in Boccaccios ›Decameron‹

Der narrative Entwurf von Boccaccios ›Decameron‹ und Boccaccios theoretische Reflexionen über das Erzählen stehen klar im Fluchtpunkt der horazischen Lehre des prodesse et delectare. Vor diesem Horizont entwickelt Boccaccio sein Konzept des novellare, das einerseits ein ‚Wiedererzählen’ (analog zu mhd. erniuwen) beinhaltet und andererseits zu einer neuen Autonomie des Erzählens vorstößt. Beobachten lässt sich dieser Vorgang des Erneuerns weniger in Boccaccios theoretischen Ausführungen (etwa im Schlusswort des ›Decameron‹ oder in den ›Genealogie deorum gentilium‹) als in seiner dichterischen Praxis. Als Schlüsseltext wird im Vortrag die Novelle von der duldsamen Griselda herangezogen, die das ›Decameron‹ beschließt und die mit den Worten una bella roba endet. Das ‚schöne Kleid’ ist einerseits traditionelle Dichtungsmetapher (im Horizont des investire bzw. integumentum), andererseits intradiegetischer Bestandteil des Erzähl-‚Stoffs’ der Novelle. Bei Boccaccio dürfte das Gewand der Griselda, zusammen mit deren wiederholt thematisierter Nacktheit, dazu dienen, eine in die Novelle verpackte stoische Lehre zu vergegenwärtigen, diese in eine Erzählung ‚einzukleiden’. Das Kleid der Griselda wird so zur ‚Pathosformel’ (in der Begrifflichkeit A. Warburgs) bzw. zum ‚Faltenwurf’ (in der Begrifflichkeit G. Didi-Hubermans), mithin zur Verkörperung eines ‚neuen Erzählens’, das sich (im Gegensatz etwa zu Dante) von metaphysischen Entwürfen emanzipiert und in der Autonomie sprachlicher Kunstfertigkeit, bis an die Grenzen des Erzählbaren gehend und didaktische Ansprüche überwindend, die Möglichkeiten literarischer Darstellung ausreizt. Von den Zeitgenossen wurde dieses Experiment zwar wahrgenommen, in seinen Dimensionen aber nur ansatzweise erkannt. Symptomatisch für diese Form der Rezeption ist Petrarcas lateinische Übersetzung der ›Griselda‹-Novelle (›Seniles‹, XVII,3), wobei der Verfasser – seinerseits die Kleidermetaphorik bemühend – das Übersetzen als ein stilo alio retexere auffasst und seine Version den (wohl vorwiegend männlich intendierten Lesern) als auf Gott hin orientierte Lehre anempfiehlt: ut legentes ad imitandam saltem femine constantiam excitarem, ut [...] hoc prestare Deo nostro audeant. Diese Rückführung von Boccaccios erzählerischem Wagnis ins Didaktische zeigt sich auch in der Rezeption von Petrarcas Übersetzung, durch welche die Novelle im Europa des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts weite Verbreitung fand: In einer der Haupthandschriften von Chaucers ›Canterbury Tales‹, dem Hengwrt Manuscript (Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales), wird die auf der ›Griselda‹-Novelle aufbauende Erzählung des Scholaren (›The Clerk’s Tale‹) mit Bestandteilen aus Petrarcas Übersetzung glossiert; in einer Handschrift aus dem Besitz des Nürnberger Humanisten Hartmann Schedel (München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 504) wird Petrarcas Konzept des stilo alio retexere erläutert als: claram facere, nudare [...], aperire, wobei hier die in Boccaccios Novelle intradiegetisch enthaltene Spannung von ‚Einkleidung’ und ‚Nacktheit’ auf einer lehrhaften Ebene fortwirkt.

Benign neonatal sleep myoclonus: a review of the literature

OBJECTIVE: Neurologically normal term infants sometimes present with repetitive, rhythmic myoclonic jerks that occur during sleep. The condition, which is traditionally resolved by 3 months of age with no sequelae, is termed benign neonatal sleep myoclonus. The goal of this review was to synthesize the published literature on benign neonatal sleep myoclonus. METHODS: The US National Library of Medicine database and the Web-based search engine Google, through June 2009, were used as data sources. All articles published after the seminal description in 1982 as full-length articles or letters were collected. Reports that were published in languages other than English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish were not considered. RESULTS: We included 24 reports in which 164 term-born (96%) or near-term-born (4%) infants were described. Neonatal sleep myoclonus occurred in all sleep stages, disappeared after arousal, and was induced by rocking the infant or repetitive sound stimuli. Furthermore, in affected infants, jerks stopped or even worsened by holding the limbs or on medication with antiepileptic drugs. Finally, benign neonatal sleep myoclonus did not resolve by 3 months of age in one-third of the infants. CONCLUSIONS: This review provides new insights into the clinical features and natural course of benign neonatal sleep myoclonus. The most significant limitation of the review comes from the small number of reported cases.

Urogenital manifestations in Wegener granulomatosis: a study of 11 cases and review of the literature

We describe the main characteristics and treatment of urogenital manifestations in patients with Wegener granulomatosis (WG). We conducted a retrospective review of the charts of 11 patients with WG. All patients were men, and their median age at WG diagnosis was 53 years (range, 21-70 yr). Urogenital involvement was present at onset of WG in 9 cases (81%), it was the first clinical evidence of WG in 2 cases (18%), and was a symptom of WG relapse in 6 cases (54%). Symptomatic urogenital involvement included prostatitis (n = 4) (with suspicion of an abscess in 1 case), orchitis (n = 4), epididymitis (n = 1), a renal pseudotumor (n = 2), ureteral stenosis (n = 1), and penile ulceration (n = 1). Urogenital symptoms rapidly resolved after therapy with glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive agents. Several patients underwent a surgical procedure, either at the time of diagnosis (n = 3) (consisting of an open nephrectomy and radical prostatectomy for suspicion of carcinoma, suprapubic cystostomy for acute urinary retention), or during follow-up (n = 3) (consisting of ureteral double J stents for ureteral stenosis, and prostate transurethral resection because of dysuria). After a mean follow-up of 56 months, urogenital relapse occurred in 4 patients (36%). Urogenital involvement can be the first clinical evidence of WG. Some presentations, such as a renal or prostate mass that mimics cancer or an abscess, should be assessed to avoid unnecessary radical surgery. Urogenital symptoms can be promptly resolved with glucocorticoids and immunosuppressive agents. However, surgical procedures, such as prostatic transurethral resection, may be mandatory in patients with persistent symptoms.

[Geneva, France, pharmacist. An outline on a little-known French-Genovoise pharmacopoeia]

In the time of the French occupation of Geneva and the formation of a << Départment du Léman >> from 1798 to 1813, the physician Louis Odier published a Manual of practical medicine destined for the Health officers of the Departement. This work encloses at its end a short pharmacopoeia, till today practically unknown in the pharmaceutical bibliography, which is described here. An analysis shows that this formulary does not belong to the popular literature but is corresponding, with some exceptions, to the other similar pharmacopoeal works of the Enlightenment.

Parkinsonism in Gaucher's disease type 1: ten new cases and a review of the literature

Parkinsonism has been described in patients with Gaucher's disease (GD). We reviewed the 10 cases of patients with both parkinsonism and GD recorded in the French national GD registry, as well as 49 previously published cases. Relative to the general population, parkinsonism in GD patients (1) was more frequent, (2) occurred at an earlier age, (3) responded less well to levodopa, and (4) was more frequently associated with signs of cortical dysfunction. Enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) and substrate reduction therapy (SRT) were ineffective on GD-associated parkinsonism, suggesting that parkinsonism itself is not an indication for ERT or SRT in this setting.

English and French causal connectives in contrast

Discourse connectives are often said to be language specific, and therefore not easily paired with a translation equivalent in a target language. However, few studies have assessed the magnitude and the causes of these divergences. In this paper, we provide an overview of the similarities and discrepancies between causal connectives in two typologically related languages: English and French. We first discuss two criteria used in the literature to account for these differences: the notion of domains of use and the information status of the cause segment. We then test the validity of these criteria through an empirical contrastive study of causal connectives in English and French, performed on a bidirectional corpus. Our results indicate that French and English connectives have only partially overlapping profiles and that translation equivalents are adequately predicted by these two criteria.