OBLIVION AND DESIRE. A JOURNEY THROUGH THE WASTELANDS OF THE 14th-CENTURY PLAGUE

The essay, starting from the critical analysis of specific chronicles and literary texts from the 14th century, seeks to consider experiences of oblivion and desire, particularly focusing on a crisis phenomenon: the spread of the plague in the mid-14th century. It highlights the attempt by various communities to censor the shock and try to forget its most traumatic consequences through a lifestyle marked by excesses (unre- strained desires). At the same time, the plague crisis also opened new possibilities for social and economic advancement for the survivors, leading to the emergence of new expressions of desire. In this context, Boccaccio’s Decameron is a fascinating testimony. It showcases not only the phenomenology of the experience of oblivion typical of a society in crisis but also the ability to imagine and design a new model of col- lective life: starting from the purification of desire, understood as a bundle of human appetites, the use of reason can enable humans to rise from untamed forces.