The article examines the psychological symbolism between a 14th-century Renaissance text and a more modern essay by Sigmund Freud.
I’m always, always trying to think outside the box, trying to reach new audiences, show the relevance and importance of history to us today.
A Guilford History professor has published an article in an academic journal examining the roles of what tombs symbolize in 14th-century Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron.
The article "Closed Tombs, Open Books: The Decameron's Tombs as Signs of Death and Resurrection" by Tim Kircher was published this month by Giornale di Filosofia, an academic publication dedicated to the study and discussion of philosophical issues. Tim is Guilford’s Curt ‘56 and Patricia ‘57 Hege Professor of History.
In Tim’s analysis, tombs in The Decameron represent not just death but the potential for renewal and rejuvenation through storytelling. Tim connects this idea with Sigmund Freud’s The Theme of Three Caskets’ essay where the casket symbolizes an unavoidable encounter with death that reveals our inner drive for love and life. He writes both aspects suggest that accepting mortality is essential for finding renewed energy for living and caring for one another.
The desire to relate the “psychological symbolism” between a 14th-century Renaissance text like Decameron with a more modern piece served as Tim’s inspiration.
He says, “Freud had an incredibly artistic and inventive understanding of symbols and I’m always, always trying to think outside the box, trying to reach new audiences, show the relevance and importance of history to us today. And, in fact, he allows us to see how insightful Boccaccio’s work remains for us today, and in the future.”
Tim says society is focused on looking forward whether it’s with revolutions in cryptocurrency
or the next smartphone or travelling to Mars. “That's all wonderful ideas, but it creates a myopia,” Tim argues. “It creates a nearsightedness, in which looking towards the past is seen as looking backwards at something antiquated and irrelevant.
“What I've come to understand through teaching at Guilford and through my research is that looking at history is actually looking forward, that it's paradoxical, but we are always looking at history as we move forward in time, and history conveys so many lessons for us, about possibilities, about hope, about experience, and, yes, also about tragedy, that can give us signposts to guiding our way as we move forward in time.”