“Within the book and volume of my brain”: Reflections on the Eudaimonic Value of the (Shakespearean) Text

This volume reconsiders Shakespeare’s narrative sources through the lens of the Positive Humanities, proposing a renewed understanding of literary study as a practice oriented toward human flourishing. Developed within the framework of the SENS (Shakespeare’s Narrative Sources: Italian Novellas and Their European Dissemination) project, the book brings together philosophical reflection, source studies, digital humanities and pedagogical experimentation. At its core lies the concept of eudaimonia: happiness as the dynamic unfolding of human potential. From Aristotle to contemporary debates on the “eudaimonic turn”, the essays explore how Shakespearean drama and its Italian narrative matrices generate transformative experiences for readers and spectators. Combining theoretical and philosophical inquiry with innovative approaches – gamification, collaborative transcription, performance footnotes, multimodal design, and accessibility-oriented digital environments – the volume demonstrates how early modern texts can become sites of ethical reflection, cognitive expansion, and inclusive participation.

Bianca Del Villano is Full Professor of English Language, Translation and Linguistics at the University of Naples L’Orientale. Her research focuses on pragmatics, stylistics, and literary linguistics, with particular attention to early modern English drama. She has published widely on Shakespeare, including Using the Devil with Courtesy: Shakespeare and the Language of (Im)politeness (Peter Lang, 2018). She is Director of the Argo Centre (Centre for Studies in Argumentation, Pragmatics and Stylistics).