Poesins drottning : Christina av Sverige och de italienska akademierna

Sammanfattning: The present dissertation treats the position of Queen Christina of Sweden (1626-1689) in Italian literature during the second half of the 17th century. The investigation centres primarily on two aspects: her role as art patron and her appearance as a literary figure in Arcadian literature. Queen Christina’s participation in the Italian literary debate of the time is studied in relation to her creation of Accademia Reale (1674), which had a major importance in the establishment of an Arcadian poetics based on clarity and decorum. This poetics was later to be sanctioned after her death with the foundation of Accademia dell’Arcadia (1690). Her support of some of the chief representatives of this new tendency, polemically in contrast to the baroque poetry of the marinisti, is treated in the first part of the thesis, ‘Queen Christina, Patron and Reformer of Italian Poetry’. The second part ‘Queen Christina in Arcadian Literature’ is focused on the image of the Queen and studies the way in which classical exempla are used by the poets pertaining to her circle to illustrate how she surpasses all ancient and modern heroes by means of her Catholic faith. The investigation of the different sources concerning Christina’s Academy (primarily academic speeches and poetry) makes evident the public character of the institution. Queen Christina’s academic project appears in fact as closely related to her claim of royal status even after her abdication and subsequent conversion to Catholicism.