James O'Neill Unreviewed (LLM_ASSISTED)
James O'Neill's work on the HP spans authorship studies and narratological analysis. His Durham thesis examines self-transformation in the HP's narrative structure, while his co-authored study with Maggie O'Neill surveys the full range of authorship candidates. O'Neill argues that future research should use narratological analysis rather than archival evidence alone to address the authorship question, shifting the debate from external biographical evidence to internal literary form.
Works in Archive
A Narrative in Search of an Author: The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
O'Neill surveys the longstanding authorship debate surrounding the HP, examining the evidence for and against Francesco Colonna as the author. The article evaluates competing attributions including Leon Battista Alberti and Felice Feliciano, weighing the acrostic evidence, stylistic analysis, and biographical plausibility of each candidate. O'Neill argues that the authorship question remains genuinely open and that the text's resistance to definitive attribution is itself a significant literary feature.
Self-transformation in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
O'Neill uses narratological analysis to trace Poliphilo's metamorphosing interiority across the full arc of the HP, arguing that the architectural spaces, gardens, thresholds, and ruins he encounters function as expressive devices for his inner transformation. Drawing on classical, medieval, and humanist sources in philosophy, poetry, travel writing, and architectural theory, the thesis shows how the author uses antiquarian objects and topography to dramatize the protagonist's shifting passions, from connoisseurial engagement with architecture through elegiac lovesickness to a mystagogic journey toward a final transformed state.
Other Known Works
Walking in the Boboli Gardens in Florence: Toward a Transdisciplinary, Visual, Cultural, and Constellational Analysis
Summary not yet available.
Review Status / Provenance
Draft Source: LLM_ASSISTED