17 / 298
17
1.
AN OUTLINE OF
SCIENZA NUOVA
AS
RING COMPOSITION
In an earlier essay appearing in «Laboratorio dell’ISPF»
12
,
we
argued that
Liber metaphysicus
had a ring or concentric structure.
Liber metaphysicus
is a very thin volume compared to
Scienza nuova
;
if establishing ring structure in
Liber metaphysicus
is challenging,
this is all the more so the case with
Scienza nuova
whose sheer size
differs by an order of magnitude, leaving aside for a moment the
sweep of its contents. But it is actually the very substance or es-
sence of Vico’s grand view of the driving forces of history and
civilization that provide a basis for bringing “circular” literary
structure into the picture. The most obvious pertinent Vichian
proposition is of course the idea of
corso
and
ricorso
of Book V
13
.
Whether understood as a closed “circular”
14
or open-ended “spi-
raling” phenomenon
15
, speaking metaphorically, it referred to ac-
tual history, culture, civilization, and «not merely [to] a formal
question of narrative coherence or stylized scheme of dramatic
unity»
16
. The literary structure under consideration here does fall
into the category of “stylized scheme”, and is best seen in this
perspective. Nevertheless, it is considered worthwhile to explore
certain hermeneutical implications that can be derived from de-
termining apparently deliberate choices on Vico’s part in struc-
turing his work
17
. Without justifying the task undertaken here
further, we will start with presenting the end result upfront, as
this will facilitate, and put some structure around, the exposition
of the detailed discussion to follow. To that end,
Scienza nuova
will be summarized according to the individual segments of the
work that are being identified as forming the basis for its puta-