The course will focus on the birth of relativism, subjectivity, and self-consciousness as reflected in the writings of Dante and Petrarch. Dante’s understanding of language as changing like fashions and other cultural constructs, will be explored from the perspective of the fourteenth century transition from a static to a dynamic understanding of nature and culture and will provide the background for understanding the birth of the modern “self” new esthetic ideas in poetry as well as other art forms. A discussion on Italian language make us aware of The fourteenth century saw the breakdown of traditional structures of order and authority, and the incipient transition from a static to a dynamic worldview. A look at contemporaneous Italian music will provide further indications of the age’s new perception of the relation between God, man, and nature.