The University of Reading
Department of Italian Studies
Dante’s Divine Comedy
Course convenor and tutor: Dr Paola Nasti
Course Programme 2004-2005
CONTENTS
Aims, Outcomes and Obligations p. 3
Course Outline p. 4-6
Seminar Topics p. 6-10
Guidelines for Presentations and Commentaries p. 11
Bibliography p. 12-16
Course work and Essay topics p. 17-18
2 AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES
The aims of this course are: · To extend the student's knowledge and appreciation of the poetry of the Divina Commedia; · to engage students in the challenge of understanding Medieval forms of art, thought and culture; · to foster students’ ability to use resources, to develop independent thinking and self- expression.
The student who has successfully completed the course unit will be able to demonstrate: · an understanding of the content and structure of the Divina Commedia; · a sufficient ability to contextualise and comment pertinently on any portion of the Italian text of the poem singled out for close textual study, explaining significant linguistic, historical, and doctrinal matters; · a competent use of a wide range of resources and critical approaches for the understanding of poetry.
PRESCRIBED TEXT
Dante Alighieri, La divina commedia: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso, with commentary by Natalino Sapegno, 3 vols (Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1985).
STUDENTS RESPONSABILITIES
· Students are required to read the whole Divine Comedy, in spite of the fact that during the course attention will be focused on a group of specific cantos. Students are also required to read any associated material attentively, engaging in further reading. · English translations can be used, but ultimately students will have to show an understanding of the original text. Lectures and seminars will be based on the original; students are therefore required to bring a copy of the Divine Comedy in class. · Attendance during lectures and seminar sessions are compulsory and essential to a successful outcome. Students are required to participate actively in seminars, whether in discussion, by asking questions, or by giving properly prepared presentations.
COURSEWORK
Coursework will involve 1 1 essay in the Spring Term, which count towards the Final result. The average of their marks counts for 30% of the Final result. The essays should be no longer than 3000 words. If you have any difficulty over submission, or require any advice, please come and see me well in advance of the deadline.
3
COURSE OUTLINE
Familiarize yourself with programme and pay attention to all lectures and seminars content. A reading task has been set for most of the lectures and seminars. Please make sure you read the prescribed cantos before your class. A practical task, i.e. writing a commentary, has been scheduled for week 6 of the Autumn Term. This will not be assessed but it is planned in your interest, to give you some practice on commentary writing for your final exam.
NB. For a brief description of seminars content please see the section on ‘Seminar Topics’ on pp. 7-10.
AUTUMN TERM
Week 1 Tu Lecture: Unlocking the Comedy: genesis of a masterpiece
Th Lecture: Exile, poetry and prophecy
Week 2 Tu Lecture: Questions of genre, language and style
Th Lecture: The journeys of the Comedy
Week 3 Tu Lecture: The prologue cantos: Inferno 1-2 Reading task: Inferno 1, 2 and 3
Th Lecture and discussion: Reading Inferno 1, 2 and 3. Reading task: Inferno 1, 2 and 3
Week 4 Tu Lecture: Dante among the classics Reading task: Inferno 4
Th Lecture: What’s love got to do with it? Reading task: Inferno 5
Week 5 Tu Seminar 1: The moral and physical structure of Inferno. (Inferno 11) Reading task: Every group must reflect on the first seminar topic planned for this week and read Inferno 11
Th Seminar 2: A passion for earthly matters: Farinata and Cavalcante (Inferno 10) Reading task: Inferno 10
Week 6 Tu Seminar 3: The master and his pupil: the drama of Brunetto Latini Reading task: Inferno 15
Th Lecture: Dante, the Church and the corrupted Popes Reading task: Inferno 19 Practical: write a commentary on Inferno 19
Week 7 Tu Seminar 4: The triumph of the comical (Inferno 21-23)
4 Reading task: Inferno 21-23
Th Lecture: Journeys of perdition: Ulysses’ intellectual sin Reading task: : Inferno 26 Practical: submit commentary on Inferno 19
Week 8 Tu Lecture: At the heart of evil. Ugolino and the art of lying Reading task: Inferno 32-33
Th Lecture: The creation of Purgatory Reading task: Purgatorio 1 and 2
Week 9 Tu Lecture: Purification, nostalgia and hope: the poetry of Purgatorio Reading task: Purgatorio 1 and 2
Th Lecture: The politics of the Comedy Reading task: Purgatorio 5-6
Week 10 Tu Seminar 5: The purgation of pride Reading task: Purgatorio 10-12
Th Seminar 6: The doctrine of love and free will Reading task: Purgatorio 16-18
SPRING TERM
Week 1 T Lecture: Poets and poetry in the Comedy Reading task: Purgatorio 21-26
Th Seminar 1: Statius and Virgil: Dante’s attitude to Classical antiquity Reading task: Purgatorio 21 and 22
Week 2 Tu Seminar 2: Dante and the vernacular literary tradition Reading task: Cantos 24 and 26
Th Lecture: Earthly Paradise Reading task: Purgatorio 30-33
Week 3 Tu Lecture: Meeting Beatrice Reading task: Purgatorio 30-33
Th Lecture: The drama of desire: introduction to Paradiso Reading task:
Week 4 Tu Lecture: Canto 1 the poetry of Ineffability Reading task: Paradiso 1
5 Th Seminar 3: The sweetness of loving God Reading task: Paradiso 3
Week 5 Tu Seminar 4: God’s Empire Reading task: Paradiso 6
Th Seminar 5: Love and politics Reading task: Paradiso 8-9
Week 6 Tu Lecture: The heaven of the Sun Reading task: Paradiso 10, 11 & 12
Th Lecture: The Resurrection of the body Reading task: Paradiso 14
Week 7 Tu Lecture: Dante’s poetic mission Reading task: Paradiso 15-17
Th Seminar: Reciting the Comedy
Week 8 Tu Seminar 6: God’s Justice and the problem of Salvation Reading task: Paradiso 19-20
Th Lecture: Metaphors and language in Paradiso
Week 9 Tu Seminar 7: The fury of Peter Reading task: Paradiso 26-27
Th Seminar 8: The heavenly rose and St Bernard Reading task: Paradiso 30 and 31
Week 10 Tu Lecture: The end of the journey Reading task: Paradiso 32 and 33
Th Revision Seminar
6 SEMINAR ORGANIZATION AND TOPICS FOR THE AUTUMN
The class will be divided into study groups, each of which will be expected to organize its own learning activities and to provide a forum for the discussion of the set topics. Each group will be assigned one of 6 seminars listed in the Autumn ‘Course Outline’, with the exception of Seminar 1, which will be shared by all groups. The groups will arrange to meet in order to prepare for an oral presentation. Pool your thoughts on the topic in question, organize them in some coherent manner, formulate any unresolved problems you wish to raise, and appoint a spokesperson if you wish. The topics generally concentrate on the analysis of a number of chosen cantos, but this should ultimately serve as the basis for the discussion of broader issues. Suggestions on the issues to discuss in the seminars are offered below, but the choice of topics belongs to the study groups. Remember to outline the general context of the canto/cantos you deal with as well as their main ideological, philosophical, theological, and rhetorical features (for more help on how to prepare a seminar see ‘Guidelines’ on p. 8).
1 The moral and physical structure of Inferno Study group: all · Describe the structure of the universe on which Dante’s afterlife is based (you might want to have pictures/figures to help discuss this point). · How was hell created according to Dante? · On which philosophical system is Dante’s division of sins based upon? · Following the analysis offered in Inferno 11, describe the division/organization of sins/sinners in Inferno (you might want to have pictures/figures to help discuss this point). · Which are the literary models of Dante’s Inferno? · What is the contrappasso? Analyse some examples. · What is the relationship between the physical reality of Inferno and the moral conditions of its inhabitants?
2 A passion for earthly matters: Farinata and Cavalcante Study group: · What is the function of the first 21 lines of the Inferno 10? More generally analyse the link between the landscape described in this canto and the moral condition of the sinners met here. · What is the relation between heresy (Epicures) and Farinata’s fixation with politics? Or between heresy and Cavalcante’s insistence on his son’s fame? · Why most of the sinners we meet in Inferno are Florentines like Farinata? · What is the image of Florence portrayed by Farinata and Dante in Inferno 10? · How do you explain the magnitude of the sinners met by Dante in Inferno 10? What does his say about the human persona and the nature of sin? · Analyse the similarities as well as differences between Farinata and Dante. · Discuss the prophecy of Dante’s exile. · Discuss the meaning of the meeting with Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti and Dante’s relationship with Guido Cavalcanti. · Is this canto about the limits of reason? If so why?
3 The master and his pupil: the drama of Brunetto Latini Study group: · Who was Brunetto Latini (Inferno XV)? What was his relationship with Dante? · What is Brunetto’s greatest sin? · Discuss Brunetto’s concepts of literary fame and fortune. How do they contribute to our understanding of his sin? · Analyse Brunetto’s language. How does it reflect his sinful attitude?
7 · Discuss the differences between Dante the poet’s and Dante the character’s treatment of Brunetto. · How do you explain the co-existence of magnitude and felony in Brunetto’s soul? · How and why did the student surpass the teacher? · Why do you think the inhabitants of Inferno 15-17 are mainly Florentines? Relate the decadence of Florence to the sinners’ idea of politics as featured in these cantos.
4 The triumph of the comical Study group : · Carefully analyse the language and the similes of Inferno 21-23. In which way is it realistic? Comic? Farcical? Theatrical? · Discuss Dante’s comic representation of the Devils in Inferno 21-23. In which way do they differ from the other mythical creatures of Inferno (Caron, Geryon etc.)? · Why do you think the souls in these cantos are often compared to animals? What is Dante’s consideration of Barratry? · What are the implications of Virgil’s failure to unmask the devils’ lies? What does this tell us about Virgil? · Discuss the first indication in this canto that Dante will surpass his guide.
5 The purgation of pride Study group: · Why is pride the first sin to be expiated in Purgatory? · What is pride? (XXVI, 125) and what is its opposite, humility? (Purg. III, 34-45) · What is significant about Dante’s choice of examples of humility in Purgatorio 10? · Discuss Dante’s treatment of the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of Purgatorio 11. · Assess the implications, in the context of this episode, of Dante’s self-reference in Purgatorio 11, 99. · What elements are common to the process of purification on all cornices of Purgatory?
6 The doctrine of love and free will Study group: · Examine carefully the structure of Marco Lombardo’s argument in Purgatorio 16, 25-129 and the connections between the topics he touches on. · What is free will? What, in Dante’s view, guarantees human freedom? · What is the importance of the distinction between ‘il primo ben’ and ‘[i beni] secondi’ (Purg. 17, 97-102) · How does Virgil’s analysis of love in Purgatorio 17 furnish grounds for the classification of sinful tendencies and thus for the structure of Dante’s Purgatory? · What do Virgil’s answer to Dante’s questions in Purgatorio 18. 10-75 add to the discussion of free w ill and love developed in Purgatorio 16 and 17? · Consider the relationship between astral influence, human nature, appetite, intellect, and the freedom of will, as dealt with in Purgatorio 16-18 · In which way Dante’s conception of free will affects his treatment of individuality in the Comedy?
SEMINAR ORGANIZATION AND TOPICS FOR THE SPRING
As in the Autumn term, the class will be divided into study groups, each of which will be expected to organize its own learning activities and to provide a forum for the discussion of the set topics. Each group will be assigned 1 of 8 seminars listed in the Spring ‘Course Outline’, with the exception of Seminars 1 and 8, which will be shared by all groups. The groups will arrange to meet in order to prepare for an oral presentation. Pool your thoughts on the topic in question, organize them in some coherent manner, and formulate any unresolved problems you
8 wish to raise, and appoint a spokesperson if you wish. As in the Autumn term, the topics generally concentrate on the analysis of a number of chosen cantos, but this should ultimately serve as the basis for the discussion of broader issues. Brief suggestions on the issues to discuss in the seminars are offered below, but you are strongly encouraged to add more topics for discussion. Remember to outline the general context of the canto/cantos you deal with as well as their main ideological, philosophical, theological, and rhetorical features (for more help on how to prepare a seminar see ‘Guidelines’ on p. 8).
1 Statius and Virgil: Dante’s attitude to Classical antiquity Study group : · Comment upon Statius’s attitude towards poetry and the poet Virgil in Purgatorio 21-22 · Analyse the significance of the conversation about Limbo in Purgatorio 22 · What does Dante’s treatment of Statius tell us about his attitude to Virgil, Statius and in general, to the historical and cultural role of the poets and intellectuals of the ancient world? · In the light of your answer to the previous question, why is Cato chosen as guardian of the shores of Purgatory? 2 Dante and the vernacular literary tradition Study group · Who are the poets that Dante meets in Purgatorio 24 and 26? · What was their historical and cultural role/significance? · What is Dante’s attitude towards them? · Who are the best poets according to Dante? · What do these cantos say about Dante’s own poetry?
3 The sweetness of loving God Study group Analyse and comment upon the following features of Paradiso 3: · The nature of beatitude as described by Piccarda. · The Order of the Universe. · Characterisation and individuality in Paradiso. · The vocabulary and language of bliss.
4 God’s Empire Study group Analyse and comment upon the following features of Paradiso 6: · Dante’s political utopia: unity versus division. · The theology of the Empire. · The praise of active life. · Romeo da Villanova, the exul immeritus.
5 Love and Politics Study group Analyse and comment upon the following features of Paradiso 8 and 9: · The nature of love in Paradiso (charity). · The identification of love and politics. · Predestination and free will. · Poetry and poets in Paradiso. · The poetics of neologisms.
6 God’s Justice and the problem of salvation Study group Analyse and comment upon the following features of Paradiso 19 and 20:
9 · The relationship between divine and human justice. · The problem of salvation. · Dante’s invective. · Politics as caritas. · Rifeo and the tragedy of Virgil.
7 The fury of Peter Study group Analyse and comment upon the following features of Paradiso 26-27: · Dante’s view of the decadence of the Church. · Prophetic poetry and the language of God’s wrath. · The presence of earthly matters in heaven.
8 The heavenly rose and St Bernard Study group Analyse and comment upon the following features of Paradiso 30-31: · The form of Heaven. · The poetry of ineffability (language, symbols and metaphors) · The loss and triumph of Beatrice. · St. Bernard and the prayer to Mary.
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GUIDELINES FOR SEMINARS, PRESENTATIONS AND COMMENTARIES
a A very brief guide to seminar and presentations a
Prepare yourself: read the canto(s) more than once [it is good practice to read (if you haven’t already done so) also the canto preceding and following the one(s) you are going to discuss]. A second reading will allow you to note down details about the poet’s choices. Leave adequate time for reading, and consultation with the other members of your group. Define your aims and objectives: decide what the important issues are, what it is that you want to communicate to your audience, and how best to express it. Bear in mind the time limitations. Try to concentrate on important points. Aim not to describe but to explain the significance of the facts you are bringing to the attention of your audience. Interact with your audience: try not to read from a script but speak fluently and slowly about you ideas and points. Take your time, engage your audience, look at them, speak to them, ask questions (provide handouts or any material you think might help your audience). A good presentation should be able to stimulate topics for discussion and raise unresolved questions or problems. Organize your team and pace yourself: you might decide to elect a spokesperson or divide the material of your presentation among all the members or the team. Whatever your choice, pay attention to the time limits (25 minutes) and leave time for discussion.
a A very brief guide on how to write a commentary a (Also useful for presentations)
· Organise your material in a revealing and principled way, i.e. § Providing an effective introduction and conclusion § Addressing important features and linking them together rather that simply moving through the passage line by line. · Clearly and accurately contextualise the passage · Assess the passage’s significance in the text as a whole · Show a good understanding of the passage’s content. Under no circumstances whatsoever should you simply summarise the passage. · Offer an appreciation of the passage’s style and language · Show a wider knowledge of the text by relating your remarks on content and form to the text as a whole · Use secondary material · Where relevant, show wider knowledge of the culture and the literature of the Middle Ages.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. Texts
La Divina Commedia. You are expected to own a copy of the edition by Natalino Sapegno (3 vols, Florence 1985), for its excellent commentary, an indispensable aid to your study. You will also find it useful to have a copy of either: Inferno and Purgatorio, transl. R. and J. Hollander, Doubleday, 2000-2003; or: C. Singleton, Dante: The Divine Comedy, Princeton: University Press, 1970. The Divine Comedy, transl. M. Musa, 3 vols, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1984-85
2. Minor Works Reference to Dante's ‘minor works' is essential for your understanding of the Comedv.
La Vita Nuova, ed. D. De Robertis, Milan-Naples: Ricciardi, 1980 (Transl. by B. Reynolds, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1969).
Il Convivio, ed. C. Vasoli, in Dante Alighieri, Opere minori, 2 vols, Milan- Naples: Rieciardi, 1979-88, I/ii. (Transl. by C. Ryan, Saratoga: ANMA Libri, 1989).
De vulgari eloquentia, ed. P. V. Mengaido, in Opere minori cit., I, (Transl. by S. Botterill, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996). d) Monarchia, ed. B. Nardi, in Opere minori cit., I, (Transl. by P. James, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995).
Letters, ed. A. Frugoni and G. Brugnoli, in Opere minori cit., I, (Transl. by P. J. Toynbee, Oxford, Clarendon Press,1962).
II. Background
A basic knowledge of medieval history, and a grasp of the principal intellectual and cultural currents of the time are important to help you understand Dante and his poem. Since any attempt to read these books in full would prevent you from concentrating on the Comedy, you would be well advised to use only those sections which will help you to improve your understanding of the Commedia.
1. History
Medieval Italy: an encyclopedia, C. Kleinhenz, ed., New York-London: Routledge, 2004.
R. H. C. Davis, A History of Medieval Europe, London: Longman, 1970
J. K. Hyde, Society and Politics in Medieval Italy, London: Macmillan, 1973
J. Larner, Italy in the Ag e of Dante and Petrarch 1216-1380, London & New York: Longman, 1980
F. Schevill, Medieval and Renaissance Florence, 2 vols, New York: Frederick Ungar, 1963: in particular vol. 1. chapters 8-14
2. Culture and Thought
E. Auerbach, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature, Princeton: Princeton UP, 1968, pp. 3-202
12 E. R. Curtius, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, London: RKP, 1953
E. Gilson, Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages, London: Sheed and Ward, 1955
D. Knowles, The Evolution of Medieval Thought, London: Longman, 1970
C. S. Lewis, The Discarded Image, Cambridge: CUP, 1964 (well-written and wide-ranging survey of the medieval concept of the universe)
A. J. Minnis, Medieval Theory of Authorship, Aldershot: Scolar Press, 1988
A. J. Minnis and A. B. Scott (eds), Medieval Literary Theory and Criticism, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988
J. J. Murphy, Rhetoric in the Middle Ages, Berkeley-Los Angeles-London: University of California Press, 1974
A. Petrucci, Writers and readers in medieval Italy : studies in the history of written culture, New Haven- London: Yale University Press, 1995.
B. B. Price, Medieval Thought, Oxford: Blackwell, 1992
III. Criticism on Dante
The critical writings which follow must be considered primarily as 'guides' to help you appreciate the Comedy, they must not be treated as substitutes for it. You cannot expect these studies to give you all the answers. Instead, you will have to try to discover those books, or parts of books, which will be most helpful and stimulating to you personally. The lists which follow are very basic.
1. Reference and Encyclopedias
A vast store of information on all aspects of Dante’s life and writings, ranging from individual words to a survey of Florentine history, can be found in:
Enciclopedia dantesca, 5 vols, Rome, 1970-76. In the Appendice, vol 6, 1979 comprises a biography of Dante, analyses of his language and style, the critical editions of all his works, and a bibliography. For a very useful alternative, see The Dante Encyclopedia, ed. Richard Lansing, New York, Garland, 2000. Also useful is: The Oxford Companion to Italian Literature, ed. P. Hainsworth & D. Robey (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)
2. General studies on Dante (philosophical, theological, political and literary issues)
E. Auerbach, ‘Figura’, in his Scenes from the Drama of European Literature, New York: Meridian, 1959, pp. 11-76 (an impressive survey of the meaning and function of 'figuralism' from classical times to its culmination in D.)
------, Dante: Poet of the Secular World, [1929], transl. R. Manheim, Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1961, [Midway Reprint 1988]
Z. G. Baranski, ‘Sole nuovo. luce nuova’. Saggi sul rinnovamento culturale in Dante, Turin: Scriptorium, 1996.
------, I segni di Dante, Napoli: Loffredo, 2000
13
G. Barblan, ed., Dante e la Bibbia, Florence: Olschki, 1988.
T. Barolini, Dante's Poets, Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984
P. Boyde, Dante Philomythes and Philosopher, Cambridge: CUP, 1981
------, Human Vices & Human Worth in Dante’s Comedy, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000
G. Contini, Un'idea di Dante, Turin: Einaudi, 1976 (fundamental, although very difficult to read).
M. Corti, La felicità mentale, Turin: Einaudi, 1983
------, Percorsi dell'invenzione: il linguaggio poetico e Dante, Turin: Einaudi, 1993.
C. T. Davis, Dante and the Idea of Rome, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957
------, Dante’s Italy and Other Essays, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984
P. Dronke, Dante and Medieval Latin Traditions, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1986
A. P. d'Entreves, Dante as a Political Thinker, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1952
J. M. Ferrante, The Political Vision of the ‘Divine Comedy’, Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984
K. Foster, The Two Dante’s and Other Essays, London; Darton, Longman & Todd, 1977
E. Gilson, Dante the Philosopher, London: Sheed and Ward, 1948
R. Hollander, Studies in Dante, Ravenna: Longo, 1980
A.A. Iannucci (ed), Dante e la "bella scola" della poesia: Autorità e sfida poetica, Ravenna: Longo, 1993
P.V. Mengaldo, Linguistica e retorica di Dante, Pisa: Nistri-Lischi, 1978
B. Nardi, "Filosofia e teologia ai tempi di Dante in rapporto al pensiero del poeta', in his Saggi e note di critica dantesca, Milan-Naples: Ricciardi, 1966, pp. 3-109
------, ‘Whether Dante Was a True Prophet’, in Critical Essays on Dante, ed. G. Mazzotta, Boston:G.K.Hall &Co., 1991, pp. 113-118
------, Dante e la cultura medievale, ed. P. Mazzantini, Roma: Laterza, 1983 (first edition: 1942).
G. Padoan, Introduzione a Dante, Florence: Sansoni, 1975
G. Petrocchi, Vita di Dante, Bari: Laterza, 1983
M. Reeves, ‘Dante and the Prophetic View of History’, in The World of Dante, ed. C. Grayson, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980, pp. 44-60
3. Collections of essays by different authors on Dante’s works
J. Barnes & J. Petrie (eds), Word and Drama in Dante, Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1993
J. Barnes & C. O. Cuillenain (eds), Dante and the Middle Ages, Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1995.
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Th. Cachey (ed), Dante Now, Notre Dame: Notre Dame University Press, 1995
Dante: da Firenze all' aldilà / atti del terzo Seminario dantesco internazionale (Firenze, 9-11 giugno 2000); a cura di M. Picone, Firenze : F. Cesati, 2001.
Dante for the new millennium, T. Barolini and H. W. Storey eds, New York: Fordham University Press, 2003.
A. A. Iannucci (ed), Dante, Toronto: Toronto UP, 1997
R. Jacoff (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Dante, Cambridge: CUP, 1993
C. Grayson (ed), The World of Dante, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1979
Per correr miglior acque ... : bilanci e prospettive degli studi danteschi alle soglie del nuovo millennio: atti del Convegno internazionale di Verona-Ravenna, 25-29 ottobre 1999 sotto l'alto patronato del Presidente della Repubblica, Roma: Salerno, 2001.
M. Picone (ed.), Dante e le forme dell’allegoresi, Ravenna: Longo, 1987
3. Criticism on La Divina Commedia (studies dealing primarily with the poem as a whole, or with individual cantiche)
Z. G. Baranski, ‘La lezione esegetica di Inferno I: Allegoria, storia e letteratura nelia Commedia’, in M. Picone (ed.), cit., pp. 79-97.
------, ‘“Primo tra cotanto senno”. Dante and the Latin Comic Tradition’, Italian Studies, 46 (1991), 1-36.
------, ‘Dante and Medieval Poetics’, A. A. Iannucci (ed), Dante, Toronto: Toronto UP, 1997, 3-22.
------, “‘Infiata labbia' and 'dolce stil novo’: A Note on Dante, Ethics, and the Technical Vocabulary of Literature”, in Sotto il segno di Dante. Scritti in onore di Francesco Mazzoni, ed. D. De Robertis & L. Coglievina (Firenze: Le Lettere, 1998) 17-35
T. Barolini, Dante's Poets: Textuality and Truth in the Comedy, Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984
------, The Undivine Comedy, Prineeton: Princeton UP, 1992.
L. Battaglia Ricci, Dante e la tradizione letteraria medievale, Pisa: Giardini, 1983.
D. Gibbons, Metaphor in Dante, Oxford: Legenda, 2002
P. S. Hawkins, Dante's testaments : essays on scriptural imagination, Stanford, Calif : Stanford University Press, 1999
R. Hollander, Allegory in Dante's 'Commedia', Princeton: Princeton UP, 1969
------, ‘Dante’s Commedia and the Classical Tradition’, in The ‘Divine Comedy’ and the Encyclopedia of Arts and Sciences, ed. G. Di Scipio & A. Scaglione, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: J. Benjamins,1988, 15-26
------, Il Virgilio Dantesco: Tragedia nella "Commedia”, Firenze: L.S. Olschki, 1983
15 G. Mazzotta, Dante's Vision and the Circle of Knowledge, Princeton: Princeton UP, 1993
A. Morgan, Dante and the Medieval Other World, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1990
R. Jacoff and T.Jeffrey (eds.), The Poetry of Allusion: Virgil and Ovid in Dante's Commedia, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991
L. Pertile, La puttana e il gigante. Il Cantico dei cantici e il Paradiso Terrestre, Ravenna: Longo, 1997.
G. Petrocchi, L'Inferno' di Dante, Milan: Rizzoli, 1978, 11 'Purgatorio' di Dante, ibid; and 11. 'Paradiso' di Dante, ibid.
J. A.Scott, Dante magnanimo: studi sulla Commedia, Florence: Olshki, 1977.
C.S. Singleton, 'Commedia': Elements of Structure, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1954
------, Journey to Beatrice, ibid., 1958
4. Further readings on the Divine Comedy
Inferno
P. Armour, ‘Brunetto, the Stoic Pessimist’, Dante Studies 112 (1994), 1-18
Z. G. Baranski, ‘The “Marvellous” and the “Comic”: Toward a Reading of Inferno XVI’, Lectura Dantis 7 (1990), 72-95
T. Barolini, ‘Dante’s Ulysses: Narrative and Transgression’, in A. A. Iannucci (ed), Dante, Toronto: Toronto UP, 1997, 113-132
K. Gross, ‘Infernal Metamorphoses: An Interpretation of Dante’s “Counterpass”’, MLN 100 (1985), 42-69
A. Hatcher & M. Musa, ‘The Kiss: Inferno V and the Old French Prose Lancelot’, Comparative Literature, 20 (1968), 97-109
M. Musa, ‘Inferno V: Text and Commentary’, Lectura Dantis 8 (1991), in particular 122-33
S. Noakes, ‘The Double Misreading of Paolo and Francesca’, Philological Quarterly 62 (1983), 221- 239
J. Pequigney, ‘Sodomy in Dante’s Inferno and Purgatorio’, Representations 36 (1991), 22-42
M. Picone, ‘Poetic Discourse and Courtly Love: An Intertextual Analysis of Inferno 5’, Lectura Dantis Newberryana, ed. P. Cherchi & A.C. Mastrobuono, vol II (1990), 173-186
J. A. Scott, ‘Inferno XXVI: Dante’s Ulysses, Lettere Italiane 23 (1971), 145-186
Purgatorio
P. Armour, Dante’s Griffin anf the History of the World, Oxford: Oxford UP, 1989 ------, The Door of Purgatory, Oxford: Oxford UP, 1983
K. Foster, ‘Dante’s Idea of Love’, in From Time to Eternity: Essays on Dante’s Divine Comedy, ed. T. Bergin, New Haven: Yale UP, 1967
16 J. Le Goff, The birth of Purgatory, London: Scolar Press, 1984
J. A. Scott, Dante’s Political Purgatory, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996
Paradiso
M. Chiarenza, ‘Dante’s Lady Poverty’, in Dante Studies CXI (1993), 153-75
F. Ferrucci, ‘Paradiso I’, in Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’: Introductory Readings. III: Paradiso, ed. T. Wlassics, Lectura Dantis Virginiana 16-17 (1995), pp. 3-13
L. Pertile,’Paradiso: A Drama of Desire’, in Word and Drama in Dante, ed s. J.C.Barnes & J. Petrie, Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1993, pp. 143-180. Also in Iannucci, pp. 148-66
L. Pertile, ‘Poesia a scienza nell’ultima immagine del Paradiso’, in Dante e la scienza, a cura di P Boyde e V. Russo, Ravenna: Longo, 1995, pp. 133-148
Collections of lecturae (articles on single cantos)
G. Getto (ed.), Letture dantesche, 3 vols, Florence: Sansoni, 1955-61
P. Giannantonio (ed.), Lectura Dantis Neapolitana, Naples: Loffredo, 1982
M. Marcazzan (ed.), Lectura Dantis Scaligera, 3 vols, Florence: Le Monnier, 1967-68
A. Masciandaro (ed.), Nuove letture dantesche, 8 vols, Florence: Le Monnier, 1966-76
T. Wlassics (ed.), Dante's "Divine Comedy": Introductory Readings, 3 vols, Charlottesville: n.p., 1990-95
Journals
Studi danteschi, L'Alighieri, Lectura Dantis and Dante Studies, and the annual collection of essays Letture Classensi, Ravenna: Longo, 1966-.
Web-sites http://dante.ilt.columbia.edu/net/dante.html, with very good links. http://www.princeton.edu/~dante/
COURSEWORK AND ASSESSMENT
AUTUMN TERM
The assessment for this term is based on a twofold exercise: writing a commentary and a literary review.
1) Write a 1800/2000-word commentary on 60 lines of your choice from any of the following cantos: Inferno III, VIII, XIII, XVIII, XX, XXVIII, XXXIV; Purgatorio III, IX, XIII, XIX. NB you can write your commentary on the same canto/os you did your presentation on. For general guidelines on how to write a commentary see p. 11. When writing your commentary make appropriate use of secondary sources and quote from the Italian original please!
2) Write a 1000/1200 word literary review of one of the following article/ group of articles:
17 a) E. Auerbach, ‘Figura’, in his Scenes from the Drama of European Literature, New York: Meridian, 1959, pp. 11-76 b) Z. G. Baranski, ‘La lezione esegetica di Inferno I: Allegoria, storia e letteratura nella Commedia’, in M. Picone (ed.), Dante e le forme dell’allegoresi, Ravenna: Longo, 1987, pp. 79-97 c) D. Gibbons, “Metaphor from the Inferno and Purgatorio to the Paradiso” in his Metaphor in Dante, Oxford: Legenda, 2002, pp. 39-57 d) J. A. Scott, ‘Inferno XXVI: Dante’s Ulysses, Lettere Italiane 23 (1971), 145-186 e) M. Picone, ‘Poetic Discourse and Courtly Love: An Intertextual Analysis of Inferno 5’, Lectura Dantis Newberryana, ed. P. Cherchi & A.C. Mastrobuono, vol II (1990), 173-186 and K. Foster, ‘Dante’s Idea of Love’, in his From Time to Eternity: Essays on Dante’s Divine Comedy, ed. T. Bergin, New Haven: Yale UP, 1967 f) R. Hollander, ‘Dante’s Commedia and the Classical Tradition’, in The ‘Divine Comedy’ and the Encyclopedia of Arts and Sciences, ed. G. Di Scipio & A. Scaglione, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: J. Benjamins,1988, 15-26 or ‘The Tragedy of Divination in Inferno XX’, in his Studies in Dante, Ravenna: Longo, 1980, pp. 131- 218 g) Any of the chapters in P. S. Hawkins, Dante's testaments : essays on scriptural imagination, Stanford, Calif : Stanford University Press, 1999 h) L. Pertile, ‘Dante's Comedy beyond the Stilnovo’, In Lectura Dantis, XIII (Fall, 1993), pp. 47-77. or R. Hollander, ‘Dante’s «dolce stil novo» and the Comedy’ (263-281), in Dante. Mito e poesia. Atti del secondo Seminario dantesco internazionale (Monte Verità, Ascona, 23-27 giugno 1997), M. Picone and T.Crivelli (eds), Firenze: Cesati Editore, 1999. i) R. Hollander, ‘Dante Theologus-Poeta’, in Studies in Dante, Ravenna, Longo, 1980, pp. 39-89 l) M. Reeves, ‘Dante and the Prophetic View of History’, in The World of Dante, ed. C. Grayson, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1980, pp. 44-60 m) Z. Baranski,, ‘Dante and Medieval Poetics’, A. A. Iannucci (ed), Dante, Toronto: Toronto UP, 1997, 3-22.
WHAT IS A LITERARY REVIEW? A review is not simply a summary. It describes key elements of the book/article and your opinion of how well the author has succeeded in using those elements to prove his point. Summarize the book/article; state the author's aims and how well he achieves them; discuss the theme or major issues in the book/article, quote passages from it to support your argument.
SPRING TERM
This term course work will involve 1 essay which should be no longer than 3000 words.
1. Discuss Dante’s anticlericalism in the Comedy. 2. Discuss Dante’s treatment of poets and poetry in Purgatorio. 3. Paradiso is the cantica of desire. Discuss.
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