Dante: Contemporary Perspectives

Front Cover
Amilcare A. Iannucci, Iannotius Manettus
University of Toronto Press, 1997 M01 1 - 299 pages

Dante: Contemporary Perspectivesgathers recent and newly commissioned articles on Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), whose epic the Divine Comedy, is one of the landmarks of world literature. The essays in this volume probe current critical assumptions about the celebrated Italian poet, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political theorist. Dante's attitude towards poetic authority and language comes under scrutiny in several essays, while others examine his political thought and his views on women and gender. Several articles focus exclusively on the Divine Comedy, and, in particular, on its distinctive textual characteristics. There are new readings of two of the Divine Comedy'smost important episodes - those of Paolo and Francesca, the Earthly Paradise, and Ulysses- whose significance extends far beyond their immediate contexts. These essays bring into focus Dante's bold narrative innovations and reflections on literature and history.

 

Contents

Dante and Medieval Poetics
3
Palinode and History in the Oeuvre of Dante
23
Dante and the Classics
51
Biblical Citation in the Divine
74
Metaphor and History Inferno
94
Narrative and Transgression
113
Narrative Design in Dantes Earthly Paradise
133
Dante
148
Dante and the Authority of Poetic Language
167
Dante and Politics
181
Dante and Androgyny
195
Orality in the Reception of Dantes Comedy
214
Interpreting the Commentary Tradition to the Comedy
240
Readers Application and the Moment of Truth in Dantes
259
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
281
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About the author (1997)

Amilcare A. Iannucci is a professor with the Centre for Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto.

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