#dante studies

[notdrhanniballecter]

Hanni fact #14.

Will threatened me with divorce if I purchased any more editions of Dante for the library.

I promised him a compromise: for every new English version, he gets one more dog. We're up to 3 at the moment.

*turns on Kindle which Will does NOT know the password to and cannot see how many Italian editions I have*

[notdrhanniballecter]

Hanni fact #163.

I have to assign a translation of Dante to my students next semester. I am seriously tempted to assign all of them and then send a letter of justification to my department head. I do not anticipate that going well.

Will: What will you do then? Assign the cheapest paperback available?

.... *slowly blinking* ....

I understand those words in isolation, but not together in a sentence. Especially not in connection to Dante.

Is your English malfunctioning?

[notdrhanniballecter]

Robert Hollander, Who Led Readers Into ‘The Inferno,’ Dies at 87

He and his wife wrote an admired translation of Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” and he began an innovative project to digitize centuries of scholar

I am very sorry to hear of his passing. Prof. Hollander's translation of the Commedia is not only admirable but accessible. He brought so many new students to Dante in the last 20 years. Arrivederci professore -H. G-L

"Ma Virgilio n’avea lasciati scemi di sé, Virgilio dolcissimo patre, Virgilio a cui per mia salute die’mi" -Dante, Purgatorio XXX

[emersonrichards]

South Atlantic Modern Language Association

SUNDAY (November 6th)

216. The Power of Poetry and Prose from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance

Italian I-B (Medieval and Renaissance)

Early Italian Literature Cluster Session

Sunday—10:45 am to 12:15 pm

Ellington/Salon A

Chair: Silvia Giovanardi Byer, Park University

Secretary: Maristella Cantini, University of Wisconsin

1. Guido Cavalcanti and medieval lovesickness – Rommany Jenkins, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom

2. Gaspara Stampa’s Elemental Journey: Anassilla,  donna di fuoco – Lillyrose Veneziano Broccia, University of Pennsylvania 

3. I’d Give Beatrice…A Nine Out of Ten: Dante’s Perfect Imperfection in Canto 33 of Purgatorio and the Significance of the Decad – Emerson Richards, University of Florida

[emersonrichards]

"I'd Give Beatrice a 9... out of 10"

Monday, October 3 at 3pm

Pugh 302

I will be presenting “I’d Give Beatrice a 9…out of 10” at University of Florida’s Medieval & Early Modern Studies Stammtisch. 

Complete Abstract:

I’d Give Beatrice…A Nine. Out of Ten:

Dante’s Perfect Imperfection in Canto 33 of Purgatorio and the Significance of the Decad

            An examination of the imperfect terze rime concluding Purgatorio of Dante’sCommedia clarifies the poet’s relationship with Beatrice, to the beatified, and to Art. Within Purgatorio this imperfection is framed by numerology and is emphasized, though it concludes each canticle. In the 33rd canto, the expectation of perfection is not met for several reasons and, thereby, becomes significant.

In Inferno and Paradiso, the final stanzas do not reflect the decad as the final stanza ofPurgatorio does. They are not contained within ten lines, and the terza rima is not expected to be perfect. The final stanza of Purgatorio is contained within ten lines, thus creating this expectation. However, Dante has not ascended to Paradiso; therefore, cannot produce perfection. 

            This imperfection comments on Beatrice, as a human and as a divine entity, and also Dante’s view of himself as a Christian poet. Finally, and most theoretically, this incompletion speaks to Dante’s unconsummated relationship with Beatrice.

            In Canto 19, Dante encounters the Siren in an erotic dream sequence. The Siren speaks to Dante, and her words are echolalia for Beatrice’s statement later in the canticle. The Siren speaks on the 19th line of the 19th canto. This placement within the space of 10 illuminates the significance of the final decad.

            Dante does not remark on the inability of Art, poetry, to fully manifest completion. Dante- poet is remarking about his own inability to consider his relationship with Beatrice complete, just as Dante-pilgrim remarks on the incompletion of his journey.