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Dante in Translation

Yale,, Fall 2008 , Prof. Giuseppe Mazzotta

Updated On 02 Feb, 19

Overview

(ITAL 310) The course is an introduction to Dante and his cultural milieu through a critical reading of The Divine Comedy and selected minor works (Vita nuova, Convivio, De vulgari eloquentia, Epistle to Cangrande). An analysis of Dante's autobiography, the Vita nuova, establishes the poetic and political circumstances of the Comedy's composition. Readings of Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso seek to situate Dante's work within the intellectual and social context of the late Middle Ages, with special attention paid to political, philosophical and theological concerns. Topics in The Divine Comedy explored over the course of the semester include the relationship between ethics and aesthetics; love and knowledge; and exile and history.

Includes

Lecture 11: Purgatory V, VI, IX, X

4.1 ( 11 )


Lecture Details

Dante in Translation (ITAL 310)

This lecture covers Purgatory V, VI, IX and X. The purgatorial theme of freedom introduced in the previous lecture is revisited in the context of Canto V, where Buonconte da Montefeltros appearance among the last minute penitents is read as a critique of the genealogical bonds of natural necessity. The poet passes from natural to civic ancestry in Purgatory VI, where the mutual affection of Virgil and Sordello, a former citizen of the classical poets native Mantua, sparks an invective against the mutual enmity that enslaves contemporary Italy. The transition from ante-Purgatory to Purgatory proper in Canto IX leads to an elaboration on the moral and poetic structure of Purgatory, exemplified on the terrace of pride in Canto X.

0000 - Chapter 1. Tension between the Old and the New Moral Purification
0454 - Chapter 2. Canto V Retrospective Knowledge; Buonconte da Montefeltro; Pia de Tolomei
1522 - Chapter 3. Canto VI The Political Canto
3522 - Chapter 4. Marking the Rupture in Canto IX
4008 - Chapter 5. Canto X The World of Art; The Idea of Measurement
4857 - Chapter 6. Learning How to Look; More on Measurement
011004 - Chapter 7. Question and Answer

Ratings

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Comments
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Sam

Excellent course helped me understand topic that i couldn't while attendinfg my college.

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Dembe

Great course. Thank you very much.

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