Department of French and Italian

This course offers an intensive reading of Dante’s Inferno, the first cantica of the Divine Comedy. The Inferno recounts Dante’s journey to an underworld populated with sinners and infernal creatures, as well as historic, contemporary, and mythological figures. What is Dante’s attitude towards these characters? How does he envision virtues and sins, good and evil? While exploring the relation between human and divine justice, Dante’s rendering of the afterlife thoroughly engages with the world of the living, including his readers, who are constantly addressed during the narrative. After being exiled from the city of Florence, Dante seeks to reshape his reputation by exposing his public to delicate moral dilemmas in order to collectively rescue human beings from perdition. As we read the poem, we will address questions of style and poetic justice; challenge the definitions of Middle Ages and modernity; and linger on the geography of Hell. Taught in English.

FRIT-M 236       #30869        1:15P-2:30P       TuTh         GA 0009          Prof. Filippo Petricca