Italian

Dante: A Life, Alessandro Barbero (2021)

January 17, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“So the biographer must ultimately choose: Either hew to the evidence and ferret out whatever rare nugget about Dante’s life remains uncovered, or surrender to the genius of the work he called his Comedìa and try to broker a fragile peace between literary interpretation and life writing.

“In a new biography timed (in its original Italian publication) to the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death in 1321 and translated fluidly by Allan Cameron, the Italian historian and novelist Alessandro Barbero chooses the first option. His vita, or life, of Dante, revisits some of the perennial riddles in Dante studies: Did the poet make it to Paris during his exile? (Barbero believes yes, contrary to most.) What was Dante’s socioeconomic class? (In Barbero’s view, higher than many think.) While still in Florence before his exile, did Dante conceive the project that would later become his Comedy? (Perhaps so, Barbero argues, once again against the grain.)

“We can be grateful to Barbero for this richly informative biography of a man who can seem so reticent and aloof that at times it feels as if he’s hiding behind the 14,233 verses of “The Divine Comedy” rather than revealing himself. But for those who are looking to learn more about the Dante in us, a biography has to do more than deliver the plausible facts. And so the quest for a vita of Dante in English will likely lead us right back to where Emerson suggested: the poetry from Dante’s own hand.” [. . .] — Joseph Luzzi, The New York Times, January 4, 2022 (retrieved January 17, 2022)

See our other post relating to Barbero and the 700th Anniversary here.

Antonio Gramsci, Quaderni del carcere (1929-1935)

November 28, 2021 By Professor Elizabeth Coggeshall

Scholars Marco Grimaldi and Milena Russo have argued that Dante’s works—especially his depiction of Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti in Inferno 10—played pivotal role in the political philosophy of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. Grimaldi and Russo gathered Gramsci’s Dante-related works in their edited collection Il canto decimo dell’inferno e altri scritti su Dante, published by Castelvecchi in 2021, the year of the seventh centenary of Dante’s death.

From the publisher’s website: “Dante è al centro degli interessi di Gramsci fin dall’inizio della scrittura dei Quaderni del carcere. La Commedia è uno dei libri richiesti subito dopo l’arresto; è dantesco uno degli «argomenti principali»; Dante è spesso associato a Machiavelli come rappresentante della corrente laica della letteratura italiana; la penultima nota è una riflessione sulla «quistione della lingua» a partire dal De vulgari. Ma all’interno dell’opera di Gramsci è possibile individuare un nucleo più definito che ruota attorno al canto decimo dell’Inferno e a Cavalcante Cavalcanti, padre di Guido, che prende avvio da uno scritto del 1918 e si concretizza in una sezione del Quaderno IV e in un gruppo di lettere. In tutte queste pagine – che qui si raccolgono – Gramsci usa Dante per riflettere su alcuni dei temi fondamentali dei Quaderni: il rapporto tra poesia e struttura, il ruolo degli intellettuali, la ‘popolarità’ della letteratura italiana.” —Castelvecchi Editore

“From the Dark Wood to Paradise: Dante Alighieri at the University of Nairobi” (2021)

November 7, 2021 By Sephora Affa, FSU '24

“The University of Nairobi’s Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Literature, the Italian Embassy, and the Italian cultural institute collaborated on a conference dubbed ‘From the Dark Wood to Paradise: Dante Alighieri at the University of Nairobi.’

“During the event, excerpts of the audiobook version of From the Dark Wood to Paradise were read to the participants in English, Kiswahili, and Italian; some parts of the Divine Comedy have been translated into 33 languages including Swahili.

“(The event) also included a segment for the collaborators to share their perspectives.

“Speaking at the conference, the Italian Ambassador to Kenya, Ambassador Alberto Pieri noted that some Italian words are used in Kenya and across the globe thus showcasing the undeniable influences of Italian culture to the world.

“‘There is no better partner in terms of culture than Italy because culture goes back to the Greco-Roman period. Aspects of culture and technology like road-building are drawn from that early cultural heritage. As a university, we would like to see this collaboration grow into a full collaboration where we are able to interact in terms of theatre and languages’ (Dean Faculty of Arts, Prof. Ephraim Wahome).

“‘The Italian language has been part of the population of the country of Kenya for a long time. Malindi for example has often been referred to as Little Italy since the late 60s because of its cultural inclination’ (Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Stephen Kiama).

“‘He is part of what came to be known as three crowns of Italian literature. The others are the writer Giovanni Boccaccio well known for his text and Francesco Petrarch the father of the Renaissance movement. Indeed, the works of the three crowns of Italian literature have been known to comprise an entire teaching unit in English and literature departments the world over signaling the importance of the contribution of the Italian language to world literature’ (Alex Wanjala, Dept. of Linguistics, Languages, and Literature).

“Dante Alighieri at University of Nairobi concluded with the screening of the film The Sky over Kibera by Marco Martinelli (Teatro delle Albe).” [. . .] —University of Nairobi, October 27, 2021

See also the related post about The Sky over Kibera here.

Virgil Costume

November 2, 2021 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

Sold by Italian costume company Carnival Pegasus, this Virgil costume consists of a one-piece white and gold tunic with a leaf hair-piece. It is available in four sizes from Adult Small to Extra Large and can be purchased for 37.80 euros online here.

The description notes that it may be “perfetto per recite, saggi scolastici, rappresentazioni, feste di Compleanno, Travestimenti, feste a tema, Cosplay, giochi di finzione, giochi di ruolo, Carnevale e sfilate di Carnevale.”[. . .] —Carnival Pegasus

The company also makes costumes for Beatrice and Dante.

Beatrice Costume

November 2, 2021 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

Sold by Italian costume company Carnival Pegasus, this Beatrice costume consists of a one-piece white and gold tunic with a white cap and blonde wig. It is available in two sizes from Adult Small to Medium and can be purchased for 41.00 euros online here.

The company also makes costumes for Virgil and Dante.

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