Dante
Published on 8. May 2008
320 pages
978-0-470-77987-3 (ISBN)
Description
A comprehensive guide to Dante's life and literature, with anemphasis on his Commedia. This text looks at the influencesthat shaped Dante's writing, and the reception of his work bylater readers, from the 14th century to the present.
* * Introduces Dante through four main approaches: the context ofhis life and career; his literary and cultural traditions; keythemes, episodes and passages in his own work, especially theCommedia; and the reception and appropriation of his work bylater readers, from the fourteenth century to the present
* Written by an expert Dante scholar
* Provides new translations of substantial passages fromDante's poems and from the world of his contemporaries
* Includes explanatory diagrams of Dante's 'other-worlds',and a section of illustrations by medieval and modern artists
* Builds a vivid and complex picture of Dante's imagination,intellect and literary presence
* Helpful bibliographies include relevant web resources
Reviews / Votes
"A richly nuanced discussion that offers an excellent introductionto Dante and will be read with profit by anyone coming to the greatpoet for the first time. ... This is a useful and informativeintroduction to Dante, wide in its scope and accessible in itspresentation." (Notes and Queries, December 2009) "It is a book that can be read profitably from cover to cover,or it can be used as a resource for the reader who, for pedagogicalor informational purposes, wants to pick and choose."(Speculum-A Journal of Medieval Studies, April 2009) "All-in-one book covers everything ... .Written in clean,accessible prose. Even Dante experts will enjoy Havely's refreshercourse. Vital in the library and classroom. Essential."(CHOICE, July 2008)"All-in-one book covers everything ... .Written in clean, accessible prose. Even Dante experts will enjoy Havely's refresher course. Vital in the library and classroom. Esssential." ChoiceMore details
Other editions
Person
Nick Havely has taught courses on Dante and on medievalliterature for over thirty years at the University of York. Hispublished work on Italian trecento poetry began with a volume oftranslations: Chaucer's Boccaccio: Sources for Troilus and theKnight's and Franklin's Tales (1980; reissued 1992) andincludes Dante's Modern Afterlife: Reception and Response fromBlake to Heaney (1998) and Dante and the Franciscans:Poverty and the Papacy in the 'Commedia' (2004). He has recentlybeen awarded a Leverhulme Research Fellowship for his next project,which is a study entitled Dante in the English-Speaking World,from the Fourteenth Century to the Present.
Content
List of Plates and Diagrams.
Acknowledgements.
Introduction: How to Use This Book.
Abbreviations.
Chronology of Significant Events, c.1200-1321.
Map: Dante's Italy, c.1300.
Landmarks of a Life.
From the Baptistery to the Ponte Vecchio.
Learning in Florence.
From Florence to San Godenzo.
Landscapes of Exile.
Texts and Traditions.
Books, Authors, Libraries, Media.
Pagan Culture.
The Bible.
Faith Seeking Understanding: Christian Traditions of Thoughtbefore Dante.
Saints, Contemplatives, Visionaries.
History, Politics, Science.
The Mother Tongue and the New Style.
Reading Dante.
Seeking Guidance.
Writing the City.
Confronting the Church.
Imagining Sin and Sainthood.
Understanding Love.
The Shadow of the Argo: Travel, Poetics, Language.
Postscript: Dante's Readers.
Chronology of Significant Events in Dante's Afterlife,1322-2006.
Commentary, Criticism, Canonization.
Picturing and Performing the Commedia.
Controversy, Conflict, Crime.
Purgatorio: Poetics and Politics.
A Conversation about the Paradiso.
Glossary of Literary Terms.
Works Cited.
Electronic Resources.
Index
