ITA3470

Dante

R Lampugnani

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
* Prerequisites: ITA2080 (ITA2100 pre-1997) or equivalent

Objectives At the completion of this subject students should have developed an informed understanding of: (i) the historical, cultural and political background to the Divina Commedia, (ii) Dante's literary and linguistic innovation, his contribution to the tradition of love poetry. In addition, students are expected to have acquired skills that will enable them to (iii) read in Italian (audio translation material is available for the Inferno) a selection of thirty Cantos, (iv) relate their reading of secondary sources to their reading of the Commedia, (v) comment critically on Dante's use of metrics, imagery, allegory, polysemy - on the structure of the three Cantiche: Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso - in both written form and orally through participation in tutorial discussion.

Synopsis The aim of the subject is to introduce students to the works of Dante Alighieri, the most important poet of the Middle Ages, through a reading of the Divina Commedia.

Assessment Two assignments (1500 words each): 50%
* Examination (2 hour): 35%
* Seminar participation: 15%

Prescribed texts

Alighieri D La Divina Commedia ed. Cataldi Luperini, Le Monnier, latest edition