LT 330 - Dante's Commedia in Historical Context

The course focuses on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy as a fundamental text of Western civilization. The course considers the value of the Commedia within the history of literature, the relationship between author and environmental context, as well as the transition from the Middle Ages to Humanism. In this course, a particular attention is paid to Dante's Inferno (Hell) in order to deal with the importance of this part of the Commedia also for our contemporary times. Alongside the commentary and analysis of an illustrative group of chosen cantos, the course includes historical, philosophical, biblical and theological investigations referring to the Commedia not as an isolated work of literature in itself, but as an ‘encyclopedia’. Furthermore, the course connects the readings with the local context.