Unit information: Dante: La Divina Commedia in 2012/13

Unit name	Dante: La Divina Commedia
Unit code	ITAL30038
Credit points	20
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Dr. Lombardi
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of Italian
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

The unit follows Dante's personal, theological and poetic journey in the Divine Comedy by covering major episodes from Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. Dante's masterpiece is located within the background of Medieval history, philosophy and literature and related to the poet's other works (Vita Nova, Convivio, de Vulgari Eloquentia, Monarchia). The theme of (earthly and divine) love, which is crucial to Dante's theology and poetic practice is the leading topic of this year's course.

This unit aims to acquaint students with one of the greatest works of literature and the environment that produced it. Students are also exposed to one of the most fascinating traits of Dante's work: the incessant experimentation with language/s and with the art of poetry.

Successful completion of this unit will enable students to assess Dante's contribution to the development not only of Italian literature but also of the Italian language, to distinguish different levels of interpretation in a literary work, to compare different critical approaches to the Commedia and then to apply their own analysis in a constructive and systematic fashion in oral presentations and essay works.

Aims:

• To introduce students to a significant body of knowledge of a complexity appropriate to final year level. The content matter will normally include one or more of the following: literature; social, cultural or political history; linguistics; cultural studies; film, television or other media.

• To facilitate students’ engagement with a body of literature, including secondary literature, texts, including in non-print media, primary sources and ideas as a basis for their own analysis and development. Normally many or most of these sources will be in a language other than English and will enhance the development of their linguistic skills.

• To develop further skills of synthesis, analysis and independent research, building on the skills acquired in units at level I.

• To equip students with the skills to undertake postgraduate study in a relevant field.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Successful students will:

• be knowledgable about a significant cultural, historical or linguistic subject related to the language they are studying;

• will have advanced skills in the selection and synthesis of relevant material;

• be able to evaluate and analyse relevant material from a significant body of source materials, usually in a foreign language, at an advanced level;

• be able to respond to questions or problems by presenting their independent judgements in an appropriate style and at an advanced level of complexity;

• be able to transfer these skills to other working environments, including postgraduate study.

Teaching Information

Two seminar hours per week across one teaching block (22 contact hours).

Assessment Information

One of the following:

a) A written assignment of 3000 words and a two hour exam (50% each)

b) A written assignment of 3000 words (25%) and a three hour exam (75%)

c) One written assignment of 6000 words (or equivalent)

d) Two written assignments of 3000 words (50% each)

e) One oral presentation (25%) plus one written assignment of 1500 words (25%) plus one written assignment of 3000 words (50%)

Reading and References

Set texts:

In Italian:

La Divina Commedia, commentary by U. Bosco G. Reggio. Firenze: LeMonnier, 1993.

Commedia, commentary by A. M. Chiavacci Leonardi. Milano: Mondadori, 1991-97.

Translations and commentary in English

The Divine Comedy, translated by Allen Mandelbaum. New York: Bantam, 1982.

The Divine Comedy, translated with a commentary by Charles Singleton. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970-75.

Preparatory reading:

Auerbach, Erich. Scenes from the Drama of European Literature, translated by Ralph Manheim, Catherine Garvin, and Erich Auerbach. New York: Meridian Books, 1959.

Barański Z. Dante e i segni:saggi per una storia intellettuale di Dante Alighieri. Napoli: Liguori, 2000.

Barolini, Teodolinda. The Undivine Comedy: Detheologizing Dante. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.

Curtius, Ernst Robert. European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages, trans. Willard R. Trask. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973.

Davis, Charles T. Dante's Italy and Other Essays. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1984.

Dronke, Peter. Dante and Medieval Latin Traditions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.

Freccero, John. Dante: The Poetics of Conversion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986.

Hollander, Robert. Allegory in Dante's Commedia. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.

Jacoff, Rachel (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Dante. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Mazzotta, Giuseppe. Dante, Poet of the Desert: History and Allegory in the Divine Comedy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979.

Singleton, Charles T. Dante Studies 1. Elements of Structure. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954.