Description
The course centers on the works of Dante Alighieri, arguably the most important poet of the European middle ages, and his contributions to Western literature, art, and culture. It stresses Dante's synthesis of classical and Christian imagery in his masterpice, the "Divine Comedy"; his reconciliation of the secular fin amour tradition with a Christian vision of salvation; and his elevation of the vernacular Italian in a literary world dominated by Latin. We will also discuss Dante's enduring influence on literature, such as Chaucer, Spenser and modern poets such as T.S. Eliot, and on art. The course will further situate Dante in the politics of late medieval Florence - the conflict between the Pope and the Emperor and between the aristocratic Ghibellines and bourgeois Guelphs. In addition to the "Divine Comedy," the class will discuss some of Dante's shorter works, notably his early philosophical treatises. Through in-depth discussion of Dante's work in context, we will assesss his role