To Hell with Dante (ITAL30007)

This subject will give students the opportunity to apply and build on skills and knowledge acquired in their study of Italian and to complete and exhibit a final group research project. The subject focuses on the study of the most important Italian literary work: Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (Inferno). Alighieri is considered the father of the Italian language and his work is one of the pillars of the concept of humanism that has had a huge impact on Western thought.

Students will develop techniques which will enable them to analyse the poetic language of the Inferno. Guided readings in secondary material will give students an understanding of some of the key medieval concepts of the Inferno. The subject is designed so that students will appreciate and interpret one of the most impressive literary works in western culture in the context of global and current perspectives. By the end of the subject, students should have acquired some understanding of the basic theological, philosophical and literary concepts of the Inferno and have developed critical strategies for interpreting its poetry. This subject will be taught in Italian.

This subject is the Capstone subject in the Italian Studies major.