Authority - the established notion of literary authority was also something Dante
sought to challenge in writing his Commedia. In the Inferno IV Dante seeks to place
himself among the classical writers Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan and Virgil, (considered
untouchable in Dante’s cultural context), thereby becoming ‘the sixth amongst such
wisdom’. At this point Dante was far from the literary giant we know him to be today,
writing the Commedia in exile with little more than a few love poems and incomplete,
unpublished treaties to his name. Yet even despite this, to seek to place oneself amongst the revered classical writers would have been an unprecedented thing to do,
particularly within a vernacular work. In fact, later on in Inferno XXV, Dante even
suggests that he has surpassed them, writing ‘Let Lucan now fall silent’.
Vernacular - The use of the vernacular in writing a work of such magnitude is truly
what sets Dante apart as a revolutionary poet. Latin was the language of authoritative
literature at the time, with the vernacular viewed by the majority as unworthy and
lowly, the language of the uneducated people. In his Latin works such as the Convivio and De Vulgari Eloquentia, Dante looked to assert the vernacular as more noble and worthy than Latin, and in writing the Commedia in the Florentine vernacular, which
has since shaped modern Italian, he certainly achieved this to a certain extent. By
discussing great theological and philosophical subjects in the vernacular, Dante brought literature into a wider audience, and dignified the common
tongue in which it was
written.
Style – Dante’s revolutionary use of language also extends to his varying register and
style. In the Inferno XVIII Dante uses incredibly visceral, bodily language to describe
the torments of damned, and the punishment of Thais who scratches herself with
‘unghie merdose’ or ‘shitty nails’. Whereas later on, in Paradiso, Dante uses sublime and highly metaphorical language to better render his depiction of heaven.
In summary, it was certainly clear that Dante can be considered a revolutionary poet, and
Tristan’s talk was a fantastic insight into Dante’s poetry, both for those with a keen interest, and those new to it.
it Is certainly clear that Dante can be
considered a revolutionary poet;
Tristan’s talk was a fantastic insight into Dante’s poetry, both for those with a keen interest,
and those new to it.
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IL DIPARTIMENTO