Graduate Studies

MPhil in European Literature & Culture | Course content | Modules | IT Dante - Dante: Experiment and Exegesis

MPhil in European Literature & Culture

Italian | IT Dante

Dante: Experiment and Exegesis
(Convenor: Dr Heather Webb)

Dante's oeuvre marks a watershed in the development of Western literary culture. Each of his works, and not just the Commedia, constitutes a radically new textual form, though Dante's great poem stands both as the apex of his experimentation and as the synthesis, as well as the supersession, of his earlier artistic and intellectual experiences. Equally, his impressive and unique reception in the fourteenth century signals the beginnings of 'modern' literary criticism, since, for the first time in many centuries, an author, and a vernacular author at that, was treated on a par with the great writers of antiquity. Dante's literary experimentation and his intellectual curiosity were never ends in themselves, but were always closely integrated with a deeply ethical vision of reality.

The module aims to examine:

1. the implications of Dante's constant desire to innovate and the forms of his experimentation
2. the manner in which the poet legitimated his experimentation in the light of contemporary literary theory, criticism, and practice, and the extent to which, in his texts, he encouraged and 'prepared for' his reception
3. the ways in which Dante defined poetry, and in particular his own verse, in the light of other intellectual traditions
4. the sources of his intellectual formation, which range from popular oral culture to the Bible, and from classical and vernacular literature to the most sophisticated expressions of medieval Neoplatonism and Aristotelianism
5. the manner in which Dante synthesized his different ideological and poetic interests in order to develop an incisive and powerful assessment and critique of his world.

Teaching will take the form of weekly supervisions and/or seminars in the Lent Term. In preparation for the writing of essays and dissertations, time will be set aside during the course to discuss students' particular interests in the field of Dante studies.

The module will be open to students who have a good reading knowledge of Italian, whether or not they have previously studied Dante. Students taking this module will find that a number of lectures offered for the Part II Tripos in the Department will be relevant to the course. Students will be advised at the beginning of the academic year as to how best to prepare for the module.

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