Understanding Dante

John A. Scott

• Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
• Year: 2004
• Print ISBN:
  9780268033866
  9780268044503
• eBook ISBN:
  9780268093150
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: European Medieval History
• Index: Literature

Firmly grounded in the latest advances of Dante scholarship, Understanding Dante offers an original and uniquely detailed, global analysis of Dante as poet of the Comedy that will be welcomed by those who read the poem in translation as well as by those who study the original Italian text. At the same time, Scott's book will be welcome for its rich and insightful analysis of the whole corpus of Dante's writings, as well as Scott's mastery of the vast sea of critical literature in various languages. Scott bridges the gap that often exists between Dante studies in English-speaking countries and the great tradition of Dante scholarship in the poet's homeland. No work in English about the great Italian poet can rival Understanding Dante's scope in both depth and breadth of close reading and critical vision.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Series page
• Title page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Electronic Resources
• Editions of Dante's Works
• Abbreviations
• Chronology, 1215-1321
• Illustrations
• Chapter 1: Dante's New Life
• Chapter 2: Language and the craft of literature
• Chapter 3: Dante's lyric poetry
• Chapter 4: Dante's Banquet of knowledge
• Chapter 5: Dante's vision of world empire and peace
• Chapter 6: The Comedy, prolegomena
• Chapter 7: Dante's other world—Moral order
• Chapter 8: Dante's other world—Topography and demography
• Chapter 9: Dante and classical antiquity
• Chapter 10: The poet of the Comedy
• Chapter 11: Dante and his contemporary world
• Chapter 12: Latin epistles, Questio de aqua et terra, and eclogues
• Glossary
• Notes
• Works Cited
• Index of Names and Notable Matters
• Index of Passages from Dante's Works