Since its conception in 2018, our Dante society has evolved to embrace a unique, South African engagement with the poet and his Commedia. This chapter provides an insight into the society’s origin and the conversations that first inspired our South African Convivio with Dante. Through a detailed description of the thinking behind the contributions of students and colleagues, we highlight the process of reading Dante as a powerful personal experience for us and our students. We argue that Dante provides us with a language through which to make sense of our vulnerable position in post-Apartheid South Africa. This is evident in the ways that student responses to Dante echo the Commedia’s Dante-Virgil dynamic - complex, and sometimes rebellious, yet always intimate and affectionate.
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa - ORCID: 0000-0001-7653-2650
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa - ORCID: 0000-0002-7600-4919
Chapter Title
“Noi leggiavamo un giorno per diletto”: Reading Dante in South Africa
Authors
Sonia Fanucchi, Anita Virga
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-458-8.03
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2021
Copyright Information
© 2021 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
A South African Convivio with Dante
Book Subtitle
Born Frees’ Interpretations of the Commedia
Editors
Sonia Fanucchi, Anita Virga
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
212
Publication Year
2021
Copyright Information
© 2021 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-458-8
ISBN Print
978-88-5518-457-1
eISBN (pdf)
978-88-5518-458-8
Series Title
Studi e saggi
Series ISSN
2704-6478
Series E-ISSN
2704-5919