Dante's Other Works - (William and Katherine Devers Dante and Medieval Italian Literature) by Zygmunt G Baranski & Theodore J Cachey Jr (Paperback)

About the Book

"Rather than speak of Dante's 'minor works,' according to an age-old tradition of Dante scholarship going back at least to the eighteenth century, this volume puts forward the designation 'other works' both in light of their enhanced status and as part of a general effort to reaffirm their value as autonomous works. Indeed, had Dante never written the Commedia, he would still be considered the most important writer of the late Middle Ages for the originality and inventiveness of the other works he wrote besides his monumental poem, including the Rime, the Fiore, the Detto d'amore, the Vita nova, the Epistles, the Convivio, the De vulgari eloquentia, the Monarchia, the Egloge, and the Questio de aqua et terra. Each contributor to this volume addresses one of the 'other works' by presenting the principal interpretative trends and questions relating to the text, and by focusing on aspects of particular interest. Two essays on the relationship between the 'other works' and the issues of philosophy and theology are included."--Back cove

Book Synopsis

Prominent Dante scholars from the United States, Italy, and the United Kingdom contribute original essays to the first critical companion in English to Dante's "other works."

Rather than speak of Dante's "minor works," according to a tradition of Dante scholarship going back at least to the eighteenth century, this volume puts forward the designation "other works" both in light of their enhanced status and as part of a general effort to reaffirm their value as autonomous works. Indeed, had Dante never written the Commedia, he would still be considered the most important writer of the late Middle Ages for the originality and inventiveness of the other works he wrote besides his monumental poem, including the Rime, the Fiore, the Detto d'amore, the Vita nova, the Epistles, the Convivio, the De vulgari eloquentia, the Monarchia, the Egloge, and the Questio de aqua et terra. Each contributor to this volume addresses one of the "other works" by presenting the principal interpretative trends and questions relating to the text, and by focusing on aspects of particular interest. Two essays on the relationship between the "other works" and the issues of philosophy and theology are included. Dante's "Other Works" will interest Dantisti, medievalists, and literary scholars at every stage of their career.

Contributors: Manuele Gragnolati, Christopher Kleinhenz, Zygmunt G. Barański, Claire E. Honess, Simon Gilson, Mirko Tavoni, Paola Nasti, Theodore J. Cachey, Jr., David G. Lummus, Luca Bianchi, and Vittorio Montemaggi.

Review Quotes

"Dante's "Other Works" is a wonderful exposition on the complexity of Europe's greatest poet, the poet of Christendom but also a poet of the universal and syncretic. . . . Any lover of Dante would do well to pick up this volume." --VoegelinView

"The essays are informative, text-centered, and devoid of the kind of tendentious critical theory that subordinates works of literature to contemporary ideology." --Choice

"Dante's 'Other Works' is altogether excellent, and it fills a much-lamented gap in the bibliography on Dante in English." --Lino Pertile, co-editor of Dante in Context

"This highly stimulating, erudite, yet also accessible collection provides an absorbing survey of the full range of Dante's 'other works' beyond the Commedia."--J. Catherine Keen, co-editor of Ethics, Politics and Justice in Dante

About the Author

Zygmunt G. Barański is Serena Professor of Italian Emeritus at the University of Cambridge and R. L. Canala Professor of Romance Languages & Literatures Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of numerous books, including Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio: Literature, Doctrine, Reality.

Theodore J. Cachey, Jr., is Fabiano Collegiate Chair of Italian Studies and Ravarino Family Director of the Center for Italian Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author, editor, and co-editor of several books, including Dante e la cultura fiorentina.