{"id":1918,"date":"2015-05-04T20:57:04","date_gmt":"2015-05-04T20:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.doingwhatmatters.com\/?p=1918"},"modified":"2015-05-04T22:05:43","modified_gmt":"2015-05-04T22:05:43","slug":"dantes-750th-anniversary-properly-celebrated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doingwhatmatters.com\/dantes-750th-anniversary-properly-celebrated\/","title":{"rendered":"Dante’s 750th Anniversary, Properly Celebrated"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Celebrating<\/a><\/p>\n

The\u00a0750th anniversary of the birth of the great poet Dante Alighieri<\/strong> is being fittingly celebrated today in Italy.\u00a0Oscar-winning actor Roberto Benigni will visit the Italian Senate to read from Dante’s masterpiece, The Divine Comedy<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/em>to an audience that will include Italy’s president. The reading will be broadcast to the entire nation, along with a new musical composition in the poet’s honor. According to the ANSA.it<\/a> website, there are many events planned to honor the poet \u2014 at least 187 in Italy, and more than 173 in other countries.<\/p>\n

This seems only fitting for a poet who\u00a0framed one of the most ambitious and intriguing literary works that I’ve ever read. It’s dispiriting to realize that Americans are unlikely to see similar honor accorded to any time-tested literary figure, though Dante lives on among those who relish\u00a0the dance of words and ideas.<\/p>\n

Celebrate Dante’s 750th anniversary by thinking through a single stanza<\/h2>\n

I thought I’d join Dante’s 750th anniversary\u00a0celebration by reading a favorite canto\u2014the first canto in Paradiso<\/em>, but Dante got me with the very first stanza. He has a way of doing that \u2014 of composing the profoundest ideas into a single sentence, phrase, or image.\u00a0I went on to read the entire lovely canto, but hours later I’m still pondering that first sentence:<\/p>\n

The glory of Him who moves all things rays forth<\/em><\/p>\n

through all the universe, and is reflected<\/em><\/p>\n

from each thing in proportion to its worth.<\/em><\/p>\n

My initial response was a full stop. What did it mean? I paraphrased it to “The glory of God shines throughout the universe and\u00a0reflects from every object in proportion to the object’s worth.” I don’t think that it is all the stanza means, but\u00a0it’s a start for thinking about the idea.<\/p>\n

Thinking it through<\/h3>\n

When I come across a thought I want to ponder, I copy<\/strong> it in my commonplace book. Sometimes I will paraphrase<\/strong> or narrate<\/strong> at this point. Then I go back to the original text and begin annotating<\/a><\/strong>, which is my way of thinking through the idea\u00a0and in some cases, opening a conversation\u00a0with the author of the text. For translated works, I try to\u00a0read the passage in\u00a0more than one translation<\/strong>\u00a0to catch a variety of nuances. The quote above is from the Ciardi translation<\/a>, and I notice that it reads differently in other translations. So that is more to think about.<\/p>\n

In addition,\u00a0it’s important to\u00a0read through the translator’s introduction and notes. The introduction will usually explain the translator’s purpose and method, and the notes clarify\u00a0allusions and unfamiliar concepts. You’ll need a translation with clear\u00a0notes, because\u00a0Dante’s work is overflowing with allusions<\/strong> to everything from scripture to philosophy, politics, mythology and beyond. While it’s possible it can\u00a0be appreciated simply as a story poetically told, I don’t believe it can be fully understood without excellent reference\u00a0notes from the translator \u2014 few of us\u00a0are that well educated.<\/p>\n

Why assign Dante to students?<\/h2>\n

So if it takes that much work to absorb and consider Dante’s ideas, why assign even a portion his work\u00a0to high school students who are probably going to grasp only a fraction of its beauty and depth?<\/p>\n

I assign it because it’s beautiful and profound and should be read<\/strong>. I also assign it because even a superficial reading (or listening) can begin to make words, images, and concepts familiar, and each re-reading will uncover another layer\u00a0of virtue, beauty, <\/strong>and creativity<\/strong>. With the\u00a0context readings<\/strong>\u00a0included in the EIL module,\u00a0I believe students stand a good chance of beginning a lasting relationship with this remarkable poet.<\/p>\n

You’ll note that Dante’s Inferno<\/em> is\u00a0not assigned until World Literature<\/em><\/a> <\/strong>(12th grade +\/-) because I believe students need a bit more\u00a0maturity than the average 8th or 9th grader, and it helps a lot if they’ve read other classics before approaching it. That initial reading will place “pegs<\/strong>” of knowledge in the student’s mind, and future readings will add additional layers of understanding. If you add narration<\/strong> (oral or written) to the reading of each canto, the road to understanding will be considerably shortened.<\/p>\n

I would have preferred to assign the entire\u00a0Divine Comedy<\/em>, but four weeks is simply not enough to study it all. I would rather have students read a bit less of it and understand it, than to read the entire work and suffer from literary indigestion. Rushing through any classic is a way to get literary indigestion and is certainly not conducive to loving the great work.<\/p>\n

Though I know that the English translation is but a pale shadow of the\u00a0The Divine Comedy<\/em><\/strong> in its\u00a0original Italian, I agree with\u00a0T. S. Eliot’s\u00a0assessment that\u00a0“Dante and Shakespeare divide the world between them.” So if the president of Italy can find time in his schedule to hear a reading in Dante’s honor, the least I can do is to persevere in pursuit of fuller understanding. At the rate I’m going, it will be years before I’ve read it enough times to feel truly intimate with it, but I do plan to keep reading. Dante is worth it.<\/p>\n

How will you celebrate\u00a0Dante’s 750th anniversary?<\/p>\n

\n

Benigni reciting the very first canto of Dante’s Divine Comedy<\/em><\/h3>\n

You don’t have to understand Italian to feel the power of this beautiful work. It makes want to drop everything and study Italian!<\/p>\n