19. Inside Out

In Dante’s time, the conventions controlling the composition and interpretation of texts were fairly stable. As a discipline, this system of rules, sometimes known as grammatica or rhetorica, constituted the fundamental subject of medieval school curricula. This does not mean, of course, that there was no cross-fertilisation between literary genres, but rather that the literary canons, derived from classical authors, had reached a very high level of codification at this point in western cultu..

Vertical Readings in Dante's Comedy. Volume 2

Vertical Readings in Dante's 'Comedy' is a reappraisal of the poem by an international team of thirty-four scholars. Each vertical reading analyses three same-numbered cantos from the three canticles: Inferno i, Purgatorio i and Paradiso i; Inferno ii, Purgatorio ii and Paradiso ii; etc. Although scholars have suggested before that there are correspondences between same-numbered cantos that beg to be explored, this is the first time that the approach has been pursued in a systematic fashion across the poem. This three-volume collection offers an unprecedented repertoire of vertical readings for the whole poem. Vertical reading not only articulates unexamined connections between the three canticles but also unlocks engaging new ways to enter into core concerns of the poem. The three volumes thereby provide an indispensable resource for scholars, students and enthusiasts of Dante