Exile exercised a perceivable influence over Dante’s intellectual production, with the image of the ‘undeserving exile’ coming afore in patent or subtle ways throughout his oeuvre. Dante’s exile inspired the choice of the subject matter for the Divine Comedy, influenced and shaped his political vision, and offered the imagination of readers a memorable image of the solitary and disdainful poet. Yet did exile exercise any perceivable influence over the transmission and reception of the poem's text as well? This lecture will explore how some assumptions made about the text of Dante's Comedy have recently been put to the test, writing a new and unfinished chapter in the history of textual criticism. The lecture will be delivered in English and is open to anyone who might be interested.
Annalisa Cipollone teaches Italian Literature at Durham University (UK). Her research has mainly focused on medieval poets, Dante and Petrarch. She has recently curated the exhibition and published the book Dante. Hell Heaven and Hope: A Journey through Life and the Afterlife with Dante (2017).