Dante’s Divine “Comedy”

The event, organized by The Dante Alighieri Society of Edmonton,

Location: Italian Cultural Centre (14230-133 Ave.)

Following the presentation, refreshments will be available.

Sunday, 25th October at 3:00 p.m.

LUI Enterprises, 2015

La «Dante»

The Dante Alighieri Society, named after the great poet and father of the Italian

language, Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), was founded in Rome, in 1889. The poet Giosuè Carducci was the foremost inspirer.

The Edmonton Committee was estblished in 1961 by Sabatino Roncucci and, it is one of the 406 active committees throughout the world. Its main objective is to promote the Italian language and culture in Edmonton and Alberta.

In order to reach the objective above, the Dante Alghieri Society established a school of Italian Language and Culture in 1962. The reasons why students attend the Dante Alighieri School vary: trip to Italy, vacation, links of friendship within the Italian community, cutural interests, music, arts, food, fashion, business, etc… The work of Dante Alighieri Society of Edmonton is greatly appretiated by Canadian Authorities.

The Dante Alighieri Society Of EdmontonThe Dante Alighieri Society

of Edmonton intends to pursue its obejective for the future, so that all Edmontonians and Albertans may enjoy the beauty and the richness of Italian Culture and Language in a multicultural environment, and be exposed to

different cultures and languages spoken in

Alberta, other than Italian .

At the present the school offers 13 courses ranging from Pre-school to adults. In the

range are also included three credit courses approved by the Alberta Education.

All courses run from the first week of September to the the end of May on Saturday mornings 9:300 - 12:30 for credit courses (Italian 10 - 20 - 3-) for a total of 33 classes and, 10:00 - 12:30 for all classes for total of 31 classes.

Classes are held at St. Alpnonsus School (11624 -81 St. NW).

Massimo Verdicchio

Massimo Verdicchio is professor of Italian and Comparative Literature at the University of Alberta.

He has written widely on Italian and European Literature. He is the author of books on Dante’s Commedia, and on the philosophy of Benedetto Croce.

He has recently completed a Croce Reader that will be published by the University of Toronto Press.

He has translated in English works by Carlo Sini, Massimo Cacciari and Mario Perniola.

We have always referred to Dante’s poem as “divine” reading it as a religious poem that equals the Bible.

I would like to propose a more earthly version where the emphasis is on “comedy” and what is “divine” is Dante’s

comic or ironic poetry in Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso.

Sandro Botticelli (Italian), Map of Inferno detail, c.1480-95, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome.

E’en in like manner Adam’s evil broodCast themselves, one by one, down from the shore. Canto III, lines 107, 108.

It bore the sever’d member, lantern-wisePendent in hand, which look’d at us and said, “Woe’s me!” Canto XXVIII, lines 116, 119.