Module Content and Indicative Topics 

In this module, we engage with one of the most famous works in European literature: Dante's Inferno. We begin by briefly reviewing the life and times of Dante Alighieri (1265-1321): his career as a writer, and his experiences in the social world of medieval Florence, and later as a political refugee after he was exiled from his hometown. This prepares us for reading the Inferno, the first part of Dante's great narrative poem, the Commedia, telling of an imagined journey through the Christian afterlife from hell to heaven. It is a poem that has fascinated readers for the past 700 years, with its vivid language immersing us into a compellingly imagined otherworld. The Inferno is at once a ghost story, a quest, a roadtrip, a love story, a virtual reality, and a spiritual vision - though as we will discover, each of these terms requires definition in the context of medieval life and thought. 

Teaching Delivery 

Classes combine introductory lectures with close reading of selected passages from the Inferno, corresponding to the lecture topic. In the first weeks, we will explore the general form of Dante's Inferno and get to grips with some of his leading ideas and his writing style. In the second part of term, we concentrate more closely on reading sections from the poem, using discussion to improve analytical and interpretive skills. The module’s themes include discussion of topics such as: the role of poetry and rhetoric; relationships between literature and the visual arts; ideas about law and justice; medieval political and religious thought. The module covers the whole of Dante’s Inferno, but focuses especially on single canti that have been selected for close study, usually covering about one-third of the complete Inferno in this more focused way. (A canto is a short narrative unit made up of some 120-150 lines of poetry.) Further details about the selections will be provided at the start of the module. 

The classes are run as two-hour blocks, usually with lecture-style content in the first half introducing key topics for the day, followed by discussion and textual analysis in the second hour, sometimes breaking into pairs or groups to discuss specific themes. There will be weekly assignments of reading to prepare for class, usually requiring you to study one or two of the set canti and to read related notes and commentary. 

By the end of the module, you should be able to: 


	Read and analyse Dante’s text, showing informed understanding of key themes and literary techniques. 
	

	Situate passages from Dante’s Inferno in context, both with regard to their place within the poem, and in relation to medieval European cultural concerns. 
	

	Produce written work that develops and defends sound arguments and draws on appropriate critical reading. 
	

	Write concise textual analysis of short passages of text, and display awareness of issues relating to the mediation of literary material encountered in translation. 
	
Recommended Reading 

In preparation for the module, we advise reading the following core texts, which can be found in the UCL Library: 

Essential 

Dante Alighieri, Inferno 

It is *strongly* recommended that you use a copy in Italian with English facing-page translation. Good, 

affordable versions of this kind include the translations by Robin Kirkpatrick (Penguin, 2006); Robert and Jean Hollander (Doubleday, 2003); Mark Musa (Penguin, 1984); Charles Singleton (Princeton University Press, 1991) 

Useful introductory Studies 

Z. G. Baranski and S. A. Gilson, The Cambridge Companion to Dante’s ‘Commedia’ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019). 

Z. G. Baranski and L. Pertile, Dante in Context (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015). 

R. Jacoff, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Dante (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, 2012). 

R. Kirkpatrick, Dante: The ‘Divine Comedy’ (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987, 2003) 

J. Scott, Understanding Dante (Indiana: Notre Dame University Press, 1995). 