Sydney, 26 March 2024: An aficionado of Italy’s most distinguished poet Dante Alighieri might claim you can never truly appreciate his verse until you have heard it read in the Italian in which it was written, with its natural emphasis and expression and ‘terza rima’ rhyming scheme.
But if so much is lost in translation, how to explain the global reach of the poet, one of the West’s greatest literary figures, whose work has been translated into more than 61 languages and is still being read by massive audiences, influencing global culture to this day? Is there something universal in Dante’s writing that survives and even thrives in translation and appeals to people no matter what language?
To delve into the universality of Dante, a special public symposium, Il sommo Poeta, Dante Alighieri Symposium 2024 was held at Australian Catholic University (ACU) last Friday.The symposium is the third ACU has hosted to celebrate Dante since 2021, the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death. The event was run in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute and the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation.
This year’s theme ‘The Influence of Dante in Italy and Abroad’ was chosen to celebrate Dante’s global impact on literature, language and culture and how his work has “helped shape the way we think about the world and our place in it.” ACU Vice-President Fr Anthony Casamento opened the event, quoting T.S. Eliot who once famously stated “Dante and Shakespeare divide the modern world between them, there is no third.” He was followed by the Consul General of Italy Dottor Gianluca Rubagotti, and a keynote lecture delivered by Dr Paolo Barlera, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Sydney.
Dr Barlera showed the audience many current examples of Dante and the themes of the Commedia still being referenced in popular culture globally, centuries after his death, including through media outlets, digital gaming, animations, television, film and advertising campaigns. He then took the packed audience on a tour of Dante’s influence on literature and culture and some of the world’s most famous writers and artists.
In a nod to Dante’s global universality, defying the limitations of translation, several ACU Ramsay Scholars and academics from its BA Western Civilisation program then read verses from the Vita nuova and the Commedia, not just in English and Italian, but also in French, Portuguese, Croatian and Hebrew.
ACU Ramsay Scholar readers were Elizabeth Mills (French), Ivan Greguric and Anastazia Pincevic (Croatian) David Nathanson (Hebrew), Nicholas Derlacki (Portuguese), Molly Gee (English). They were joined by Western Civilisation lecturer Dr Talia Morag (Hebrew) and a special guest reader, actor Nino Lo Giudice, who read Dante in Italian. The symposium was also attended by Ramsay Scholars studying Western Civilisation degrees at the University of Wollongong.
In closing remarks Ramsay Centre Academic Director Professor Diana Glenn praised Dr Barlera’s keynote address for its “superb distillation of Dante’s fortunes and influence and how his legacy has endured throughout the centuries.”
“The survey included writers and artists for whom Dante has served as an inspiration or precursorial influence and the lecture also afforded insights on the world of translations of the Commedia into other languages,” Professor Glenn said.
“While the early commentators such as Jacopo and Pietro Alighieri, Jacopo della Lana, l’Ottimo Commento, and Benvenuto da Imola produced illuminating glosses in the fourteenth century, Dante’s scholarly influence was dimmed during the baroque period but, as Dr Barlera reminded us, in the eighteenth century, the writings of Neapolitan philosopher Giambattista Vico helped to foster renewed interest in Dante.”
“Vico’s critical esprit served to foreshadow the Romantic period with its renewed interest in the mythic past and in the monumental structures created by poets of the calibre of Homer and Dante. The eighteenth century witnessed a steady re-evaluation of Dante’s contribution as a major figure in the Italian lyrical tradition and this positive view continued unabated in the subsequent century. Thus, since the nineteenth century, the fame and global reach of the Commedia have dramatically increased and access to the poem has been facilitated by the efforts of numerous mediators who have enabled its transmission among an increasingly diverse audience.”
For more information on the centre please visit our website: www.ramsaycentre.org
Media contact: Sarah Switzer 0407 816 098/ sarah.switzer@ramsaycentre.org