Lectura Dantis Andreapolitana – 7 October 2011
A Lectura Dantis (‘reading of Dante’) is a public reading and explanation of all 100 cantos of Dante’s Divine Comedy canto by canto. The tradition of the lectura dantis goes back to Boccaccio’s series of public lectures on Dante which he began in Santo Stefano di Badia in Florence on the 23rd of October 1373. In recent years there have been Lecturae in Naples (Lectura Dantis Neapolitana), Zürich (Lectura Dantis Turicensis) and California (Lectura Dantis Californiana) among other places. The Lectura Dantis Romana is today one of the longest running and most traditional. The modern lectura takes the form of a series of lectures, with each canto of the Commedia discussed by a different scholar, weekly or monthly and open to the public.
The Lectura Dantis Andreapolitana is organised by Robert Wilson and Claudia Rossignoli of the Italian Department of the University’s School of Modern Languages. On Friday, 7 October 2011, the 7th meeting of Lectura Dantis Andreapolitana will convene in order to read and discuss Cantos 24-27. Check the official programme for a full list of readers, lectures, location and times.
–DG