Leeds Dante Podcast

Conversations on Dante is a series of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, hosted by Matthew Treherne, Guy Raffa discusses his recent book, Dante's Bones: How a Poet Invented Italy (Harvard University Press, 2020). Guy talks about some of the high points of writing and researching the book, and what the story of Dante's dead body can tell us about Dante's place in Italian cultural, social and political life. We also discuss Guy's award-winning DanteWorlds website (http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/), and his current Public Scholars Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities - including what it means to be a public scholar.

Guy Raffa is Associate Professor of Italian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin (https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/frenchitalian/faculty/guyr). 

The episode was edited by Esme Sayal. 

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Jason Allen-Paisant discusses the ways in which a number of Caribbean poets have engaged with Dante: Aimé Césaire, Kamau Brathwaite and Lorna Goodison. He explains how Dante's approach to vernacular language, and his treatment of justice and the afterlife, offer a template for these poets. Jason also reads some of his own poetry, discussing how some of these themes emerge in his own practice as a poet.  

Dr Jason Allen-Paisant is Lecturer in Caribbean Poetry and Decolonial Thought at the University of Leeds, where he researches cultural memory in the African diaspora. His first collection of poetry, Thinking with Trees, is published by Carcanet Press in 2021. 

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, economic sociologist Mark Davis talks about the sociology of finance, and how Dante's engagement with questions of money and finance might resonate with twenty-first century debates about finance: about indebtedness, the limits of finance-driven economic growth, and the connections between finance and sustainability. 

Dr Mark Davis is Associate Professor of Economic Sociology at the University of Leeds, where he founded the Bauman Institute. Among his many research projects, he is leading, together with Matthew Treherne and Rachel Muers, a project on The Cultural Life of Money and Finance. 

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Federica Coluzzi discusses her forthcoming book on the reception of Dante in Victorian culture. We discuss why the Victorian period saw such a significant change in how Dante was understood in Britain, and the ways in which Federica's approach to reception - which pays close attention to book history, material culture, and the social conditions in which reading took place - enables fresh insights into the Victorian encounter with Dante. We also discuss Federica's new research project, on women readers of Dante in the long nineteenth century. 

Federica's book, entitled Beyond Influence: Rethinking Dante Reception in Victorian Literary Culture, will be published in Spring 2021 by Manchester University Press, and was developed during her time as an Irish Research Council post-doctoral fellow at University College Cork. She is now a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Warwick University.

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Helena Phillips-Robins discusses her work on liturgical song and practice in Dante, which will be published in a book in early 2021 by the University of Notre Dame Press. We discuss why understanding liturgical song and practice can enrich a reading of Dante - across issues from time, the body, the relationship between humanity and the divine, and the way Dante envisages his readers engaging with the Comedy.   

Helena Phillips-Robins is Research Fellow at Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. 

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Kristina Olson and Prof. Chris Kleinhenz discuss their new volume, Approaches to Teaching Dante's 'Divine Comedy', published in 2020 by the Modern Language Association (https://www.mla.org/Publications/Bookstore/Approaches-to-Teaching-World-Literature/Approaches-to-Teaching-Dante-s-i-Divine-Comedy-i-second-edition). Chris and Kristina talk about the diverse disciplinary and pedagogical approaches to teaching Dante which emerge in the volume. We also consider what it means to teach Dante in 2020, especially in light of the new educational and social contexts in which students are encountering Dante, as well as discussing the rich connections between teaching and research on Dante.  

Chris Kleinhenz is the Carol Mason Kirk Professor Emeritus of Italian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Kristina Olson is Associate Professor of Italian at George Mason University.

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Prof. Arielle Saiber and Dr Beth Coggeshall discuss their Dante Today website (https://research.bowdoin.edu/dante-today/), which archives references to Dante and his works in popular and contemporary culture of the twentieth century and beyond. They talk about how the site has evolved since its inception in 2006, and about the fascinating issues it raises about Dante's presence in contemporary culture. We also discuss how running the site feeds into Arielle and Beth's respective research projects on Dante in science fiction, in visual art, and on social media

Arielle Saiber is Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at Bowdoin College, and Beth Coggeshall is Assistant Professor of Italian at Florida State University. 

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Jacob Blakesley discusses his work on Dante in translation, offering some fascinating insights into where Dante has, and hasn't, been translated - and into who is, and isn't, doing the translating. We discuss some critical aspects of Dante's life in translation, including the strategies of censorship and self-censorship, and how a full picture of translation of Dante can challenge notions of Dante as a world poet. Jacob also describes his research into the presence of Dante on Wikipedia, and what that might tell us about Dante's role in world literature.  

Jacob Blakesley is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Literary Translation at the University of Leeds. 

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Tasia Scrutton and Dr Simon Hewitt discuss continuing bonds theory - a field which considers the importance of a continuing bond with the dead in bereavement. We consider CS Lewis's diary, A Grief Observed, written after the death of his wife in 1960, and how Lewis engages with Dante; we go on to discuss how Dante and Lewis share a concern with the ongoing connections between the living and the dead, and the enduring bonds between souls - questions which had also been discussed by Aquinas and Augustine. We also consider the broader implications of continuing bonds, and how Dante can help us understand those implications for society today. 

Tasia Scrutton is Associate Professor, and Simon Hewitt is Research Fellow, in the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at the University of Leeds. 

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne. 

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Catherine Keen discusses the ways in which Bruno Latour's work An Inquiry into the Modes of Existence can enrich our reading of Dante and his teacher, Brunetto Latini. Catherine introduces the idea of diplomacy as it is developed by Latour, and shows how this notion provides a framework for understanding exile, authorship and the vernacular. 

Catherine's engagement with Latour has been published in an article in a recent special issue of Romanic Review (111: 1), Category Crossings: Bruno Latour and Medieval Modes of Existence, edited by Marilynn Desmond and Noah D. Guynn. 

Catherine Keen is Associate Professor (Dante and Medieval Literature) at University College London. 

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.  

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Ed Krcma discusses Robert Rauschenberg's illustrations to the Inferno (1958-61). He describes the context of art in New York in the late 1950s, and how Rauschenberg's engagement with Dante came at a low point in Rauschenberg's career. We consider how Rauschenberg's illustrations raise fascinating questions about historical contingency, vernacularity, artistic hierarchies and authority. 

Ed Krcma is Senior Lecturer in Art History at the University of East Anglia. 

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne. 

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world. 

In this episode, Dr George Corbett and Dr Patricia Kelly discuss their project to translate Pierre Mandonnet's Dante le théologien (1935) - a work which has largely been neglected by later scholarship but which, as George and Patricia argue, has many provocative arguments which are worth revisiting - about Dante himself, his relationship to the Church, and his presentation of Beatrice. George and Patricia also tell us about the world of Catholic theology in the 1930s, and about the challenges of translating this text for the twenty-first century. 

George Corbett is Senior Lecturer, and Patricia Kelly is Research Fellow, in the School of Divinity at the University of St Andrews. The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne. 

In this episode, Claire Honess discusses the entry into the City of Dis - a moment in the Inferno which is full of drama, and has much to tell us about Dante's understanding of community life.

In this season of the Leeds Dante Podcast, Ruth Chester introduces key concepts in Dante's religious thought. In this episode, she discusses the sacraments. 

In this season of the Leeds Dante Podcast, Ruth Chester introduces key concepts in Dante's religious thought. In this episode, she discusses original sin.

In this season of the Leeds Dante Podcast, Ruth Chester introduces key concepts in Dante's religious thought. This episode discusses the ideas of form and matter. 

In this season of the Leeds Dante Podcast, Ruth Chester introduces key concepts in Dante's religious thought. In this episode, she discusses Incarnation. 

In this season of the Leeds Dante Podcast, Ruth Chester introduces key concepts in Dante's religious thought. In the first episode, she discusses the Trinity.  

In this episode, Matthew Treherne discusses the moment when Dante meets his friend Forese Donati in Purgatory; Forese describes the nature of the souls' suffering in Purgatory. 

In this episode, Claire Honess discusses the moment in the Paradiso when Dante meets the soul of Cacciaguida. 

In this episode, Matthew Treherne discusses one of the most famous moments in Dante's Inferno, when Dante meets Francesca da Rimini, among the souls of the lustful. 

In this episode, Matthew Treherne discusses Dante and Virgil's encounter with Buonconte da Montefeltro early in Purgatorio -  an encounter which is quite challenging to readers, and has much to tell us about how Dante sees his journey through the afterlife, and the nature of salvation. 

In this episode, Matthew Treherne discusses a brief moment of description as Dante and Virgil enter Purgatory - a moment which is full of resonance and interest. 

In this episode, Matthew Treherne discusses the opening three lines of Dante's Commedia, showing how the opening of the poem establishes key ideas for the remainder of the text. 

This episode introduces the Leeds Dante Podcast - a series from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies, involving short lectures on aspects of Dante's work, and a series of conversations on Dante with researchers from diverse fields.