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The Ultimate Italian: Dante and a Nation’s Identity book cover

1st Edition

The Ultimate Italian Dante and a Nation’s Identity

By Fulvio Conti Copyright 2023
230 Pages 21 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

230 Pages 21 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

230 Pages 21 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
This book shows how Dante Alighieri has been represented in the Italian collective imagination from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Often held to be a precursor of Italian unity, the author of the Divine Comedy has been put forward both as a standard-bearer of a secular, anti-clerical Italy and the embodiment of the concept of a deeply religious and Catholic nation; while he was... Read more

Introduction

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 The romantics’ Dante

1. The late 18th century revival

2. Between Foscolo and Mazzini

3. «A modern-day Homer»

4. Three monuments and a rediscovered portrait

5. A Dantean journey

Chapter 2 The 1865 centenary celebrations

1. A ‘trial run’: Galileo’s anniversary celebrations

2. Embodying the symbol of the Italian spirit

3. National pride in the capital Florence

4. Dantis Ossa

5. An Italian festival

Chapter 3 «Dantemania» in the age of liberalism

  1. Dante studies become part of the university curriculum

  2. Public worship and private devotion

  3. Dante’s statues

  4. The mausoleum, the lamp and the ampoule

  5. Dantean monotheism

Chapter 4 Fascist Italy’s Dantean cult

1. Dante’s war

2. Croce’s doubts, the Catholics’ enthusiasm

3. For Dante, eja, eja, alalà!

4. Officialdom, historical parades and cinema

5. «Italian by blood and lineage»

Chapter 5 From Italian symbol to global icon

  1. A myth in a watermark

  2. «A universal good»

  3. Altissimi cantus dominus

  4. «Give Dante to the people»

  5. Dante the pop icon

  6. Yet another public use of Dante?

Bibliography

Index

Biography

Fulvio Conti is Full Professor of Contemporary History at the University of Florence.

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