Dante, Cinema, and Television

The Divine Comedyof Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is one of the seminal works of western literature. Its impact on modern culture has been enormous, nourishing a plethora of twentieth century authors from Joyce and Borges to Kenzaburo Oe. Although Dante's influence in the literary sphere is well documented, very little has been written on his equally determining role in the evolution of the visual media unique to our times, namely, cinema and television. Dante, Cinema, and Televisioncorrects this oversight. The essays, from a broad range of disciplines, cover the influence of the Divine Comedyfrom cinema's silent era on through to the era of sound and the advent of television, as well as its impact on specific directors, actors, and episodes, on national/regional cinema and television, and on genres. They also consider the different modes of appropriation by cinema and television. Dante, Cinema, and Televisiondemonstrates the many subtle ways in which Dante's Divine Comedyhas been given 'new life' by cinema and television, and underscores the tremendous extent of Dante's staying power in the modern world.

Amilcare A. Iannucci is a professor with the Centre for Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto.