Reading Dante (Open Yale Courses) (The Open Yale Courses) by Giuseppe Mazzotta

The Open Yale Courses Series

by Giuseppe Mazzotta

A towering figure in world literature, Dante wrote his great epic poem Commedia in the early fourteenth century. The work gained universal acclaim and came to be known as La Divina Commedia , or The Divine Comedy . Giuseppe Mazzotta brings Dante and his masterpiece to life in this exploration of the man, his cultural milieu, and his endlessly fascinating works. Based on Mazzotta’s highly popular Yale course, this book offers a critical reading of The Divine Comedy and selected other works by Dante. Through an analysis of Dante’s autobiographical Vita nuova , Mazzotta establishes the poetic and political circumstances of The Divine Comedy . He situates the three sections of the poem—Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise—within the intellectual and social context of the late Middle Ages, and he explores the political, philosophical, and theological topics with which Dante was particularly concerned.

Genres: Criticism, Literature, Literary Criticism, Nonfiction, Classics, Poetry, Italy

Paperback Bunko

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Giuseppe Mazzotta is the Sterling Professor of Italian Language and Literature at Yale University.

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Must Read for Dante Fans

When approaching Dante’s Divine Comedy, or the Commedia, there is no shortage of secondary literature to appeal to. From CliffsNotes to the academically impenetrable. Giuseppe Mazzotta’s Reading Dante exists somewhere well within the academic, it was published by Yale UP after all, but manages to remain accessible and pleasurable at the same time.

Based on a semester of lectures on Dante’s classic that were videotaped and later transcribed as a serious of lectures on the entire Commedia there is an immediacy and erudition to these that is very engaging.

What the reader gets, besides a very well written book, is a thorough grounding in the poetry, history, intellectual environment, and genius of Dante Alighieri. There is some biographical material here as well, but if you are looking for a biography this ain’t it.

Highly Recommended for those interested in a better understanding of the Commedia and those interested in the period in which Dante wrote.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading ... even better the second time around. My initial reading notes and final comments are below.

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Heavens to Betsy! Three chapters in and I have never read a more fascinating book. No wonder this professor has been teaching Dante's Comedy for decades and was selected for Open Yale Courses video. Whoever translated those videos into these chapters also deserves praise. I can feel the force of personality as well as the depth of knowledge — all communicated in a very understandable way. I've already been marking up the book.

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Final - I am in no way qualified to comment knowledgeably upon Guiseppe Mazzotta's scholarship except to say I wish I had taken his classes. This was simply wonderful in deepening my appreciation of the magnificent work Dante did upon The Divine Comedy.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially a transcript of Mazzotto's Yale lectures on Dante, offering introduction and deep insight into the poet's worldview and language. If I could only be a tenth as lucid when talking without notes.

[JINGHE FANG · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book (and video lectures) offers a very good introduction to the Divine Comedy and its literary and historical backgrounds. Professor Mazzotta's approach is lucid and direct, with a particular emphasis on how Dante played with etymologies.

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a transcript of Giuseppe Mazzotta's lectures on Dante at Yale University, which are freely available on Youtube. I watched the lectures from beginning to end, and I read the book as well because Mazzotta was saying so many wonderful things, and I wanted to have it all in writing.
Using this book as an accompaniment to reading the Divine Comedy was absolutely essential for me. What Giuseppe does is not so much a summary of the several cantos of the Divine Comedy. Instead he does something much more interesting. He selects some key points that are addressed by Dante, and he makes an in-depth analysis of these points, sometimes clarifying them, sometimes asking questions, and sometimes communicating his personal interpretation of the text.
One can see that Giuseppe Mazzotta is so knowledgeable on this area, because he is able to relate so many disperse things, in terms of historical, philosophical, theological and literary analysis. He makes all these different connections and brings everything together.
Watching the lectures and reading this book enhanced my reading experience of Dante, it has made it easier for me and a lot more interesting.
I would also like to leave a note in regards to who Giuseppe Mazzotta is as a professor (well... I never actually met him, I am speaking as someone who followed his youtube lectures for one year and a half). He is passionate about Dante, and he expresses himself as a humble person who genuinely wants to communicate his love the Divine Comedy. I wish I had him as a teacher in real life, but I am already grateful his lectures ara available online.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is great supplementary material to help understand The Divine Comedy. It's dense, and would not be considered light reading. Giuseppe gives a wealth of information to explain the characters Dante mentions, the Italian/Latin word breakdowns, and a behind the scene understanding of the cantos. I did see a few of the cantos were missing - wasn't a big deal, but I think around five of them are not in the book. Giuseppe has a Youtube series of his Yale lectures on The Divine Comedy, but this book seemed, at least for me, easier to follow than the lectures.

[Jackson Cyril · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exceptional book which loses steam as it enters Purgatorio. I was hoping for a more thorough analysis of the last two books of the Comedy, as those are often ignored.

[C.N. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent commentary on The Divine Comedy.

[Elisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

就是耶鲁公开课的讲义吧，印成书还卖不少钱……很适合已经通读过全诗的入门级爱好者。虽然总觉得脑洞开太多，但学习一下随时开脑洞的技能也是好的。

[Marks54 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a series of short commentary chapters on the Divine Comedy tthat is published as part of the Open Course program at Yale at represents the updated, expanded,, and edited of the professor's lecture notes for a semester course on Dante. The book is good at explaining what is going on as one works through the poem, putting events into some context, explaining the various individuals alluded to in the poem, and explaining the intellectual context in which Dante's ideas developed. Ir helps in making sense of a long poem that requires much guidance along the way if nonspecialists are to comprehend what Dante is doing. The book is well written and effective. I would have rated it even more highly until I realized that my satisfaction in reading this came as much from understanding what I can about the Divine Comedy I am moving on to the lectures and after listening to them, I will understood what to do.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well not read all the way. I may forever be one the people in the light pleasure boats that Dante warns off from embarking on Paradiso. But I'm game to try again with Mazzotta's clear, passionate guidance. There were points I only understood once I read them in his more scholarly stuff, but overall this book does a great job of illuminating complex ideas with graceful simplicity.

[Rong Wu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book, accompanied with the author's Open Yale course, feels easy. Hopefully I am in better shape of "climbing" Dante's "Divine Comedy". If this book is a forest hiking , "Divine Comedy" is a mountain trail running.

[Jeff Waters · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dry, but very informative if you want to understand Dante's masterpiece.