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The William and Katherine Devers Series in Dante and Medieval Italian Literature
American Dantes

American Dantes

Traditions, Translations, Transformations

Edited by Zygmunt G. Baranski and Theodore J. Cachey Jr.

Published by: University of Notre Dame Press

Series: The William and Katherine Devers Series in Dante and Medieval Italian Literature

Imprint: University of Notre Dame Press

400 Pages, 159.00 × 238.00 mm, 23 b&w illustrations - 23 Illustrations, black and white

Hardcover
9780268210359
Published: September 2025

£120.00

Pre-order

Paperback
9780268210366
Published: September 2025

£38.00

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Description
Contents
Authors
Praise

American Dantes provides fresh perspectives on Dante's reception and cultural impact in the United States over the past two hundred years.

American Dantes investigates the depth and breadth of Dante's American legacy from the early nineteenth century to the present. Showcasing an impressive array of approaches from renowned literary and Dante scholars, this book explores how Dante has influenced American poetry, fiction, memoir, painting, film, television, and political and religious discourse. This collection offers an in-depth look at the vibrant and ongoing scholarly traditions of research, editing, translation, and creative adaptation that have established Dante's Divine Comedy as a classic in American literary culture, influencing cultural movements from transcendentalism to jazz to the Black radical tradition and more.

Contributors: David Wallace, Laura Dassow Walls, Joshua Matthews, Dennis Looney, Kathleen Boyle, Kathleen Verduin, Christian Y. Dupont, Kristina M. Olson, Henry Weinfield, Stephen Fredman, Joseph Elkanah Rosenberg, Arielle Saiber, and Peter S. Hawkins

List of Illustrations

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. Civil Rights and Civil War: American Dantes by David Wallace

2. A Star Unlike: Dante and the American Transcendentalists by Laura Dassow Walls

3. The Divine Comedy as an American Civil-War Epic by Joshua Matthews

4. Dante and Social Justice: Foundations and Beginnings in the American Reception by Dennis Looney

5. "All the verities mundane and spiritual": Pietro di Donato's Christ in Concrete and Dante by Kathleen Boyle

6. "Now Was Your Semblance Made Like Unto This?" Dante's Face in America by Kathleen Verduin

7. Recollecting Dante Collecting: An American Pilgrimage by Christian Y. Dupont

8. "In Good Faith": From Dante's First American Poet-Translator, Thomas William Parsons, to Sandow Birk, Marcus Sanders and Mary Jo Bang by Kristina M. Olson

9. Dante and T.S. Eliot: Desire and Form by Henry Weinfield

10. Between Dante and Whitman: Robert Duncan's "Dante Études" by Stephen Fredman

11. Dante, Jazz, and the Black Radical Tradition by Joseph Elkanah Rosenberg

12. "The Lantern of the World Rises to Mortals by Varied Paths": Paul Laffoley (1935- 2015) and Dante by Arielle Saiber

13. Nel Mezzo del Cammin: Finding a "Spiritual" Dante in American Religious Culture by Peter S. Hawkins

Bibliography

List of Contributors

Index

Zygmunt G. Barański is Emeritus R. L. Canala Professor of Romance Languages & Literatures with the University of Notre Dame and the Serena Professor of Italian Emeritus with the University of Cambridge. His many publications include Dante's "Vita Nova" (co-edited with Heather Webb).

Theodore J. Cachey, Jr., is the Pizzo Family Chair in Dante Studies and Ravarino Family Director of Italian and Dante Studies and the Center for Italian Studies/Devers Family Program in Dante Studies at the University of Notre Dame. His numerous publications include Dante's "Other Works" (co-edited with Zygmunt G. Barański).

"This book will be a gift for anyone intrigued by Dante's historical and enduring presence in the collective American imagination. Leading experts offer brilliant insights into a stellar cast of American writers and artists known for their engagement with Dante, while also discovering new voices inspired by the Italian poet's life, work, and legacy." —Guy P. Raffa, author of Dante's Bones

"A tour de force. American Dantes is a testament to the incredible impact of Dante on American literary culture." —Akash Kumar, University of California, Berkeley