"Between Religion and Literature: Reflections on Meaning and Forgiveness in Dante and Shakespeare" - Vittorio Montemaggi (Notre Dame)
Thursday February 7, 2013 at 6:30pm in 117 DeBartolo Hall
The aim of the talk is to reflect on the relationship between religion and literature, in particular, by looking at the way in which Dante's Purgatorio and Shakespeare's The Tempest foreground the question of forgiveness by calling for the prayers of their audience in ways that coincide with these texts' self-conscious presentation of themselves as literary artifacts. By focusing specifically on the opening of Purgatorio XI and the Epilogue of The Tempest, and by suggesting an inextricable connection in these texts between meaning and the recognition of one's shortcomings, it aims to point to the value that certain perspectives on the relationship between literary and theological reflection can have for our understanding of academic enquiry more broadly conceived.
Hosted by the PhD in Literature Program at Notre Dame.