American Dante Bibliography for 1985

Christopher Kleinhenz 

This bibliography is intended to include all the Dante translations published in this country in 1985 and all Dante studies and reviews published in 1985 that are in any sense American. The latter criterion is construed to include foreign reviews of American publications pertaining to Dante. For their invaluable assistance in the preparation of this bibliography and its annotations my special thanks go to the following graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: Tonia Bernardi, Adriano Comollo, Scott Eagleburger, Jay Filipiak, Edward Hagman, Pauline Scott, Antonio Scuderi, and Elizabeth Serrin.

 

Translations

The Inferno. Translated by Nicholas Kilmer. Illustrated by Benjamin Martinez. Brookline Village, Mass.: Branden Publishing Co., 1985. 231 p. Illus.

The Divine Comedy. Vol. II: Purgatory. Translated with an introduction, notes, and commentary by Mark Musa. Harmondsworth and New York: Penguin Books, 1985. xxvi, 399 p. illus., diagrs.

This translation was originally published in 1981 by Indiana University Press (see Dante Studies, C, 134), here reprinted without the R.M. Powers drawings but with the addition of diagrams, an “Introduction to the Purgatory,” a “Glossary and Index of Persons and Places,” and a “Selected Bibliography.” Also, the arguments have been prefixed to their respective cantos.

Dante’s Inferno: The First Part of the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. Translated and illustrated by Tom Phillips. London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 1985. 311 p. illus., color. 

 

Studies

Abrams, Richard. “Illicit Pleasures: Dante among the Sensualists. Purgatorio XXVI).” In MLN, C, No. 1 (1985), 1-41.

Focuses on the many aspects of sensuality found in Canto XXVI and on the terrace of the lustful as a whole. Beginning with the arresting image of the Pilgrim’s shadow falling upon the sunlit flames, thus causing them to appear brighter in respect to the other flames around them, Abrams develops the theme of the interplay of shadow and light, pain and pleasure, sin and redemption, and how they are both interdependent and complementary.

Altizer, Thomas J. J. History as Apocalypse. SUNY Series in Religion. Albany: State U of New York Press, 1985. 265 p.

Includes a chapter on “Dante and the Gothic Revolution” (97-136) in addition to numerous references to Dante throughout the text. Discusses Dante’s “heretical” views as expressed in De Monarchia and the Commedia in the larger context of the social and theological revolutions of the age.

Anderson, David. “Pound alla ricerca di una lingua per Cavalcanti.” In Lettere italiane, XXXVII, No. 1 (gennaio-marzo, 1985), 24-40.

Contains references to the influence of Ezra Pound on Binyon’s translation of the Divine Comedy and some commentary on the recent translation of the poem in English by C. H. Sisson.

Arbuckle, Nan. Categories of the Self-Conscious Narrator in Wolfram, Dante, and Chaucer.” In Dissertation Abstracts International, XLV, No. 8 (February 1985), 2519A. Doctoral dissertation, The University of Oklahoma, 1984. 277 p.

Barber, Joseph. “Prospettive per un’analisi statistica del ‘Fiore’.” In Revue des études italiennes, XXXI, Nos. 1-4 (1985), 5-24.

After choosing samples from the works of several poets—Dante, Pucci, Folgore, a “standard” group from the Duecento, another group from the Trecento, and Fiore—the author makes a statistical analysis in each sample of the recurrence of “casual” elements—e.g., words with a certain number of syllables, prepositions and keywords, such as poi, suo, come, ogni, sempre, allora, etc. He also takes into consideration syntactical aspects of the sonnets, e.g. the recurrence of a period or pause after the fourth verse. Confident that this method can reveal the “fingerprints” of a poet, Barber gives instead a minor importance to the analogical method used by Contini and Fasani. He concludes that none of the examined poets can be the author of the Fiore. Instead, the author of Fiore should be an early fourteenth century Florentine poet who lived in France, was well acquainted with the works of Dante, and was unknown in the cultural circles of the time.

Beal, Rebecca S. “Beatrice in the Sun: A Vision from Apocalypse.” In Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 57-78.

Argues that the reference to the mulier amicta sole in Revelation 12 and its iconographic and exegetical tradition lie behind the representation of Beatrice crowned by the 12 “stars” (the theologians) in Par. 10 (vv. 91-93). Hailed earlier as the sponsa in Purg. 30 (“Veni, sponsa, de Libano,” 11), Beatrice would receive her crown here in Paradise, thus clarifying her significance as Ecclesia in the allegorical construct of the poem. Evidence from the dual iconographic tradition—Beatus and northern French—is brought to bear on the interpretation of this episode and its biblical source.

Bensick, Carol Marie. La Nouvelle Beatrice: Renaissance and Romance in “Rappaccini’s Daughter”. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1985. xiv, 167 p.

Contains references to the Divine Comedy and the Vita Nuova and their influence on Hawthorne’s short story.

Bornstein, George. “Yeat’s Romantic Dante.” In Dante Among the Moderns... (q. v.), 11-38. [1985]

Reprinted from Colby Literary Quarterly, XX, No. 2 (June, 1979), 93-113. (See Dante Studies, CXIX, 200.)

Bregoli-Russo, Mauda. “Le Egloghe di Dante: Un’analisi.” In Italica, LXII, No. 1 (1985), 34-40.

The main purpose of the Egloghe is the defense of the remissus et humilis style of the Comedy and not a literary exercise or a fight between two cultural views. The bucolic style is considered an example of humble style in medieval rhetorics, and Dante uses it both to demonstrate the rich expressivity of the modus transumptivus (i.e., its metaphoric style), and to lean on the authority of Virgil.

Brownlee, Kevin. “Dante’s Poetics of Transfiguration: The Case of Ovid.” In Literature and Belief, V (1985), 13-29.

Ovid’s Metamorphoses presents Dante with not just a theme, but with the notion of transformation as storyline and as narrative structure. Dante recontextualizes and re-motivates Ovid in Christian terms in a dialectic manner, essentially re-inventing Ovid during the course of the Comedy. Dante employs Ovid as a vital part of his mimesis of the experience and language of Grace, but in a way which relentlessly foregrounds the problematic nature of his project.

Cambon, Glauco. “Wallace Stevens’s Dialogue with Dante.” In Dante Among the Moderns... (q. v.), 102-127. [1985]

Examines the many analogies between the works of Stevens and Dante, and the positive influence of the latter on the former, even though Stevens was resolutely opposed to the theology of the Commedia.

Cavel, Richard. “The Nth Adam: Dante in Klein’s The Second Scroll.” Canadian Literature, CVI (1985), 45-53.  

Discusses Dante’s general influence on modern literature and centers on A. M. Klein who, as “spiritual and literary exile,” incorporates many of the Florentine poet’s metaphors (exodus, literary and spiritual quests) in his works, especially The Second Scroll.

Cervigni, Dino S. “I canti di Cacciaguida: Significato della storia e poetica della lingua.” In Dante Aligheri 1985. In memoriam Hermann Gmelin, edited by Richard Baum and Willi Hirdt (Tübingen: Stauffenburg, 1985), 129-140.

Thorough analysis of Paradiso XV-XVI-XVII with special emphasis on the various modes of communication in these cantos (Cacciaguida’s idyllic contemplation of the past, his condemnation of the present, and his foretelling of the future of of Dante the Poet’s prophetic mission), on the multiple correspondences between the poetic discourse (verba) and its subject (res), and on the rich, polysemous referential context thus evoked.

Chance, Jane. “The Origins and Development of Medieval Mythography: From Homer to Dante.” In Mapping the Cosmos, edited by Jane Chance and R. O. Wells Jr. (Houston: Rice University Press, 1985), 35-64.

General study of the development of the mythographic tradition from Classical Antiquity to the Midde Ages with numerous references to Dante’s use of these sources and his role as a mythographer.

Cherchi, Paolo. “Per la femmina balba.” In Quaderni d’italianistica, VI, No. 2 (1985), 228-232.

After mentioning several possible sources for the description of the “femmina balba” of Purgatorio 19, including the “foetida Aetiopissa” described in the Vitae Patrum, the author suggests a passage in the Lilium medicinae of Bernard di Gordon as another possible source. In dealing with the treatment for the malady of lovesickness, Bernard suggests the help of a “vetula turpissima,” whose graphic description bears some resemblances to Dante’s “femmina balba.” Considering Dante’s longstanding interest in medicine, evidenced by the medical language in his writings, it is not impossible that the Lilium medicinae provided some background for his portrayal of this character.

Chiappelli, Fredi. “Dante in America.” In Dante Aligheri 1985. In memoriam Hermann Gmelin, edited by Richard Baum and Willi Hirdt (Tübingen: Stauffenburg, 1985), 245-252.

Retrospective overview of the last two centuries of Dante scholarship in America with special attention given to the critical contributions of the last twenty years and more extended commentary on several individual essays in two recent collections: Dante in America: The First Two Centuries, edited by A. Bartlett Giamatti (see Dante Studies, CII, 150-151) and Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio: Studies in the Italian Trecento in Honor of Charles S. Singleton, edited by Aldo S. Bernardo and Anthony L. Pellegrini (see Dante Studies, CII, 151).

Cioffi, Caron Ann. “‘Dolce color d’oriental zaffiro’: A Gloss on Purgatorio 1.13.” In Modern Philology, LXXXII, No. 4 (1985), 355-364.

Taking as her starting point Purgatory 1.13, in which Dante once more picks up the thread of narrative after the exhortation of the first tercets, Cioffi finds that the central image of the sky as an “orïental zaffiro” has a correspondence to the description of the sapphire sky in Exodus 24:9-10, which the elders of Israel view from Mount Sinai. As the elders are unprepared to view God directly, so is Dante yet unprepared, though the serenity of the sapphire-like sky holds a promise of eventual revelation. The sapphire and its qualities have an extensive tradition in various commentaries, being associated with divine clarity and representing the glory of the Lord. Bede connects the sapphire, the Red Sea and baptism, and this adds further support for the symbolic actions of cleansing and rebirth that Dante performs in Purgatory 1. In the lapidary tradition, the sapphire is associated with chastity and humility, as well as having the power “to make God receptive to prayer, to cleanse the eyes and alleviate bodily pain, and to free one from prison.” It is a symbol of hope for salvation. Cioffi demonstrates that these qualities are all part of the fabric of the canto. In addition, early Dante critics have associated the stone with Beatrice, and Dante himself associates it with the Virgin Mary in Paradise 23.101. Finally, she comments on the significance of “orïental,” referring both to a specific type of sapphire regarded as superior in quality and to the symbolic meanings attributed to the East in Christian thought. The sapphire from the Orient thus serves as a symbolic link between the human and the Divine.

Costa, Dennis. “One Good Reception Deserves Another: The Epistle to Can Grande.” In Stanford Italian Review, V, No. 1 (1985), 5-17.

Most readers of the Epistle have ignored the first four short “epistolary” chapters in favor of the “doctrinal” part which follows. But the entire letter, including these chapters, is a source of Dante’s literary theory, an exposition of other of his works, and a guide to the spirit with which they are to be interpreted. The doctrinal part contains a series of verbal echoes, previously unnoticed, which refer back to the epistolary portion. And the epistolary part is actually a detailed model of the problem of reading texts, which is the theme of the doctrinal portion.

Crawford, Robert. “James Thomson and T. S. Eliot.” Victorian Poetry, XXIII, No. 1 (1985), 23-41.

Discusses Dante’s influence on Thomson’s poem The City of Dreadful Night and the combined influence of Dante and Thomson on T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.

Cro, Stelio. “Figuralism, Historicism, Contextualism, Comparative Literature in Dante Studies (1979-1985).” In Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 47-131.

An omnibus review-article of recent critical studies on Dante, all separately listed in full below, under Reviews.

Cro, Stelio.Vita Nuova figura Comoediae: Dante tra la ‘villana Morte’ e Matelda.” In Italian Culture, VI (1985), 13-30.

After asserting that the Vita Nuova can be interpreted in an allegorical sense similar to that of the Comedy, the author gives a new lectio and interpretation of some verses in the canzone “Donne ch’avete intelletto d’amore.” He changes verse 26—“là ’v’è alcun...”—to read “là v’è alcun....” This alteration, together with other considerations, would facilitate the interpretation that Dante, not yet conscious of the redemptive function of Beatrice, felt a carnal passion for her and then feared to lose her. The author identifies Matelda with the young friend of Beatrice whose death is recorded in Chapter 8 of the Vita Nuova. This and other particulars could demonstrate that the Vita Nuova was revised by Dante during the composition of the Comedy in order to anticipate and comment on certain situations of his masterpiece, which without these auxiliary hints from the Vita Nuova could not be easily explained.

Daigle, Marsha Ann. “Dante’s Divine Comedy and C. S. Lewis’s Narnia Chronicles.” In Christianity & Literature, XXXIV, No. 4 (Summer, 1985), 41-58.

Treats Dante’s Divine Comedy as a thematic source and stylistic model of the stories that comprise C. S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles (especially “The Silver Chair” and “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”).

Dante Among the Moderns. Edited by Stuart Y. McDougal. Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1985. xiii, 175 p.

Eight essays (by John Freccero, George Bornstein, Hugh Kenner, Stuart Y. McDougal, Monroe K. Spears, Glauco Cambon, Wallace Fowlie, and Robert Fitzgerald) survey the indebtedness of modern writers to Dante, all of which are listed separately in the Studies section.

Farnell, Stewart. “The Harmony of Church and Empire in the Divine Comedy.” In Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 1-11.

Dante’s political thought has interest in today’s world. In the Commedia Dante shows a fundamental optimism about the possibility of a harmonious coexistence of the two intertwined but distinct powers through loyalty to God, their common ruler. Today, as well, the relational problems between local and central government, as in a federal system, can be solved through a compromise directed toward the common goal of the country’s welfare.

Farnell, Stewart. The Political Ideas of “The Divine Comedy”: An Introduction. Lanham, Md., and London: University Press of America, 1985. vii, 144 p.

Examines in a very general way the political content of Dante’s Commedia. Contents: Introduction; 1. Dante; 2. The Divine Comedy; 3. The Inferno; 4. The Purgatorio; 5. The Paradiso; 6. The Pattern of the Comedy’s Political Ideas; 7. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Fitzgerald, Robert. “Mirroring the Commedia.” In Dante Among the Moderns... (q. v.), 153-175. [1985]

A discussion of Laurence Binyon’s translation of the Commedia. This essay previously appeared in Dante in America... (See Dante Studies, CII, 150-151, 153.)

Fowlie, Wallace. “Dante and Beckett.” In Dante Among the Moderns... (q. v.), 128-152. [1985]

Analyzes the numerous direct and subtle ways in which Beckett appropriates material from Dante for his works.

Frankel, Margherita. “Dante’s Conception of the Ideology of the Aeneid.” In Proceedings of the Xth Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association/Actes du Xe congrès de l’Association internationale de littérature comparée, New York, 1982. Vol. 2: Comparative Poetics/Poétiques Comparées, edited by Claudio Guillén and Peggy Escher, asst. ed.; Anna Balakian, coordinating editor, and James J. Wilhelm, publications editor (New York: Garland, 1985), 406-413.

In an attempt to explain the significance of Virgil and the Aeneid for Dante in the Commedia, Frankel argues that, while the political dimensions of the Latin epic were important in the writing of Convivio and De Monarchia, “what counts in the Commedia is the religious message of that poetry. Virgil is now conceived by Dante as an unwitting prophet of Christian truths and doctrines.” Against the common claim that Virgil was chosen as the Pilgrim’s guide “because as a poet he had celebrated the Roman Empire,” she notes that “nowhere in the Commedia does Virgil speak of Rome and of the Empire, nor is the Aeneid ever cited in support of pro-Empire political theories.” Recognizing that “in God’s perspective the sole purpose of the Roman Empire of old was to unify the world in order to make it ready to receive the Word of Christ,” Frankel argues that “in Dante’s time, the purpose of a new empire is to restore and protect the Church and Mankind from the evil and strife caused by the merging of both temporal and spiritual powers in the hands of the Pope. ... The task of the Empire is to administer all temporal matters so that the Church, divested of earthly concerns, can return to evangelical purity and to its role of spiritual guide for mankind.” In contrast to the salvation of Statius, Virgil’s damnation is the direct result of his inability to “discern the meaning of his own poetry.”

Freccero, John. “Virgil, Sweet Father.” In Dante Among the Moderns... (q. v.), 3-10. [1985]

Distinguishes two different types of influence in the Commedia: the incorporation of the work of an earlier poet (Virgil’s Aeneid) and the aspiration to poetic excellence and supremacy (vis-à-vis his contemporary Guido Cavalcanti); and these two sorts of influence may be observed between Dante and modern poets and among modern poets themselves.

Frongia, Eugenio. “‘A Heap of Broken Images’: T. S. Eliot, Dante, and Fellini’s La dolce vita.” In European Studies Journal, II, No. 2 (1985), 52-57.

Studies the notions of spiritual decay, alienation and counterfeiting, their detrimental effect on the individual and on society, and the similarities of their representation in Eliot’s The Waste Land, Dante’s Divine Comedy, and Fellini’s La dolce vita.

Gellrich, Jesse M. The Idea of the Book in the Middle Ages: Language Theory, Mythology, and Fiction. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1985. 292 p. illus.

Contains a chapter entitled “Dante’s Liber Occultorum and the Structure of Allegory in the Commedia” (139-166), in which the author discusses the varying attitudes toward the allegory of the poem (Singleton, Hollander, Freccero, Mazzotta) and formulates his own view. “In the Commedia, the structure of allegory is not to be found in a signifying system seeking to represent an imaginary world; nor is its structure within the language itself, within the several ‘levels’ of semantic sense. The allegorical sign is not symbolic, and Dante has not created a myth. On the contrary, the allegory of the Commedia consists in the structure of temporal distance between the originary liber of God, envisioned in the sky at the end of the poem, and the book of written efforts to explain the experience of its meaning” (164-165).

Ginsberg, Warren. “‘E chinando la mano a la sua faccia’: A Note on Dante, Brunetto Latini, and Their Text.” In Stanford Italian Review, V, No. 1 (1985), 19-22.  

Summarizes the interpretive debate of this verse: the gesture has been interpreted as one of greeting, surprise, affection, or simply a neutral consequence of the differing physical heights of the two figures. Citing five iconographic examples, Ginsberg suggests that the gesture is a traditional motif with underlying sexual connotations. Thus, with reference to Dante, the gesture is open to the many possibilities of interpretation mentioned; with reference to Brunetto it is a further indication of the nature of his sin. Illustrations of this episode of the Commedia also emphasize the rapport between the two figures as writers; Dante the poet is depicted “pointing” at the failure of Brunetto’s writing to gain him a place in heaven.

Gross, Kenneth. “Infernal Metamorphoses: An Interpretation of Dante’s ‘Counterpass.’” In MLN, C, No. 1 (1985), 42-69.

A return to the origins of the word “contrapasso” as coined by Dante and as uttered by Bertran de Born in Inferno 28 reveals that the pains of Dante’s Hell are revelatory rather than retaliatory. At the moment of death all damned undergo a transformation, experiencing an incarnation of their spiritual disorder. Examination of Inferno 24 and 25, in light of the counterpass involved and the theme of metamorphosis (based heavily on Ovid), demonstrates the association of the sin of thievery as representative of all sin and the symbolic presence of snakes as general spiritual degeneration.

Guzzardo, John. “Number Symbolism in the Vita Nuova.” In Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 12-31.

In this overview of varying theories concerning number symbolism in the Vita Nuova Guzzardo formulates a tripartite structure of the work as it is divided thematically by its three main canzoni. These three stages reflect the ascent of the heart and mind to God in the Augustinian terms of extra nos, intra nos, and supra nos. Dante’s progression to a state of transcendence appears once from the extra nos stage through the intra nos stage then repeats itself successfully in the supra nos stage, forming a two-thirds to one-third division. This binary structure reinforces the tripartite stucture and serves to call special attention to third step as it combines and transcends the preceding two.

Haines, Charles. “Patient Griselda and matta bestialitade.” In Quaderni d’italianistica, VI, No. 2 (1985), 233-240.

Discusses Boccaccio’s incorporation of the term “matta bestialità” (Inferno 11.82-83) in Decameron X:10, and how this lexical choice provides a key to the interpretation of this complex and ambiguous tale.

Hale, John K. “Traduttore Traditore?: The Value of English Versions of the Divina Commedia.” In Forum Italicum, XIX, No. 1 (1985), 120-139.  

Hale examines the major difficulties facing translators when rendering the Commedia into English, discussing such problems as the value of retaining the original rhyme scheme and metre as opposed to adopting a style more natural to English, and how much creative freedom an individual translator should have in interpreting the original text. He also offers a brief history of some of the best-known English translations to date, citing what he considers to be their strengths and weaknesses.

Harrison, Robert Pogue. “A Phenomenology of the Vita Nuova.” In Dissertation Abstracts International, XLV, No. 9 (March 1985), 2869A. Doctoral dissertation, Cornell University, 1984. 211 p.

Havely, Nicholas. “Tearing or Breathing? Dante’s Influence on Filostrato and Troilus.” In Studies in the Age of Chaucer. Proceedings, No. 1, 1984: “Reconstructing Chaucer,” edited by Paul Strohm and Thomas J. Heffernan (New Chaucer Society; Knoxville: The University of Tennessee, 1985), 51-59.

Examines and distinguishes between Boccaccio’s and Chaucer’s use of Dante’s Divine Comedy in, respectively, Filostrato and Troilus and Criseyde. Argues that in Book III of Troilus Chaucer, unlike Boccaccio, incorporates much material from the Purgatorio and for very precise purposes.

Hawkins, Peter S. “Dante’s Ovid.” In Literature and Belief, V (1985), 1-12.

Dante, unlike most poets, clearly admits his debt to other poets, including Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan and Virgil. Dante’s view of Ovid in the Divine Comedy seems to express a dual view of Ovid: the “good” Ovid from the period of Dante’s life from the Vita Nuova to the Convivio, and the “bad” Ovid he comes to know in years following the Convivio, eventually realizing in Ovid a richly detailed picture of a world without grace and a poet consumed by references to himself.

Hawkins, Peter S. “Transfiguring the Text: Ovid, Scripture and the Dynamics of Allusion.” In Stanford Italian Review, V, No. 2 (1985), 115-139.

Among the ancient poets referred to in Purgatorio 28.139-144, there seems to be an implicit tribute to Ovid and his Metamorphoses. But there is also the discontinuity between pagan metamorphosis and the gospel Transfiguration. In Purgatorio 32.64-82, Dante comes to himself after sleep, not like Argus who was lulled to death in the pagan grove, but like the disciples who awoke on Mt. Tabor with a new vision, a vocation to go down and preach the truth. Despite its obvious debt to Ovid and Virgil, Dante’s literary vocation is in fact linked not to the scripta paganorum but to Sacra Scrittura.

Herron, Carol Olivia. “The Vacillating Epic: The Dialectic of Opposing World Views in the Expansion of the Epic Literary Genre.” In Dissertation Abstracts International, XLVI, No. 5 (November 1985), 1271A-1272A. Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1985. 239 p.

Considers Homer, Dante, and Milton.

Holekamp, Elizabeth Lambert. “Dante into French: The Earliest Complete Translation of the Divine Comedy.” In Dissertation Abstracts International, XLVI, No. 6 (December 1985), 1642A. Doctoral dissertation, Indiana University, 1985. 301 p.

Hollander, Robert. “Dante’s Pagan Past: Notes on Inferno XIV and XVIII.” In Stanford Italian Review, V, No. 1 (1985), 23-36.

Discusses the episodes of Capaneus and Jason in the Inferno and how they actually serve to undermine Virgil’s role as guide and mentor to the pilgrim. In the case of Capaneus, Hollander compares the blasphemer’s disastrous siege of Thebes to Virgil’s failed attempt to enter the city of Dis unaided. The author follows with a brief analysis of the scene with Jason, focusing on the association of Beatrice’s comments on Virgil’s speech: “la tua parola ornata” and Virgil’s own description of Jason’s “parole ornate”, an association which further impairs Virgil’s authority.

Hollander, Robert. “Ugolino’s Supposed Cannibalism: A Bibliographical Note.” In Quaderni d’italianistica, VI, No. 1 (1985), 64-81.  

Presents a tabular and chronological review of the history of debate over this crux interpretum, from Jacopo della Lana to the present. The commentators are grouped into four opinions: 1) Ugolino died of hunger, 2) Ugolino died of hunger; he did not eat (or try to eat) his children, 3) The verse is ambiguous, but lends credence to the notion of cannibalism, and 4) Ugolino ate (or tried to eat) the children. The author concludes that the cannibalism enacted here is a deliberately wrought poetic effect which points beyond itself to a spiritual condition.

Holloway, Julia Bolton. “Alfonso El Sabio, Brunetto Latini, and Dante Alighieri.” In Thought, LX, No. 239 (September, 1985), 468-483.

Surveys Brunetto Latini manuscripts and examines the possible interrelations between literary material produced and translated at the court of King Alfonso El Sabio and Dante’s corpus, with Brunetto Latini serving as intermediary. Emphasis is on elements from the Arabic world that may have filtered through Brunetto to find their way into the Comedy.

Holloway, Julia Bolton. “The Vita nuova: Paradigms of Pilgrimage.” In Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 103-124. [1985]

Suggests that the Vita Nuova should be read as a “palimpsest,” one that discloses two complementary pilgrimage models—that of Emmaus (Luke 24) and Exodus. Argues that, in the latter paradigm, the 42 chapters of the Vita Nuova correspond to the description and interpretation of the 42 stations of Exodus (Numbers 33) in the exegetical tradition.

Howard, Lloyd. “Virgil’s Discourse on Love in Purgatorio XVIII and Guido Cavalcanti.” In Quaderni d’italianistica, VI, No. 2 (1985), 167-177.  

Virgil’s discourse on Love is used to account for the “absence” of Guido Cavalcanti in the Commedia. Because of the lack of mention of Guido in both De vulgari eloquentia and the Commedia, Howard postulates a split between the two former friends, perhaps over Guido’s averroism and the abandonment of his lady, the vehicle which leads to salvation. Yet, Dante must deal with his former friend in some way. He does so partially in Inferno X, in the discourse with Guido’s father. But it is in Virgil’s discourse that Dante condemns his friend’s averroism without mentioning his name, by subtly calling to the reader’s mind the canzone “Donna me prega.” Dante does this through three “signals:” 1) The use of the verb “pregare” in asking for an explanation, not a common occurrence in the Comedy; 2) Virgil’s discourse refers to two of eight themes found in the canzone; and 3) The condemnation of averroists both before and after the discourse. Howard focuses particularly on a discussion of the possible intellect, and the differences between Virgil’s and Guido’s positions on the matter (which reflect the interpretation of Aristotle by St. Thomas and Averroes respectively). Dante’s spiritual blindness is cured by Beatrice, who represents the correct road to salvation. Guido’s blindness is damaging and must be condemned, lest the success of his canzone lead others astray.

Huot, Sylvia. “Seduction and Sublimation: Christine de Pizan, Jean de Meun, and Dante.” In Romance Notes, XXV, No. 3 (1985), 361-373.

Focuses on the controversial issue of Christine de Pizan’s feminism within the broader context of her views on medieval class structure; Christine did not object to masculine authority per se, only to misogyny and sexual exploitation as found in literary texts. In Dante Christine found a “poetic and linguistic model” that she could use to support her own ideas, for in the Commedia “neither text nor lady is offered as an object of possession, but rather as a means to a higher end”.

Huot, Sylvia. “Poetic Ambiguity and Reader Response in Boccaccio’s Amorosa Visione.” In Modern Philology, LXXXIII, No. 2 (1985), 109-122.

Analyzes the poetic and moral ambiguity of the Amorosa Visione with many suggestive contrasts with the Commedia.

Hutchings, William. “Shat into Grace; or A Tale of a Turd: Why It Is How It Is in Samuel Beckett’s How it Is.” Papers on Language and Literature, XXI, No. 1 (1985), 64-87.

Compares the plight of Beckett’s narrator in How It Is to the punishment of the wrathful and sullen in Inferno III. Also examines the way in which the Commedia is a paradigm for Beckett’s play.

Jacoff, Rachel. “Sacrifice and Empire: Thematic Analogies in San Vitale and the Paradiso.” In Renaissance Studies in Honor of Craig Hugh Smyth, edited by Andrew Morrogh, Fiorella Superbi Gioffredi, Piero Morselli, and Eve Borsook. Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, 7. Vol I: History-Literature-Music (Florence: Giunti Barbèra, 1985), 317-332.

Discusses the analogies between the iconographic representation of Justinian in the mosaics of the church of San Vitale in Ravenna and Dante’s representation of the Emperor in cantos 6-7 of Paradiso.

Javitch, Daniel. “The Imitation of Imitations in Orlando furioso.” In Renaissance Quarterly, XXXVIII, No. 2 (1985), 215-239.

Cites Ariosto’s “genealogy of sources” including Dante’s encounter with Pier della Vigna (Inf. 13) as reworked by Ariosto (Orlando Furioso, VI.27). Also argues that Ariosto’s intention in “imitatio” is not to challenge, as is Dante’s re-writing of Virgil.

Kay, Richard. “The Spare Ribs of Dante’s Michael Scot.” In Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 1-14.

Taking as his point of departure Dante’s unusual description of Michael Scot (“quell’altro che ne’ fianchi è così poco,” Inf. XXI, 115), Kay, after summarizing the life and works of Scot, investigates his Liber physiognomiae in an attempt to find in it an explanation of Dante’s description of his physical characteristics. In that work, the section on De costis describes a person whose “ribs are thin, small, and bare of much flesh” as being, among other things, “bad, and just with respect to what is good” [“malum, et iustum ad bonum”]. With regard to the presentation of augury and Scot’s discussion of it in his works, Kay argues that “from Dante’s Christian point of view, Michael Scot could correctly be described as ‘bad’ because he approved of evil practices and presumably practiced what he preached; but because he carefully and consistently apprised his reader that the Church had condemned such practices, Michael could also be described as one who was ‘just with respect to what is good’.” Kay further suggests that the Liber physiognomiae might be used profitably to interpret the various physical conditions of souls in the Commedia.

Kenner, Hugh. “Ezra Pound’s Commedia.” In Dante Among the Moderns... (q. v.), 39-56. [1985]

Analyzes Pound’s Cantos and the way his reading of Dante helped to shape the way he would use a variety of themes and traditions.

Kleinhenz, Christopher, and Anthony L. Pellegrini. “American Dante Bibliography for 1984.” In Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 139-171.

With brief analyses.

Kristeller, Paul Oskar. “Latin and Vernacular in Fourteenth- and Fifteenth-Century Italy.” In Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association, VI (1985), 105-126.

Kristeller supports the premise that the literary culture of fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Italy was bilingual, by demonstrating that from the time of the “three crowns” there were always minor works in vernacular, even during the period when Latin reigned. When the vernacular took precedence, Latin continued to be employed. The conclusion is best expressed in the author’s own words: “In a comprehensive history of Italian culture, if not in a history of Italian literature, the despised Tuscan of the fifteenth century, the works written in the various dialects, and above all the Latin literature in all its forms, including learned prose, should find a place.” Kristeller emphasizes Dante’s contributions in both Latin and the vernacular, and points out his protohumanist strain, specifically his correspondence with Giovanni del Virgilio.

Levine, Robert. “Squaring the Circle: Dante’s Solution.” In Neuphilologische Mitteilungen, LXXXVI (1985), No. 2, 280-284.

In Paradiso XXXIII, Dante offers two solutions to the “impossible” problem of squaring the circle. The logical solution, basd on Boethius’ diagrams of triangles and squares, is reflected in the poetic use of three’s and four’s such as interna and squaderna. The theological solution is revealed in the paradox of the Incarnation, where Mary’s womb (often represented as a square) contains the divine Circle. By drawing upon both solutions, the Dante establishes a kind of final heavenly harmony between logic and theology.

Levitan, Alan. “Dante as Listener, Cato’s Rebuke, and Virgil’s Self-Reproach.” In Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 37-55.

Suggests that the souls’ aural absorption in Casella’s song is analogous to Aeneas’ visual absorption before the scenes depicted in the temples of Juno at Carthage (Aeneid I, 450-497) and of Apollo at Cumae (Aeneid VI, 14-55), both moments representing a confrontation of the hero with his past. Discusses Cato’s rebuke (Purg. 2) in relationship to Virgil’s earlier rebuke of the Pilgrim (Inf. 30.124-135), the possible echoes of the Narcissus myth (visual and aural “mirroring”) in Purg. 2, and the implications and irony of Virgil’s rimorso (Purg. 3.7-9) at Cato’s rebuke.

Lyle, Janice. “Dante in British Art: 1770-1830.” In Dissertation Abstracts International, XLV, No. 10 (April 1985), 3017A. Doctoral dissertation, University of California-Santa Barbara, 1984. 289 p.

Discusses Joshua Reynolds, Henry Fuseli, John Flaxman, and William Blake.

McDougal, Stuart Y. “Dreaming a Renaissance: Pound’s Dantean Inheritance.” In Ezra Pound Among the Poets, edited by George Bornstein (Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1985), 63-80.

Discusses Pound’s study of Dante and the influence of the latter’s works, especially De Vulgari Eloquentia and the Commedia.

McDougal, Stuart Y. “T. S. Eliot’s Metaphysical Dante.” In Dante Among the Moderns... (q. v.), 57-81. [1985]

For Eliot, Dante (together with the stilnovisti) was the influential force that caused him to create a tradition of metaphysical poetry.

McDougal, Stuart Y., editor, Dante Among the Moderns... (q. v.) [1985]

McMahon, Robert. “The Christian Scripture of Ovid’s Narcissus in the Commedia.” In Pacific Coast Philology, XX, No. 1-2 (1985), 65-69.

Argues that Dante incorporated and interpreted Ovid’s story of Narcissus in each canticle, according to an infernal, purgatorial, or paradisal mode. McMahon suggests that the concluding scene in the Commedia should be read as a “paradisal inversion of the sensually arrested and deluded vision of Ovid’s Narcissus.” Along similar lines, he proposes that Dante gives a threefold interpretation (allegorical, tropological, and anagogical) of the Ovidian myth in Inferno 34 (the figure of Lucifer) and Purgatorio 30 (the Pilgrim’s contrition).

Manca, Franco. “Dante e la poesia realistico-borghese.” In Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 32-45.

The tenzone of Dante with Forese represents a real fight between them and not a purely literary exercise. In fact, Dante structures his encounter with Forese in Purg. 23, by using elements from the tenzone; however, the changes he makes in the tone and feeling are an attempt to remedy those earlier excesses and thus to reestablish their relationship.

Mazzeo, Joseph A. “Medieval Hermeneutics: Dante’s Poetic and Historicity.” Religion and Literature, XVII, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), 1-24.

A consideration of Dante’s adaptation of theories of Biblical exegesis in order to establish an analogy between Scripture and his Comedy, thereby “authenticating” the poet’s experience and thus the prophetic nature of his message. Hence the presence of historical figures, each revealing through their individual natures and fates an underlying universal cosmic principle in the manner of the allegory of theologians. As perceived by the Christian tradition, history in the Biblical narrative is both prophecy and its fulfillment, and in Eternity all historical personalities exist simultaneously. Dante’s journey, rooted in time, reproduces the essential characteristics of retrospection and prophecy, while the assimilation of diverse historical figures to a timeless present renders them definitive, and their historical reality is transformed into an emblem of cosmic judgement. In addition, the author discusses problems with the interpretation of Dante’s theories and definitions of allegory, the “meaning” of the figure of Virgil, and the nature of Christian realism in art.

Migiel, Marilyn. “Between Art and Theology: Dante’s Representation of Humility.” In Stanford Italian Review, V, No. 2 (Fall, 1985), 141-159.

The artistic realism of Purgatorio X is a vehicle for a theology of humility which is somewhat different from the Thomistic formulation. The inner virtue of humility must always manifest itself in outward signs, for its external bodily expression is the voice of the soul. Rather than a recognition of human limits or a renunciation of power, Dante presents humility as a mean between two extremes. Humility is also a social virtue which fosters the movement toward peace and justice.

Noakes, Susan. “Intertextuality and Dante’s Antithetical Hypersign.” In Semiotics 1984, edited by John Deely (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, 1985), 95-103.

Dante’s Divine Comedy evidences the importance of the antithetical hypersign to the study of literary and general semiotics. Its character as antithetical hypersign is most conspicuously realized in explicitly intertextual episodes, designating antithesis as their meaning. Antithetical intertextual episodes point toward intratextual antithesis. Finally, literary hypersign facilitates the examination of non-literary hypersigns.

Nolan, E. Peter. “Beyond Macaronic: Embedded Latin in Dante and Langland.” In Acta Conventus Neo-Latini Bononiensis. Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies. Bologna 26 August to 1 Sept. 1979, edited by R[ichard] J. Schoeck (Binghamton, N.Y.: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1985), 539-548.  

Uses Dante’s views on the relative importance of Latin and the vernacular (De Vulgari Eloquentia and Convivio) and his incorporation of Latin in the Vita Nuova and the Commedia as the prelude to a discussion of Langland’s use of Latin in Piers Plowman.

Nolan, Peter E. “Order’s Image in Heinrich von Morungen, Dante, Chaucer, and Two Middle English Lyrics.” In Hypatia: Essays in Classics, Comparative Literature, and Philosophy Presented to Hazel E. Barnes on Her Seventieth Birthday, edited by William M. Calder III, Ulrich K. Goldsmith, and Phyllis B. Kenevan (Boulder: Colorado Associated University Press, 1985), 137-150.

Brief discussion of the amor tercets in Inferno 5 to demonstrate how “patterns of ordination act in dialectical opposition to the patterns of verisimilitude.”

Nowak, Stanley J., Jr. “A Comparative Analysis of the Lazarillo de Tormes and the Seven Capital Sins.” In Dissertation Abstracts International, XLVI, No. 4 (October 1985), 973A. Doctoral dissertation, The Pennsylvania State University, 1984. 298 p.

“Parallels are drawn to Dante’s Divina Commedia, especially in the use of the Seven Capital Sins as a controlling structure in ‘Purgatorio’.”

Parker, Patricia. “Dante and the Dramatic Monologue.” In Stanford Literature Review, II, No. 2 (Fall, 1985), 165-183.

Discusses the infernal Dantesque monologue with regard to its utilization as a model in the poetry of Browning; especially its elusive, ambiguous nature that suggests a “hidden agenda” of self-justification. Some discussion of Browning’s familiarity with Dante; the former’s use of the dramatic monologue as indicative of a split between the public and private poet; parallels between Ugolino’s monologue (Inf. XXXIII) and Browning’s “The Bishop Orders His Tomb at St. Praxed’s Church.”

Pellegrini, Anthony L. “American Dante Bibliography for 1984.” See Kleinhenz, Christopher...

Peterman, Larry. “Reading the Convivio.” In Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 125-138.

Suggests that a consideration of numerical patterns and ordering in the Convivio may help to determine meaning in the work. In particular, the important central chapters—III, ix and III, x—are appropriately glossed by other chapters located at a remove of 7, 13, and 33 chapters from the center or at intervals based on these numbers. Discusses in this context the notion of “discretion,” of “friendship,” and of man as a “divino animale.”

Petrocchi, Giorgio. “Manzoni e il De vulgari eloquentia.” In Forum Italicum, XIX, No. 2 (1985), 273-283.  

Since he did not complete his book Della lingua italiana, Manzoni’s position on the De Vulgari can be found only in scattered notes. He criticizes Dante for having formulated, as a model for literary language, an abstract language which is far removed from popular use. Moreover, in the Commedia Dante does not follow his theoretical precepts; rather, he draws on both the volgare illustre, which is reserved for the tragic genre, and the Florentine dialect.

Piehler, Paul. “The Rehabilitation of Prophecy: On Dante’s Three Beasts.” Florilegium, VII (1985), 179-188.

Dante emulates the inspired writers by creating an allegory for theologians rather than an allegory of theologians. The Commedia’s mythic and prophetic symbolism may be detected in the cryptic representation of the three beasts which offer a wide range of exegetical interpretation. Dante himself provides the key for the interpretation of this archetypal drama in the unfolding of the poem, answering the romantic demand for a literature of power as well as classical expectations of a literature of order.

Pipa, Arshi. “Personaggi della Vita Nuova: Dante, Cavalcanti e la famiglia Portinari.” In Italica, LXII, No. 2 (1985), 99-115.

Through a detailed textual and structural analysis the author attempts to demonstrate that the hidden but main purpose of the Vita Nuova is political. According to the author, Dante wrote it when he started his political career, and with a two-fold intent: to sever his ties with his old friend Cavalcanti, thus stressing his new bourgeois-moderate tendencies, and to gain support from his new friends, the influential Portinari clan, by transforming the deceased Beatrice into a saint.

Pugliese, Olga Zorzi. “Apocalyptic and Dantesque Elements in a Franciscan Prophecy of the Renaissance.” In Proceedings of the Patristic, Mediaeval, and Renaissance Conference, X (1985), 127-135.

Refers to Dante’s prophecy of the DXV (Purg. XXXIII, 43) with its number symbolism as a source for an early sixteenth-century Latin prophecy announcing the destruction of Florence. The manuscript containing the prophecy is in the University of Toronto Library.

Quinones, Ricardo J. “Ulysses’ Brother: The Cain and Abel Theme in Dante’s Commedia.” In Renaissance Studies in Honor of Craig Hugh Smyth, edited by Andrew Morrogh, Fiorella Superbi Gioffredi, Piero Morselli, and Eve Borsook. Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, 7. Vol I: History-Literature-Music (Florence: Giunti Barbèra, 1985), 437-453.

Presents a wide-ranging discussion of the different and contradictory aspects of Cain—the evil force living outside society, the founder of the degenerate earthly city, the envious fratricide whose progeny include giants and other monsters—and the Cain and Abel theme—the frères ennemis—in Western literature and, particularly, in Dante’s Commedia, relating these several points in suggestive ways to the figure of Ulysses who, paired with Diomede and likened to Eteocles and Polyneices, has been given a “brother” and has, thus, been “demythologized” and “historicized.”

Quint, David. “Humanism and Modernity: A Reconsideration of Bruni’s Dialogues.” In Renaissance Quarterly, XXXVIII, No. 3 (1985), 423-445.

Examines the discussion of Dante in the second Dialogue as a purely rhetorical ploy modelled on Antonius’s recantation in Cicero’s De Oratore. Quint argues that the dialogue instead extends the attack against the Trecento poets.

Richards, Earl Jeffrey. “Christine de Pizan and Dante: A Reexamination.” In Archiv für das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen, CCXXII, No. 1 (1985), 100-111.

In an attempt to correct the traditional view, the author discusses Christine de Pizan’s knowledge of Dante and his works and examines how her explicit references to the Florentine poet “fit well into the purpose of her polemic against the Roman de la Rose.”

“Ricordo di Singleton.” In L’Alighieri, XXVI, No. 2 (luglio-dicembre, 1985), 61-63.

A memoir of the distinguished American Dantista.

Rossi, Albert L.Miro gurge (Par. XXX, 68): Virgilian Language and Textual Pattern in the River of Light.” In Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 79-101.

Studies the appearances of gurge in Classical authors and, given the link between fiumana and gurge in Par. 30 (64, 68), suggests the association with the fiumana of Inf. 2 (108) and further with the Aristaeus episode in Virgil’s fourth Georgic (321). Explores the significance of “Dante’s self-authorization as a new Aristaeus” and of the “stylistic implications of Dante’s Latinism,” concluding with a discussion of the “remaking of Dante’s authority in light of Virgil’s own poetic persona.”

Roston, Jacqueline Gabrielle. Camus’s Récit “La Chute:” A Rewriting through Dante’s “Commedia”. New York-Berne-Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1985. x, 179 p. (Studies in Humanities 5.)

Examines Camus’s La Chute as a “rewriting” of the Commedia through a consideration of characters, language, themes and motifs, images, and a host of other elements which “reinforce and create the context and the interpretation of the rewriting.”

Scaglione, Aldo. “Sonata Form and Structural Strategy in the Divine Comedy.” In Studies in the Italian Renaissance: Essays in Memory of Arnolfo B. Ferruolo, edited by Gian Paolo Biasin, Albert N. Mancini, and Nicolas J. Perella. Studi e testi di bibliologia e critica letteraria, XII (Napoli: Società Editrice Napoletana, 1985), 13-26.

Dante shows his mastery in dealing with compositional structure in the following two ways, among others: 1) by charging the text with hidden “pretexts” and “intertexts” and 2) by using the variatio technique in different episodes. He could have derived his ability with variatio not only from rhetorical sources but also from musical ones.

Schumacher, Thomas L. The Danteum: A Study in the Architecture of Literature. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Architectural Press, 1985. [vi], 169 p. 93 figures, 17 color plates

In 1938 a memorial building to honor Dante--the Danteum--was proposed, and two architects—Giuseppe Terragni and Pietro Lingeri--presented preliminary plans to Mussolini. The Danteum was to have been completed for the Exposition of 1942, but construction was never begun. This English version of Terragni e il Danteum (Roma: Officina Edizioni, 1980) provides an overview of the numerous aspects of the Danteum’s design and models and presents a wealth of documentation concerning the work’s cultural, political and architectural context.

Scott, John A. “Treachery in Dante.” In Studies in the Italian Renaissance: Essays in Memory of Arnolfo B. Ferruolo, edited by Gian Paolo Biasin, Albert N. Mancini, and Nicolas J. Perella. Studi e testi di bibliologia e critica letteraria, XII (Napoli: Società Editrice Napoletana, 1985), 27-42.

Treats the unavoidable contradiction in the poet’s division of fraud into simple and complex, and argues that examples of the latter are not confined only to the last section of Hell, but are an undercurrent also in episodes of simple fraud. Scott first emphasizes the essential negativity of this area of Hell: the ice is a symbol of sterility; the giants are aberrations of nature, treacherous and pridefully rebellious. Nimrod’s rebellion wreaked havoc with the unity of language; his treachery is linked with that of Ganelon at Roncesvalles and the threat to the social unity of the Empire. The treacherous acts punished here are against both God and man, with disastrous consequences for humanity. Scott then examines two points peculiar to Dante’s ordering of the sins of Fraud and Violence. In making Fraud the more hateful sin, Dante seems to agree with Cicero, but this puts him in opposition to Aquinas. Dante then differs from Cicero in maintaining that Fraud is peculiar to man. It is a misuse of his intellect, that divine attribute which is supposed to distinguish man from beast. This personal hatred of treachery, Scott argues, is manifest throughout the poem, but especially in the treatment Dante gives Boniface VIII and the other corrupt popes. The contradiction is that, as evil shepherds who betrayed the trust of their flock, the popes are “officially” guilty of simony, not treachery. The ambiguity is due to “Dante’s sense of drama and his offended conscience,” as well as his need to denounce the moral corruption of the Papacy.

Sicari, Stephen. “The Secret of Eleusis, Or How Pound Grounds His ‘Epic of Judgment’.” In Paideuma, XIV, Nos. 2-3 (Fall-Winter, 1985), 303-321.

Argues that, in composing The Cantos, Pound continuously relies on the Divine Comedy, that he “gets from Dante his project, his mission. Pound discovers in Dante the poet who believes that poetry is a real force affecting people’s lives, that it can order and interpret the complex world of history by viewing this world from an intensely lyrical/spiritual perspective, that poetry can create the order needed for a living civilization.”

Sowell, Madison U. “Chaucer and the Three Crowns of Florence (Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio): Recent Comparative Scholarship.” In Journal of the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association, VI (1985), 173-182.

Review-article of Chaucer and the Italian Trecento, edited by Piero Boitani (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983); Howard H. Schless, Chaucer and Dante: A Revaluation (Norman, Oklahoma: Pilgrim Books, 1984); and R. A. Shoaf, Dante, Chaucer and the Currency of the Word: Money, Images, and Reference in Late Medieval Poetry (Norman, Okla.: Pilgrim Books, 1983). (For the latter two works see Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 159-160 and 170-171, respectively.)

Spears, Monroe K. “The Divine Comedy of W. H. Auden.” In Dante Among the Moderns... (q. v.), 82-101. [1985]

Reprinted from the Sewanee Review, XL, No. 1 (Winter, 1982), 53-72. (See Dante Studies, CI, 212.)

Spence, Sarah. “Myrrha, Myrrha in the Well: Metonymy and Interpretation in Inferno XXXIV.” In Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 15-36. [1985]

Proposes an alternate, psychologically oriented reading of Inferno 34 based on an elaborate series of allusions which function largely as metonymic displacements. Suggests, among other things, that Myrrha is a negative, alter ego of the Virgin Mary, that Lucifer is the alter ego of the crucified Christ (as suggested by the scenes on the ampullae of Monza and Bobbio), that the cross is made of wood from the myrrha tree, that Mary is connected with the myrrha tree, that Mary and Myrrha are both figures of death and rebirth, etc.

Stefanini, Ruggero. “I tre sogni del Purgatorio: struttura e allegoria.” In Studies in the Italian Renaissance: Essays in Memory of Arnolfo B. Ferruolo, edited by Gian Paolo Biasin, Albert M. Mancini, and Nicolas J. Perella. Studi e testi di bibliologia e critica letteraria, XII (Napoli: Società Editrice Napoletana, 1985), 43-66.

After describing the various critical interpretations, the author explains his agreement with the interpretation of Lucia as a symbol of the empire and Beatrice as a symbol of the church.

Stephany, William A. “Dante’s Harpies: ‘tristo annunzio di futuro danno.” In Italica, LXII, No. 1 (1985), 24-33.

Verse 12 of Inferno 13 “tristo annunzio di futuro danno” refers to the theme of prophecy throughout the Commedia, specifically to those episodes which point to Dante’s exile. Understanding the presence of the harpies in a Virgilian context, the Pilgrim ultimately learns the value of responding positively to seemingly adverse situations.

Stoicheff, Peter. “Pound’s Final Personae in Drafts & Fragments.” In Paideuma, XIV, Nos. 2-3 (Fall-Winter, 1985), 273-302.

Explores the presence of Dante (as a persona) and his works (Divine Comedy, Vita Nuova, Convivio) and ideas (e.g., love, faith, justice) in Drafts & Fragments.

Sturm-Maddox, Sara. Petrarch’s Metamorphoses: Text and Subtext in the “Rime sparse.” Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1985. ix, 173 p.

Analyzes the interrelationships between Dante’s Vita Nuova and Divina Commedia and Petrarch’s Canzoniere, and the subversion of the former by the latter. Contents: 1. Introduction: Reading the Poet’s Story; 2. Apollo and Daphne: The Ovidian Subtext; 3. Dante and Beatrice: The Stilnovist Subtext; 4. Dante and Beatrice: The Redemptive Subtext; 5. Augustine’s Story: The Confessional Subtext; 6. Conclusion: The Meaning of Metamorphosis; Notes; Subject Index; Index of First Lines of the Rime.

Sturm-Maddox, Sara.Rime sparse 25-28: The Metaphors of Choice.” In Neophilologus, LXIX, No. 2 (1985), 225-235.

Discusses Petrarch’s evocations in these poems of the Commedia and, specifically, of the paradigmatic presentation by Dante of the Pilgrim’s journey.

Sweeney, Eileen. “Aquinas’ Three Levels of Divine Predication in Dante’s Paradiso.” In Comitatus, XVI (1985), 29-45.

Attempts to reconcile two contradictory readings of Dante’s language in the Paradiso through recourse to Aquinas’s three levels of predication. The saint explains that there are three ways for imperfect, human language to describe God: affirmatively, negatively, and through supereminent predication. For instance, one may say that God is wise (affirmative), but He is not wise in the way that people are wise (negatively), rather, He is wise in ways which cannot be expressed through language (supereminent predication). In the Heaven of the Sun, the pilgrim comes to an understanding of God through His works and creation. These optimistic cantos would represent Dante’s attaining of the first stage of predication. In the Heaven of Jupiter, the pilgrim would arrive at the second phase, for there, the tone becomes darker and more pessimistic, expressing a human inability to understand God’s ways and calling on us to follow Scripture as our only guide. In the last cantos of Paradiso, the poet frequently expresses the failure of language to describe his experiences. At this point, Dante would describe Divinity through supereminent predication, demonstrating the ineffectiveness of human language in this matter. By referring to Aquinas’s theories of language, the author attempts to reconcile the opinions of those who believe that Dante ultimately fails in his enterprise to depict his otherworldly experiences with those who believe that he succeeded. Sweeney suggests that Dante paradoxically underscores the failure of language to encompass God, and therefore fully represent Him, while still trying to communicate his new-found understanding to others. [FA]

Terpening, Ronnie H. Charon and the Crossing: Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Transformations of a Myth. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1985. 293 p.

Contains numerous references to Dante throughout and devotes several pages (127-139; Part II, Chapter 9: “Charon in Italy from Dante to Marino: Epic Poets”) to the figure of Charon and to other “crossings” in the Commedia (Phlegyas in Inf. 8 and Cato and the Celestial Ferryman in Purg. 1-2).

Van Dyke, Carolynn. The Fiction of Truth: Structures of Meaning in Narrative and Dramatic Allegory. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1985. 315 p.

Contains a chapter on “Truth in Transformation: The Divine Comedy” (205-246). Within a general discussion of allegory from Prudentius’s Psychomachia to Spenser’s The Faerie Queene the author reviews the long debate on the nature of allegory in the Commedia and argues that Dante “succeeded in writing integumental allegory—narrative whose syncretic agents are not immediately apprehensible.” She concentrates on the poet’s various modes of signifying with examples drawn from numerous cantos and, especially, Purgatorio 9-12. She concludes: “On the one hand, the Divine Comedy is shaped by a preexistent doctrine that includes many of the text’s referents. On the other hand, the doctrine’s existence does not render the poem redundant. The modern reader’s conviction that the poem means something other than its explicit and implicit doctrines does not impose an anachronistic, unchristian aesthetic on Dante. In acknowledging the need for accommodative metaphor, and in concluding the Paradiso not with doctrinal statement but with inexplicable experience, Dante suggests that poetry is an essential complement of doctrine. Indeed, he comes very close to the Romantic position that the truth must always be reimagined. Of course, unlike Romantic poetry, Dante’s demonstrably evokes a second way of conveying truth: abstract formulation. The narrative’s setting in the Christian otherworld guarantees that we will seek doctrinal correlatives to the action, and Dante’s skill as a poet ensures that we will find them, more or less continuously and more or less accurately. But because they are outside the poem, we cannot safely center our reading in them; and because they shape the poem, we do not need to. If Dante’s agents and objects imply universal antecedents, the poem’s meaning is their multiple ways of doing so. ...readers of the poem are led to perceive meaning in various ways, not least of which are the shifts from one mode of communication to another. For Dante, reality itself is law-governed—every element of God’s creation is part of a pattern—but the pattern is seldom directly discernible, and never fully discernible through any human medium. Revelation is a never-ending education of vision. Because his allegory participates in that process, acknowledging the limitations of human language while defining and rewarding our faith in it, his poem can be called without arrogance ‘divine’.”

Verduin, Kathleen. “Hemingway’s Dante: A Note on Across the River and into the Trees.” In American Literature, LVII, No. 4 (1985), 633-640.

Discusses Hemingway’s general knowledge of Dante and his works and concentrates on the specific evocations of the mythic, Byronic figure of Dante in the novel Across the River and into the Woods.

Wallace, David. Chaucer and the Early Writings of Boccaccio. Woodbridge, Suffolk, and Dover, N.H.: Boydell and Brewer, 1985. xiii, 209 p. (Chaucer Studies, 12.)

In addition to a chapter on “Accommodating Dante: The Amorosa Visione and The House of Fame” (5-22), in which Boccaccio’s and Chaucer’s respective works are examined in light of Dante’s example, the entire volume contains numerous references to Dante and his works and their shaping influence on the two subsequent authors.

Wilhelm, James J., “The ‘Closed Troubadours’ and Dante: Varieties of Medieval Hermeticism.” In Proceedings of the Xth Congress of the International Comparative Literature Association/Actes du Xe congrès de l’Association internationale de littérature comparée, New York, 1982. Vol. 2: Comparative Poetics/Poétiques Comparées, edited by Claudio Guillén and Peggy Escher, asst. ed., Anna Balakian, coordinating editor, and James J. Wilhelm, publications editor (New York: Garland, 1985), 587-591.

Arguing that students and critics of literature should also examine the differences among poets in order to understand and appreciate their “real individuality,” Wilhlem briefly discusses Arnaut Daniel, Raimbaut of Orange, and Dante as diverse representatives of the “richness of hermetic expression in the Middle Ages. ... Each shows a variation in tone from the whimsical playfulness of Arnaut to the somber pessimism of Raimbaut to the profound contemplation of Dante.”

Zweig, Robert M. “The Victorian Dante: Dante and Victorian Literary Criticism.” In Dissertation Abstracts International, XLV, No. 8 (February 1985), 2538A. Doctoral dissertation, City University of New York, 1984. 222 p.

 

Reviews

Cassell, Anthony K., Dante’s Fearful Art of Justice. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1984. (See Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 144.) Reviewed by:

            Michael Sherberg, Comitatus, XVI (1985), 89-91.

Chaucer and the Italian Trecento. Edited by Piero Boitani. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983. (Contains three essays of Dantean interest and other ample reference to Dante passim.) Reviewed by:

            Howard H. Schless, in Studies in the Age of Chaucer, VII (1985), 170-172.

Dante in Hell. The “De Vulgari Eloquentia”. Introduction, text, translation, and commentary by Warman Welliver. Ravenna: Longo, 1981. (See Dante Studies, C, 134.) Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 107-110.

Dante’s Inferno: The First Part of the Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. Translated and illustrated by Tom Phillips. London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 1985. Reviewed by:

            Cecil Grayson, in Times Literary Supplement, 26 July 1985, p. 816.

Dante’s Paradise. Translated with notes and commentary by Mark Musa. Bloomington: Ind. University Press, 1984. (See Dante Studies, CIII, 140.) Reviewed by:

            Giuseppe C. Di Scipio, In Italica, LXII, No. 2 (1985), 143-145.

            Madison U. Sowell, in Speculum, LX, No. 3 (1985), 669-671.

            Joseph Tusiani, in Forum Italicum XIX, No. 2 (1985), 338-340.

The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. [III] Paradiso. A verse translation with introductions and commentary by Allen Mandelbaum. Drawings by Barry Moser. Berkeley-Los Angeles-London: The University of California Press, @1982, 1984. (See Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 140.) Reviewed by:

            Donna Mancusi-Ungaro, in Italian Culture, VI (1985), 143-145.

Altomonte, Antonio. Dante: Una vita per l’imperatore. Milano: Rusconi, 1985. Reviewed by:

            Vittoriano Esposito, in Rivista di Studi Italiani, III, No. 1 (1985), 136-138.

            Giancarlo Pandini, in Forum Italicum, XIX, No. 2 (1985), 341-343.

Anderson, William. Dante the Maker. London and Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1980. (See Dante Studies, CI, 194-195) Reviewed by:

            Stephen J. Russell, in Romance Philology, XXXVIII, No. 4 (1985), 552-555.

Armour, Peter. The Door of Purgatory: A Study of Multiple Symbolism in Dante’s “Purgatorio.” Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983. Reviewed by:

            Kathleen Verduin, in Christianity & Literature, XXXV, No. 1 (Fall, 1985), 82-83.

Arte e letteratura per Giovanni Fallani, miscellanea di studi artistici e letterari in onore di S. E. Mons. Giovanni Fallani in occasione del XXV di presidente. Napoli: Società Editrice Napoletana, 1982. Reviewed by:

            Michael Ukas, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 31 (1985), 218-220.

Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi Danteschi, a cura del Comune di Ravenna e della Società Dantesca Italiana (Ravenna, 10-12 sett. 1971). Ravenna: Longo, 1979. (See Dante Studies, CII, 167.) Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 49-55.

Babylon on the Rhone: A Translation of the Letters by Dante, Petrarch, and Catherine of Siena on the Avignon Papacy. Translated by Robert Coogan. Madrid: Porrua Turanzas, 1983. Contains four letters by Dante (Epistolae V-VIII). (See Dante Studies, CII, 146) Reviewed by:

            Benjamin G. Kohl, in Speculum, LX, No. 2 (April 1985), 476

Boitani, Piero. Chaucer and Boccaccio. Oxford: Society for the Study of Mediaeval Languages and Literature, 1977. Reviewed by:

            Howard H. Schless, in Speculum, LX, No. 3 (July 1985), 644-646.

Bolognese, Giuseppe. Dante Resources in Australia: A Reference and Location Catalogue of Dante-Related Materials Held by State and University Libraries in Australia. Modena: Foto-Lito Dini, 1982. Reviewed by:

            Dino S. Cervigni, in Annali d’Italianistica, III (1985), 181-182.

Bono, Barbara J. Literary Transvaluation: From Vergilian Epic to Shakespearean Tragicomedy. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. Reviewed by:

            Annabel Patterson, in Renaissance Quarterly, XXXVIII, No. 3 (1985), 570-573.

Boyde, Patrick. Dante Philomythes and Philosopher. Man in the Cosmos. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. (See Dante Studies, CII, 167, and CIII, 165.)

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 91-102.

Cambridge Readings in Dante’s “Comedy”. Edited by Kenelm Foster and Patrick Boyde. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981. (See Dante Studies, CII, 167-168.) Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 76-81.

Cassell, Anthony K. Dante’s Fearful Art of Justice. Toronto-Buffalo-London: University of Toronto Press, 1984. (See Dante Studies, CIII, 144) Reviewed by:

            Teodolinda Barolini, in Renaissance Quarterly, XXXVIII, No. 4 (Winter 1985), 705-708.

Chiampi, James Thomas. Shadowy Prefaces: Conversion and Writing in the “Divine Comedy”. Ravenna: Longo, 1981. (See Dante Studies, C, 138.) Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 103-106.

La Cumégia (La “Divina Commedia”). Tradotta in romagnolo da Luigi Soldati; presentazione di Tullio De Mauro; revisione del testo e introduzione di Giuseppe Bellosi. Ravenna: Longo, 1982. Reviewed by:

            Robert C. Melzi, in Forum Italicum, XIX, No. 2 (Fall 1985), 340-341.

D’Andrea, Antonio. Il nome della storia: studi e ricerche di storia e letteratura. Napoli: Liguori, 1982. (See Dante Studies, CI, 197.) Reviewed by:

            Alfredo Bonadeo, in Italica, LXII, No. 2 (1985), 142-143;

            Ettore Bonora, in Giornale storico della letteratura italiana, CLXII, Fasc. 517 (1985), 130-133.

            Gustavo Costa, in Forum Italicum, XIX, No. 2 (1985), 333-335.

Dante in America: The First Two Centuries. Edited by A. Bartlett Giamatti. Binghamton: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, State University of New York, 1983. (Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 23.) (See Dante Studies, CII, 150-151.) Reviewed by:

            Ronald B. Herzman, in Speculum, LX, No. 3 (1985), 678-679.

            Louis R. Rossi, in Italica, LXII, No. 2 (1985), 145-147.

Dante Soundings. Edited by David Nolan. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1981. (See Dante Studies, C, 139.) Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 82-90.

Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio: Studies in the Italian Trecento in Honor of Charles S. Singleton. Edited by Aldo S. Bernardo and Anthony L. Pellegrini. Binghamton, N.Y.: Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 1983. (See Dante Studies, CII, 151.) Reviewed by:

            C[ecil]-G[rayson], in Italian Studies, XL (1985), 109-111.

Dauphiné, James. Le cosmos de Dante. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1984. Reviewed by:

            Simone Maser, in Renaissance and Reformation, IX, No. 3 (August 1985), 226-227.

Di Scipio, Giuseppe C. The Symbolic Rose in Dante’s “Paradiso”. Ravenna: Longo, 1984). (See Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 147-148.) Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII (1985), No. 30, 124.

The Emergence of National Languages. Edited by Aldo Scaglione. Ravenna: Longo, 1984. Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 118-123.

Greene, Thomas M. The Light in Troy: Imitation and Discovery in Renaissance Poetry. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1982. (See Dante Studies, CI, 202.) Reviewed by:

            Daniel Javitch, in Comparative Literature, XXXVII, No. 1 (Winter, 1985), 69-73;

            William J. Kennedy, in Modern Language Studies, XV, No. 2 (Spring, 1985), 82-87.

            Ronald A. Rebholz, in Modern Philology, LXXXII, No. 4 (1985), 414-416.

Dante Comparisons. Edited by Eric Haywood and Barry Jones. Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1985). Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 125-131.

Hollander, Robert. Studies in Dante. Ravenna: Longo, 1980. (See Dante Studies, XCIX, 183-184, C, 158, CI, 218.) Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 64-75.

Hollander, Robert. Il Virgilio dantesco: Tragedia nella “Commedia.” Firenze: Leo S. Olschki Editore, 1983. (See Dante Studies, CII, 156.) Reviewed by:

            August Buck, in Deutsches Dante-Jahrbuch, LX (1985), 173-176.

            Marguerite M. Chiarenza, in Quaderni d’italianistica, VI, No. 2 (1985), 268-270.

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 47-48 and 111-117.

            Manfred Lentzen, in Zeitschrift fur romanische Philologie, CI, Heft 3/4 (1985), 401-403.

Le Goff, Jacques. The Birth of Purgatory. Translated by Arthur Goldhammer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. (See Dante Studies, CIII, 154.) Reviewed by:

            D. P. Walker, in New York Times Book Review, January 26, 1985, p. 38.

Mazzoni, Jacopo. “On the Defense of the Comedy of Dante.” Introduction and Summary. Translated with a critical preface by Robert L. Montgomery Jr. Tallahassee: University Presses of Florida, 1983. (See Dante Studies, CII, 158.) Reviewed by:

            John J. Guzzardo, in Italica, LXII, No. 4 (1985), 321-322.

Mazzotta, Giuseppe. Dante, Poet of the Desert: History and Allegory in the “Divine Comedy”. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979. (See Dante Studies, XCVIII, 168-169.) Reviewed by:

            Stelio Cro, in Canadian Journal of Italian Studies, VIII, No. 30 (1985), 56-63.

            Vincenzo Tripodi, in Kentucky Romance Quarterly, XXXII, No. 4 (1985), 431-432.

Moleta, Vincent. Guinizelli in Dante. Roma: Storia e Letteratura, 1980. Reviewed by:

            Rachel Jacoff, in Speculum, LXI, No. 1 (1985), 182-184.

O’Donoghue, Bernard. The Courtly Love Tradition. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester University Press; Totowa, N.J.: Barnes and Noble, 1982. Reviewed by:

            F. R. P. Akehurst, in Speculum, LX, No 1 (1985), 224-225.

Pirrotta, NiNo. Music and Culture in Italy from the Middle Ages to the Baroque: A Collection of Essays. Edited by Lewis Lockwood and Cristoph Wolff. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1984. (See Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 158.) Reviewed by:

            Leeman L. Perkins, in Renaissance Quarterly, XXXVIII, No. 3 (1985), 529-532.

Regan, Mariann Sanders. Love Words: The Self and the Text in Medieval and Renaissance Poetry. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1982. (See Dante Studies, CI, 209.) Reviewed by:

            Diane Chaffee-Sorace, in Romance Philology, XXXIX, No. 1 (1985), 108-117.

Reynolds, Mary T. Joyce and Dante: The Shaping Imagination. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. (See Dante Studies, C, 151.) Reviewed by:

            Corinna Del Greco Lobner, in James Joyce Quarterly, XXII, No. 2 (1985), 223-230.

Rome in the Renaissance. Edited by P. A. Ramsey. Papers of the Thirteenth Annual Conference of the Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, State University of New York at Binghamton. Binghamton, New York: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance Studies, 1982. (Contains: Charles T. Davis, “Rome and Babylon in Dante” (See Dante Studies, CI, 198.) Reviewed by:

            Bonner Mitchell, in Forum Italicum, XIX, No. 1 (1985), 171-173.

Russell, Rinaldina. Generi poetici medioevali: Modelli e funzioni letterarie. Napoli: Società Editrice Napoletana, 1982. Reviewed by:

            Salvatore Bancheri, in Quaderni d’Italianistica, VI, No. 1 (1985), 149-151.

            Paolo Cherchi, in Forum Italicum, XIX, No. 1 (1985), 165-166.

Schless, Howard H. Chaucer and Dante: A Revaluation. Norman, Okla.: Pilgrim Books, 1984. (See Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 159-160.) Reviewed by:

            Barbara Nolan, in Manuscripta, XXIX, No. 3 (1985), 195-196.

            Daniel J. Ransom, in Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, XII, No. 3 (1985), 514-517.

Starn, Randolph. Contrary Commonwealth: The Theme of Exile in Medieval and Renaissance Italy. Berkeley-Los Angeles-London: University of California Press, 1982. (See Dante Studies, CI, 212.) Reviewed by:

            Humfrey Butters, in Renaissance Quarterly, XXXVIII, No. 4 (1985), 701-702.

Shoaf, R. A. Dante, Chaucer, and the Currency of the Word. Money, Images, and Reference in Late Medieval Poetry. Norman, Okla.: Pilgrim Books, 1983. (See Dante Studies, CIII (1985), 170-171.) Reviewed by:

            Piero Boitani, in Studies in the Age of Chaucer, VII (1985), 242-245.

Terpening, Ronnie H. Charon and the Crossing: Ancient, Medieval and Renaissance transformations of a Myth. Lewisburg, Pa.: 1985. Reviewed by:

            Thomas G. Bergin, in Annali d’italianistica, III (1985), 187-188.

Vestigia: Studi in onore di Giuseppe Billanovich, 2 vols., a cura di Rino Avesani, Mirella Ferrari, Tino Foffano, Giuseppe Frasso, Agostino Sottili. Roma: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1984. Reviewed by:

            Sesto Prete, in Res Publica Litterarum, VIII (1985), 305-307.

Wetherbee, Winthrop. Chaucer and the Poets: An Essay on “Troilus and Criseyde”. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1984. Contains numerous references to Dante throughout and two chapters: “Thebes and Troy: Statius and Dante’s Statius” (111-144) and “Dante and the Troilus” (145-178). Reviewed by:

            Paul G. Ruggiers, in Canadian Review of Comparative Literature, XII, No. 3 (1985), 511-514.