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The South African folle volo: Dante's Ulysses reinvented

  • Sonia Fanucchi

The figure of Ulysses haunts the pages of Dante’s Commedia, embodying a tension between past and present, and the potential and dangers inherent in any attempt at transformation. In this chapter I focus on four creative pieces by young South African students for whom Dante’s Ulysses becomes a rich and suggestive symbol. Despite their overt differences in approach, I argue that these pieces are all connected by a creative response to Dante, translating and conversing with his Ulysses from their personal and political perspectives. They are notable for their paradoxical approach to Dante’s hero, as they attempt to fashion new identities, to break free of the destructive influence of South Africa’s past, and to develop a more authentic, moral language.

  • Keywords:
  • Dante’s Ulysses,
  • Ulysses in Africa,
  • folle volo,
  • nostalgia,
  • Ulysses myth,
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Sonia Fanucchi

University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa - ORCID: 0000-0001-7653-2650

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  • Anno di pubblicazione: 2021
  • Pagine: 153-167

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  • Anno di pubblicazione: 2021

Informazioni sul capitolo

Titolo del capitolo

The South African folle volo: Dante's Ulysses reinvented

Autori

Sonia Fanucchi

Lingua

English

DOI

10.36253/978-88-5518-458-8.10

Opera sottoposta a peer review

Anno di pubblicazione

2021

Copyright

© 2021 Author(s)

Licenza d'uso

CC BY 4.0

Licenza dei metadati

CC0 1.0

Informazioni bibliografiche

Titolo del libro

A South African Convivio with Dante

Sottotitolo del libro

Born Frees’ Interpretations of the Commedia

Curatori

Sonia Fanucchi, Anita Virga

Opera sottoposta a peer review

Numero di pagine

212

Anno di pubblicazione

2021

Copyright

© 2021 Author(s)

Licenza d'uso

CC BY 4.0

Licenza dei metadati

CC0 1.0

Editore

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/978-88-5518-458-8

ISBN Print

978-88-5518-457-1

eISBN (pdf)

978-88-5518-458-8

Collana

Studi e saggi

ISSN della collana

2704-6478

e-ISSN della collana

2704-5919

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