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.
University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa - ORCID: 0000-0001-7653-2650
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
Licenza dei metadati
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
Licenza dei metadati
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