Department of French & Italian Student-Faculty Forum Series presents
La struttura consequenziale dei sogni danteschi
by
Valerio Cappozzo
Friday, October 7, 2005
2;30-3:30pm
Ballantine Hall 147
This lecture analyzes the literary application of the categories of “onirocritica” (the interpretation of dreams) and the structural consequences of dreams in Dante Alighieri’s Purgatorio. Their position: the first in the Antipurgatorio, the second midway on the path, and the third at the end (IX, XIX, XXVII), show the importance of the dream as a moment in which the divine intervention manifests itself so that the character may make sense of his spiritual journey to the Paradiso terrestre (Earthly Paradise).
Dante’s dreams are peculiar because they result from a visionary state already on a level parallel to reality. For this reason the images present in the dreams are connected to the symbol that represents the object in real life. These images are connected through a series of analogical links where the value of the symbol is given by the coexistence of all its possible meanings.
In line with the classical and medieval discussions of onirocritica, Dante’s dream becomes a structural premonition useful to the character and to the reader as perceptional training preparing for the highest heavenly vision.
We will briefly look at the consequential structures from the Vita nuova, where we find the first literary Italian experience of dream, and then explore the more mature dream experience of the Divina Commedia.
Valerio Cappozzo is a doctoral student in the Italian Program of the Department of French & Italian. He received his Laurea degree from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 2004. The lecture will be presented in Italian. Discussion and refreshments to follow lecture
If you have a disability and need assistance, accommodations can be made to meet most needs. Please call 855-5458.
