Ciabattoni:Dante's Performance

"Dante's Performance" by Francesco Ciabattoni offers an in-depth analysis of Dante's "Commedia" through a historical and philological lens. The book examines passages inspired by processions, festivals, liturgical drama, psalm singing, and dance performances. It demonstrates how Dante's sacred poem was influenced by medieval theories of the performing arts as well as by actual performances he may have experienced in churches or town squares. This study opens a new perspective on the "Commedia" by illuminating Dante's expectations of his contemporary readers, who should be able to recognize allusions to psalms, sacred plays, and performative practices. For 21st-century readers, the challenge lies in reconstructing a cultural framework that allows for the understanding of these textual references. From the dramatization of the torments of hell in "Inferno IX" to the solemn return of Beatrice on the mountain of Purgatorio and the songs of the blessed, this study connects Dante's language with contemporary theoretical and practical texts on performance.