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~ …… (oon∙poh∙dee∙PEH∙peh) Cristina writes about interesting stuff /Cristina scrive di cose interessanti

Un po' di pepe

Tag Archives: Italian literature

700 Years of Dante

28 Thursday Jan 2021

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Firenze, Italia, Italian language

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Accademia della Crusca, Dante, Dante Alighieri, Firenze, Italian history, Italian language, Italian literature, La Divina Commedia

Dante Alighieri profile2021 is the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri.  Dante is known as the ‘Father of the Italian Language’.  His most famous work La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) is considered a masterpiece, the first and still the greatest work of literature in the Italian language and a precursor to modern fiction.  In the late medieval period, Latin was the only language for education, literature and religion.  La Divina Commediawas the first major work written in a language of ordinary speech or vulgare, the way people actually spoke at home. Dante combined Tuscan and other dialects, including Sicilian and Latin, establishing the modern Italian language.  Even though La Divina Commedia was written in 1308-20 the language is understandable today.Dante Divina Commedia

La Divina Commedia is a 3 part epic poem written in the first person, emphasizing the importance of salvation and Divine love in the redemption of humanity. It explores Dante’s imaginary trip to Paradiso (Heaven), passing through L’Inferno (Hell) and Purgatorio (Purgatory).  It is also a critique of famous figures of his time. The work is filled with historical, mythological and biblical references and discusses politics, religion, science, ethics and love. La Divina Commedia does not contain jokes nor is it funny.  The reason it is termed a commedia is because it is not a tragedia (trajedy) and it has a happy ending.

Dante was born in Firenze in 1265.  He studied philosophy, poetry, and was also an apothecary-a medieval pharmacist.  This is not as strange as it sounds, since nobles in public office had to belong to one of the city guilds and books were sold by apothecaries at the time. He married Gemma Donati in 1285 and they had 3 children.  Dante’s family was involved in the Guelfi/Ghibellini (Guelph/Ghibelline) power struggles.  The Guelfi supported the Papacy and the Ghibellini supported the Holy Roman Emperor -even though there was not one at the time. 

The Guelfi split into 2 groups because the Pope kept interfering with internal matters in Firenze.  Guelfi Bianchi (White Guelphs) did not want the Pope involved in city politics and Guelfi Neri (Black Guelphs) supported complete Pope authority. Dante’s family were Guelfi Bianchi.  In 1302, while Dante was in Roma as an ambassador, Firenze was occupied by the Guelfi Neri.  The Guelfi Bianchi, including Dante and his sons, were exiled. A few years later, other Guelfi Bianchi in exile were pardoned- but not Dante.  He was quite the badass in exile and burnt his bridges by writing many nasty letters.  Dante was offered amnesty in 1315, but it came with conditions and a heavy fine, which he was not able to pay.

Dante wrote La Divina Commedia while in exile and ruthlessly sends everyone responsible for his banishment to eternal damnation in L’Inferno.  He put a lot of effort and imagination into coming up with the horrible details! If Dante were alive today, he would probably be writing political satire.

Dante never did return to his beloved Firenze.  He stayed in Roma, then moved to Ravenna, where he completed Paradiso in 1320 and died of malaria Sept 14th 1321.  He is buried in the church of San Francesco. Jacopo Alighieri (1289-1348), also a poet, regained possession of his father’s confiscated property in 1343.

Firenze regretted Dante’s exile, and repeatedly asked Ravenna for his remains. A tomb was even built in 1829 in Santa Croce but all requests were refused and the tomb is empty. In June 2008, Firenze finally passed a motion rescinding his sentence and exile.  As my Mamma says ‘meglio tardi che mai’-Better late than never!

700th anniversary celebrations are happening throughout 2021, although most of them will depend on ever changing COVID 19 restrictions.  There is a website for all of the 700 Dante Firenze festivities. A few examples:

Museo di Casa di Dante has a new multimedia display and a virtual tour.
 
L’Accademia della Crusca, Italia’s fun ‘language police’ was established in Firenze in the 16th Century to safeguard the study of the Italian language.  Their website includes ‘Parola di Dante fresca di giornata’ a Dante word of the day for each day of 2021!

La Divina Commedia is as relevant today as it was in 1320.  I will leave you with an encouraging message of hope from the final phrase of l’Inferno…

             ‘e quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle’– ‘hence we came forth to see the stars again’

Ciao, Cristina

 

Statue of Dante in Piazza Santa Croce, Firenze

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Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli

20 Sunday Jan 2019

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Inspiration, Italia, Libri

≈ 32 Comments

Tags

Aliano, Basilicata, Carlo Levi, Dolcevitabloggers, Italian literature, Matera, Southern Italy

Christ Stopped at Eboli‘Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli’ /Christ Stopped at Eboli is Carlo Levi’s memoir about his year as a political prisoner in Basilicata in 1935-36. Levi (pronounced LEV∙ee) was a doctor, writer and artist from a wealthy Jewish family in Torino.  He was exiled to Aliano*, a small village in Basilicata for his Anti-fascist views and writing. Eboli is south of Napoli, where the road forks inland and the railway does not. The title is a local expression suggesting that even Christ didn’t make it as far as Basilicata so they are a God forsaken land beyond civilization and beyond hope. Obviously the Mussolini government agreed, since their strategy to silence outspoken critics was house arrest in the south! Levi comes into contact with profound poverty, distrust, class differences, spells and superstition in a remote, neglected part of Italia.

Levi graduated from medical school in 1924 and did 4 years of lab research, but had not actually practiced medicine on humans.  He was not keen on practicing, but reluctantly did so, since the 2 doctors in Aliano were incompetent and lacked any compassion. The people did not fully understand him or why he was there, often commenting ‘someone in Rome must have it in for you’.  Levi comes to empathize with the peasants, becoming a much loved member of the community.

Published in 1945 after the liberation of Italia, Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli was an immediate hit with both the public and critics. It gave the people a voice and brought attention to the region, including the socioeconomic problems and political neglect. 

Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli /Christ Stopped at Eboli is required reading before visiting Matera, the 2019 European Capital of Culture. Near the beginning of the book, Carlo’s sister Luisa, a practicing doctor, visits and brings medical supplies. She needs a form stamped at the police station in Matera before she is allowed to see him. Luisa describes the Sassi as:

‘a schoolboy’s idea of Dante’s Inferno’…….‘I felt, under the blinding sun as if I were in a city stricken by the plague. I have never in all my life seen such a picture of poverty. ..This is how 20,000 people live!’

There was a 50% infant mortality rate, malaria, dysentery and trachoma. Carlo spends a few hours in Matera near the end of the book and says:

‘I had time to see the town and then I understood my sister’s horror, although at the same time I was struck by it’s tragic beauty’.

Matera’s situation continued on unnoticed- until the 1945 release of this book. If you have not read my Matera post, please click on ‘I Sassi di Matera’.

I have read this book in both english and italian. If I had to pick a favourite Italian book or book about Italy, this is it. It is very philosophical and it is obvious from Levi’s writing and paintings that this experience affected him profoundly. He writes with great sensitivity and his paintings from Basilicata show an unbelievable amount of emotion and humanity.  The paintings are on permanent display in the Museo di Arte Medievale e Moderna in Palazzo Lanfranchi, Matera and in the Museo della Civiltà Contadina in Aliano.  Levi fought for social justice and went on to become a Senator of the Italian Republic. He is buried in Aliano, where he had requested to be ‘between the peasants’ whose endurance he so greatly admired.

Have you read Cristo si è Fermato a Eboli? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.  Buona lettura, Cristina

This post is written as part of the dolcevitabloggers linkup, hosted by Jasmine, Kelly and Kristie the 3rd Sunday of every month.  Click #dolcevitabloggers to read blog posts by other participants

Images:

-my 1996 English edition nonna cover

-detail from Lucania ’61 mural by Carlo Levi in Palazzo Lanfranchi, Matera, Wikimedia Commons

-my 1978 Italian edition book cover with the painting ‘Il figlio della parroccola’ Pricetag says £ 1.800!

*Note-Aliano is called Gagliano in the book, although no explanation is given

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Dante Alighieri

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by Un po' di pepe in Firenze, Italia, Italian language

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

Dante, Dante Alighieri, Firenze, Italian history, Italian language, Italian literature, La Divina Commedia

Statue of Dante in Piazza Santa Croce, Firenze

Statue of Dante in Piazza Santa Croce, Firenze

Auguri Dante!  2015 is the 750th anniversary of the birth of Dante.  His actual birth date is unknown, but he does provide clues in ‘Paradiso’ that he was born under the sign of Gemini.  In 1265, Gemini was mid May to mid June, a bit earlier than it is now.

Dante is known as the ‘Father of the Italian Language’.  His most famous work La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy) is considered a masterpiece, the first and also the greatest work of literature in the Italian language.  In the late medieval period, Latin was the only language for education, literature and religion.  La Divina Commedia was the first major work written in a language of ordinary speech, the way people actually spoke at home. Dante combined Tuscan and other dialects and some Latin, establishing the modern Italian language.  Even though La Divina Commedia was written in 1308-20 the language is understandable today.

La Divina Commedia is a long poem in 3 parts, emphasizing the importance of salvation and Divine love. It outlines Dante’s imaginary trip to Paradiso (Heaven), passing through L’Inferno (Hell) and Purgatorio (Purgatory) to get there.  It is also a critique of famous figures of his time. The work is filled with historical references and discusses politics, religion, ethics and love. La Divina Commedia has no jokes and is not funny.  The reason it is called a commedia is because it is not a tragedia (trajedy) and it has a happy ending.

Dante was born in Firenze (Florence).  He studied philosophy, poetry, and was also a pharmacist because nobles in public office had to belong to one of the city’s guilds.  This isn’t as strange as it sounds because books were sold by pharmacies at the time. Dante’s family was involved in the Guelfi/Ghibellini (Guelph/Ghibelline) conflicts.  The Guelfi supported the Papacy and the Ghibellini supported the Holy Roman Emperor -although there wasn’t actually one at the time.  The Guelfi split into 2 groups because the Pope at the time kept interfering with internal matters in Firenze.  The Guelfi Bianchi (White Guelphs) did not want the Pope involved in city politics and the Guelfi Neri (Black Guelphs) supported complete Pope authority.  Dante’s family were Guelfi Bianchi.  In 1302, Firenze was occupied by the Guelfi Neri and the Guelfi Bianchi, including Dante, were exiled. The other Guelfi Bianchi in exile were pardoned a few years later, but not Dante.  He was kind of a badass in exile and burnt his bridges by writing many nasty letters, so he stayed in Roma.  Dante was offered amnesty in 1315, but there were strings attached and a heavy fine which he couldn’t pay. He wrote La Divina Commedia while in exile and managed to write all of his opponents to eternal damnation, imaginatively making up all sorts of horrible existances for them in l’Inferno.  He obviously put a lot of effort into coming up with all of the horrible details! If Dante were alive today I think he would be writing political satire in Paris.

Dante never returned to his beloved Firenze.  He moved to Ravenna, where he completed Paradiso and died in exile in 1321.  He is buried in the the church of San Francesco. Firenze regretted what had happened and repeatedly asked for Dante’s remains. A tomb was built in 1829 in Santa Croce but the requests were refused. In June 2008, Firenze passed a motion rescinding his sentence and exile. Meglio tardi che mai/Better late than never!

Piazza Santa Croce with statue of Dante on the left.

Piazza Santa Croce with statue of Dante on the left.

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