Recording of the event : Youtube link https://youtu.be/CauBjQD5514
- Review by Prashant K. Sinha
Professor Manju Jaidka’s talk The Divine Comedy
Professor Manju Jaidika, Senior Professor and Head, Dept. of English, Shoolini University, H.P. in her talk on Dante’s Divinia Commedia began with a brief description of Dante’s career including his life and political activities. She mentioned his role in the creation of Italian as a literary language as a departure from the Mediaeval tradition of writing in Latin.
The well informed lecture provided a close textual analysis of Inferno. She highlighted Canto 1, depicting the figures of the leopard, the lion and the wolf with their allegorical meanings. With the help of several diagrams, she analysed different circles in Hell, showing how in “ascending” moral order each one embodied one of the seven deadly sins. She pointed out that Vergil, the guide of Dante, represented Reason, which could take one through Inferno and Purgatorio, but not beyond them to Paradiso since he was not a Christian. Therefore, Beatrice becomes Dante’s guide thereafter.
The talk was interesting and the graphics riveting.
