Short forms in Dante's Commedia

• Grant number: 14/09567-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: June 30, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Literature Theory
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Alcir Bernardez Pecora
• Grantee: Heloísa Abreu de Lima
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Although studies about Dante's Commedia are abundant and many of them are extraordinary in cultural terms, the poem could hardly be considered amongst those exhausted in its meaning and possibilities of interpretation. Whereas discussions are already recurring, especially those that focus on Inferno (visibly the most studied part of the poem), important aspects of the poem are still ignored and prompt new studies. In Brazil, of course, studies on Italian letters are quite restricted and tend to conform to the best-known bibliography.Examples of important aspects of the poem that remain ignored are the short forms that are created or incorporated by Dante throughout the poem. The strongest hypothesis of this study is that the study of such forms can open interesting perspectives for further discussions on the Commedia , giving, moreover, proper acknowledgement to the Purgatorio and Paradiso, and promoting reflections on the relationship between the poetic composition of Dante and various circumstances of the poem.