Dante Today
Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary and Popular Culture
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Edward Hirsch, "The Desire Manuscripts"
"IV. The Inferno, Canto V"
In The Best American Poetry 2003, eds. Yusef Komunyakaa and David Lehman
http://www.amazon.com/Best-American-Poetry-2003-Lehman/dp/0743203887/sr=1-1/qid=1159721445/ref=sr_1_1/104-3583991-1927918?ie=UTF8&s=books
Contributed by Jean O'Friel (Bowdoin, '05)
Gary Panter, "Jimbo's Inferno" (2006)
From Publishers Weekly
"Panter is a legend of independent comics; considered the father of punk comics, he has influenced many, including Matt Groening, and warped the look of children's television with his sets for Pee Wee's Playhouse. Jimbo's Inferno is the prequel to his critically acclaimed Jimbo in Purgatory, which came out in 2004. Inferno originally appeared as part of a short-lived line of art comics published by Groening, but here it's been reformatted to the terrifyingly deluxe oversized standards of Purgatory. Like that volume, this follows the outlines of Dante's Divine Comedy, but combines and conflates specific events, looking at them all with a satiric rock and roll flair. The erstwhile hero, Jimbo, guided by the boxlike Valise, travels into Focky Bocky, a subterranean mall that spirals downwards, containing a modern vision of hell. The art is a Boschian mishmash of grotesque and comic, all in Panter's signature proto-punk style. The dialogue borrows as much from Dante as from Lewis Carroll and Frank Zappa. Together, it is a dizzying re-envisioning of Dante. Perhaps because of its earlier format, it lacks the intricate polish that made Jimbo in Purgatory a groundbreaking comic, but as a rough sketch of twisted genius, it still amazes. (Apr.)"
LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka, "The System of Dante's Hell" (1965)
Mickey Mouse's Hell
L'inferno di Topolino (1949)
reprinted by Corriere della Sera (2006)
Michael Rottman, "Dante, Hero of Sinners"
"You already have your summer getaway planned, but what about your permanent vacation? Given your options, Hell may be less temperate, but its hidden perks make it well worth the trip."
The Morning News, June 27, 2006
http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/spoofs_satire/dante_hero_of_sinners.php
"Dante, Virgil To Tour L.A."
The Onion, June 10, 1998
http://www.theonion.com/content/index/3322
"Report: 92 Percent Of Souls In Hell There On Drug Charges"
"HELL. A report released Monday by the Afterlife Civil Liberties Union indicates that nine out of 10 souls currently serving in Hell were condemned on drug-related sins. 'Hell was created to keep dangerous sinners off the gold-paved streets of Heaven,' ACLU spokesman Barry Horowitz said. 'But lately, it's become a clearing-house for the non-evil souls that Heaven doesn't know how to deal with.' "
The Onion, October 12, 2005
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/41447
"Tenth Circle Added to Rapidly Growing Hell"
"CITY OF DIS, NETHER HELL. After nearly four years of construction at an estimated cost of 750 million souls, Corpadverticus, the new 10th circle of Hell, finally opened its doors Monday. The Blockbuster Video-sponsored circle, located in Nether Hell between the former eighth and ninth levels of Malebolge and Cocytus, is expected to greatly alleviate the overcrowding problems that have plagued the infernal underworld in recent years."
The Onion, September 23, 1998
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28898
Contributed by Ted Reinert (Bowdoin, '05)
Judith Shulevitz, "The Close Reader: Let the Punishment Fit the Crime"
The New York Times, March 9, 2003
"If sheer cultural influence is the measure of greatness, though, Dante Alighieri should probably rank higher than Shakespeare, since Dante dreamed up something that, sadly, has had even more impact than depth psychology. He invented the infernal. Dante's ''Inferno'' gave us our first glimpse of a universe we once again inhabit: a topography of graphic, gruesome suffering. The Dante scholar John Freccero might have been talking about Kosovo or Rwanda or any other post-genocidal landscape when he wrote, ''The ruined portals and fallen bridges of Hell are emblems of the failure of all bonds among the souls who might once have been members of the human community.' ''
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B07EEDF123CF93AA35750C0A9659C8B63
David Fleming, "Blew Bayou"
"No one knows that better than Lewis. In less than two years, the 5'8", 165-pound bayou waterbug has gone from driving a beer truck, schlepping kegs for a Budweiser distributorship two doors down from the Saints practice facility, to leading the NFL with 1,950 total return yards (1,504 kickoff, 446 punt). At the NFL-ancient age of 29, with just a year of JV high school football and no college experience, Lewis began his journey through the darkest recesses of professional football like some kind of Dante character in shoulder pads. Now he's 31, and fans have made him the leading vote-getter among kick returners in this season's Pro Bowl balloting."
ESPNMAG, December 10, 2002
http://espn.go.com/magazine/vol5no26lewis.html
Background Image: Domenico di Michelino, Dante and His Comedy, 1465
