Dante and a Poet's Journey in Hope

Professor Denys Turner on April 11, 2204 at the University of Chicago. Praised for its evocative treatment of heaven and hell, Dante’s "Commedia" is a significant work of theology. Denys Turner explains how Dante accomplishes by means of poetry what the formal theological treatises of the Middle Ages demonstrate through prosaic inference and proof. Poetry, Turner argues, is the most natural language to articulate the “journey of the soul into God,” and a point of entry into the mystery of the divine. Dante’s poetry discloses the theological significance of hope in the pilgrim’s journey towards the “abiding city.” --- Cosponsored by the University of Chicago Committee on Social Thought, the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, and the Medieval Studies Workshop.