Dante Alighieri and his not so famous works. "Feast" /part 2/

In the introductory part of Feast, Dante shares the belief that the establishment of prosperity in society depends mostly on "the noble men and women". In this part, Dante declares that he arranges a table of sages, on which the dishes will be the cantons, and the bread will be the comments. He calls for only people noble in the soul, both men and women, all who are hungry for knowledge, all who have moved away for their civic or political commitment to the doctrine. The author states that this is not a society of scientists and erudite speakers of Latin, a language that neither changes nor can be changed, but a community of enlightened secular people who speak the vulgar language which until now is used only in love lyrics, and is now used for the first time in a philosophical treatise.

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Dante supports the concept that language is alive, subjected to change and refinement as it is subjected to continuous improvement of human experience. He believes that all literate people must be taught in their mother tongue, following their everyday speech, ignored by professional scholars who are only involved in money-raising. Those who have managed to preserve the wisdom given to them by Nature, the author of the Feast promises to offer his guidance in songs, in which he will care for the whole of him, the mature man, the life experience. Dante does not use the Latin language in the prose written, so as not to break the connection between language-styled canoes and clarifying the reflections. The author of the "Feast" is firmly determined to use the weekly language because it is understandable to all and will spread science, virtue and wisdom more broadly. Obviously, Dante is influenced by the inexhaustible love that has been associated with the Tuscan dialect from his childhood. So, in the same dialect, he made his first love thrills in his teens and exposed the exciting insights of his adult age. With the enthusiasm of a self-taught philologist, Dante praises his native speech as he feels it to be the most perfect tool for expressing the unforgettable moments of his past life. He affirms the doctrines of the Tuscan language, because his weekly speech "can accurately convey the new concepts in a satisfactory and comprehensive way", just like the Latin one. The poet attacks with disparaging contempt those "unconscious Italians" who praise the common language of other peoples, and can not appreciate the merits of their own speech that is so well served in everyday life.

At the end of the 13th century, Dante made a passionate apology to the vulgar language, which appeared as a whirlwind of sunshine from where the Latin sun sets. In particular, the Poet's prophecy is that "the overwhelming Italian language will be the new light and the new sun that will rise where the old sun (Latin) will go, and will spread its radiance over those who live in darkness and darkness" . Thus, in the introductory part of his treatise, Dante expresses his firm conviction that very soon the popular Italian language will become a means of communication available to all. In the same (first) part of the "Feast", Dante clearly determines the role of the intellectual / spiritual worker in the life of society: to educate, to spread his experience and knowledge, to introduce people into science and virtue. To this conscious moral and cultural vocation is added the choice of the popular language and the preservation of the glory that can not be tainted by the forced exile of the intellectual. The canton preceding the second part of the Feast was built at the end of 1293 or early 1294. In it, Dante clarifies the conflict that arises between his love for Beatrice, asserted in his lyrical collection, "New Life," and the growing passion for the Noble Queen, the same as he mentions in Chapter 35-39 of the New Life ". Prior to the commentary of the introductory canton to the second part, Dante inserts a passage that clarifies the four types of meaning (inherent to) each poetic work: literal, allegorical, moral, and anag- gogical.


part 1

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