The funniest part of the whole “Dante’s inferno is fanfiction” crowd is that they seem to forget that none of the medieval Italians at the time considered the bible fiction.
I am trying to explain to y'all that Dantes inferno was not fiction. It was neither fiction nor non-fiction. It was a type of contemporary literature called Biblical Vision Literature.
can you move explain what Biblical Vision Literature is?
Dante’s Inferno was considered the result of a divinely inspired dream on the part of Dante. The idea being that god gave Dante a dream of all the things that happened in the inferno, which Dante then recorded in the form of an epic poem.
Oftentimes when someone had what they claimed to be a divinely inspired vision or dream, the nature of the dream was evaluated by a panel of priests who would judge the dream for how well it aligned with biblical theology. If it matched up, your vision was real. If there were discrepancies, you were a liar, or a victim of the devil, and would be punished. Biblical Vision Literature was considered 100% non-fiction for the time, angels were considered to be 100% real, and they would 100% give people divine visions.
I’m saying that there’s a shitload of historical context to this work that y'all are missing. Using the modern language of fandom to describe the Divine Comedy isnt just wrong, it’s actively creating an ahistorical understanding of an important work.
ok look. I think if we’re gonna go the historical context route something else that is important to note abt the inferno is that Dante wrote it after being exiled from his home city for backing the wrong political/religious faction in a power struggle. the inferno for all that it may be a piece of “biblical vision literature” is far more Dante‘s petty revenge fantasy where he goes to hell and meets a bunch of figureheads for the political party he disagreed with, who lament about who awful they were, one of whom explicitly states that the current pope, the one still alive and in power at the time of its writing and publication, is also going to hell. Any panel of priests that may have looked at this work would never have approved it if they valued their immortal souls (or more importantly, their pope-given positions in power). Dante, as a person in politics, would’ve known this.
I’m not saying this to argue that the inferno is pure fanfiction, but I find the argument that Dante meant for his writing to be read as 100% real and accurate or that he and anyone reading it at the time wholeheartedly believed what he wrote were visions direct from god is a bit inaccurate. Dante wasn’t a prophet and the inferno isn’t his prediction. It was a political statement couched in a Religious ‘vision’
Yes thank you! I was trying to articulate this but couldn’t figure out how
[image ID: a reply to this post by @/kaiasky. it reads: “RPF is still fanfiction!!”. “RPF” is lowercase. /end image ID]
in any event the statement that “Dante’s Inferno is fanfiction” is arguing against isn’t “Dante’s Inferno is biblical vision literature”, it’s “fanfiction isn’t real fiction”. anyone arguing that fanfiction isn’t real fiction because it depicts other people’s characters and/or other real people without their authorization? needs to consider that according to that exact argument, Dante’s Inferno isn’t real fiction either.
obviously not a compelling argument to anyone who’s saying Dante’s Inferno isn’t real fiction by virtue of being biblical vision literature! but definitely an argument known to boggle the minds of literature professors who’d never thought about it that way before.
“So numberless were those bad Angels seen / Hovering on wing under the Cope of Hell” (Illustration for John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1674), Book 1) 1866 Engraving Ed.Orig. (Ed. Lic.: CC0 1.0)
La Divina Commedia, L'Inferno(The Divine Comedy, Hell) - Dante
Canto XXIII (23): illustration by Gustave Doré for lines 92-94; ’Tuscan, who visitest / The college of the mourning hypocrites, / Disdain not to instruct us who thou art’
Dante Alighieri, Italian poet (1265 – 1321) Gustave Doré, French artist (1832 – 1883)
Hannibal displaces Will’s remaining shreds of guilt during their new life together - applying psychic driving in his thirst to reveal Will’s full capacity for ruthlessness.
Hypnotic flashes strobe behind a cascade of psilocybin mushrooms, a golden fanfare of hallucinogenic Scopolamine - Angel’s Trumpets, street name: Devil’s Breath, morph into their molecular structures as Will Graham willingly sinks into Dr Lecter’s gluttonous, decadent, devouring of his guilt.
Hannibal, dressed for dinner in his Angel Trumpet tie, reflects in the glaze of Will’s dilated pupils as he gradually becomes immersed. They discuss the rationality of the mind and the pros of ignorance via Thomas Gray’s poem.
The shame-free consumption of Orlotans, within the decidedly uncovered and vine-leaved head of Will Graham is illuminated by a red candle - signifying the power of the flesh - above the indulgence of golden honey, wine, and the ‘birds and the bees’.
The tragedy Will mentions becomes the Ancient Grecian festival of Dionysus: the perfect representation of hedonism and pursuit of pleasure. They transform into debauched satyrs as Will is lead by Hannibal to (Botticelli’s version of) Dante Alighieri and his Inferno.
Il percorso per il Paradiso comincia dall’Inferno - The path to Paradise begins in Hell.
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Thank you @lovecrimebooks for this opportunity and the beautiful book - (physical copies of Ravage are available on Etsystill).
my contribution to @lovecrimebooks RAVAGE Anthology! a book all about Hannibal as Dante’s Inferno. mine was the 6th Circle, Heresy, where the condemned spend eternity in flaming tombs.
today I learned that in 2008, the city council of florence overturned dante’s sentence of execution if he returned from exile. yes, dante’s inferno dante, who died in 1321.
but the funniest part of this is not that they were debating the exile of a man who has been dead for over 500 years.
the funniest part is that the vote was 19-5. five people voted to uphold dante’s exile.
