Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

Satan To Add East Ave Wegmans Parking Lot As Tenth Circle Of Hell

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“Rochester, NY– Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, Treachery. These are the nine circles of hell, but today is a big day. Satan has just announced that this year they are set to add the east avenue Wegmans parking lot as a much awaited tenth circle of hell. We spoke with the leader of hellfire himself to see how excited he is for this new addition.

“’You know, the minute I drove into the east avenue Wegmans parking lot, I knew it was a match made in hell. Seriously, it has to be one of the most disorganized, chaotic messes I’ve ever seen or had to be apart of! This is coming from a guy who single-handedly created the bubonic plague! I mean I love Wegmans, don’t get me wrong, but were they trying to create a new circle of hell for me? It feels like it, you know I thought the circle of gluttony and lust was a pretty raw deal, but I can’t wait to see the face on some of the newcomers when they realize they’re stuck in a never-ending bumper to bumper of the Wegmans parking lot. Very excited for this new addition and I can’t wait to hear some of the feedback from the regulars’” [. . .]    —The Inner Loop, February 13, 2017.

Refund High School (2018)

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Refund-High-School-DanteThe fantasy webcomic Refund High School by South Korean artist LICO features an infernal spirit named Dante (see image). Here is the synopsis of the comic, provided on the site webtoons.com: “Do you want a refund on your life? Start earning karma at The Refund High School to reincarnate as an ideal version of yourself.”

Contributor Savannah Mikus notes, “The students take a field trip to hell, specifically in Chapter 53 they visit “Glutton’s Hell” where the spirits have an insatiable hunger.”

Contributed by Savannah Mikus (Florida State University BA ’20, MA ’22)

Dante’s Inferno: The Game (2015 visual novel game)

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Contributor Savannah Mikus comments, “Dante’s Inferno – The Game. An anime style visual novel game. This game was created by ‘LIAR’ a group of four students: Vee, Lightneng, Saphire, and R. The game was posted online on Ren’Py Games for the public on June 3, 2015.”

The creators describe their game as follows: “Based off the classic, Dante’s Inferno by Dante Alighieri, a group of four classmates created a visual novel in a modern setting for the story to provide easier understanding of the book. It is for-fun adventure we did for class, but since we put so much work into it, we decided to post it to the public too!” — Ren’Py Games

See Ren’Py Games for more information and/or to download the game.

Contributed by Savannah Mikus (Florida State University BA ’20, MA ’22)

Tasha Mack, Angel & Dante: A Dopeboy Love Story (2017)

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Angel+Dante-Tasha-MackWhile the connection to Dante Alighieri isn’t explicit, the pairing of the two protagonists in the novel, Angel and Dante, has a “heaven and hell” resonance to it. Here is the synopsis of the novel, from Amazon.com: “The young, intelligent, & beautiful Angel Harris swore off men after a traumatic experience left her wanting to end her life. She found love in the arms of her new partner, Courtney. Things in the relationship were peaches & cream until Angel crossed paths with Dante Johnson.

“Dante Johnson, better known to the streets as Duke, was one of Atlanta’s most notorious kingpins. Duke was used to having women flock to him and be at his beck and call, until he met Angel. Angel was like a breath of fresh air to him with her charismatic personality and she helped him go escape the drugs, crimes, & promiscuous women in the Atlanta streets. Dante proved that he would do anything to make Angel his, even flaunt her around town with his fiancé Arianne at home.

“Arianne Thomas thinks that she has found her meal ticket out of the hood after she pops up pregnant with Dante’s baby. She is on cloud nine, until she finds out about Dante’s new love interest. Arianne will stop at nothing to protect what she feels is rightfully hers.” — Amazon.com

Go, Went, Gone (2015 novel by Jenny Erpenbeck)

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“Would you like to read something while I’m getting lunch ready? Rufu says: Si, volontieri. The only book in Italian that Richard owns is Dante’s Divine Comedy. For years he’d been planning to read it in the original, but at some point the plan slipped his mind. For years, the Italian dictionary has stood beside it on his shelf. Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita/mi ritrovai per una selva oscura/ché la diritta via era smarrita. He can still recite the opening lines in Italian from memory. Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself in a dark wood, the right road lost. Maybe not such a bad choice after all, he thinks, and hands the refugee — who’s gone a half a world astray — the burgundy-linen bound first volume.” — Jenny Erpenbeck, Go, Went, Gone (2015). Trans. from the German by Susan Bernofsky (New Directions, 2017).

See Adam Kirsch’s review of the novel, a fiction about the impact of the refugee crisis on European and global politics, here.

Contributed by Pete Maiers

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Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.

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