Papers by Giacomo Berchi
Sirene, 2024
Quattro libri in cui perdersi e un'isola per ritrovarsi. qui si trova la sua biblioteca, ora dona... more Quattro libri in cui perdersi e un'isola per ritrovarsi. qui si trova la sua biblioteca, ora donata all'università. Quando entro, so già che dovrò tornare. Sfogliando questi libri e guardando il mare dalla cima della collina, penso alle letterature di queste isole, al loro canto che mescola la bellezza abbacinante del mare e del tropico, l'eccesso del sole e della stagione delle piogge, un passato di sofferenza e la speranza verso il futuro.
Bibliotheca Dantesca, 2023
The confrontation between Dante and Ulysses in the Commedia has been one of the most frequently d... more The confrontation between Dante and Ulysses in the Commedia has been one of the most frequently discussed topics in Dante Studies. Dante structured his own navigation towards God in parallel with that of Ulysses, which tragically ends with a shipwreck. Critics agree that the last moment of this confrontation occurs when Dante looks down to Earth one last time and sees "il varco / folle d'Ulisse" (Paradiso 27.82-3). In this article I argue that Ulysses' shipwreck is evoked one last time during Beatrice's narrative of the Creation of the world in Paradiso 29. I present my argument in three parts: in the first part, by analyzing the place of the biblical waters above the firmament in the cosmology of the Commedia; in the second part, by noting how critics have evoked the figure of Ulysses in their commentaries of the narrative of the Creation without arguing for his presence in the text; in the third and last part, making that claim via a close reading of Paradiso 29.17-21. I highlight how a rhyme words pattern connects Beatrice's narrative of the Creation to Dante's arrival at the mount of Purgatory and, most importantly, to Ulysses' shipwreck. Lastly, I argue that this passage in Paradiso 29 prompts a vista in retrospect of the kind theorized by Charles Singleton. In the Crystalline sphere, Dante juxtaposes one last time his own navigation with that of Ulysses, evoking the tragic shipwreck of the Greek hero while simultaneously attaining knowledge about the Creation of the world.
Poesia-Crítica-Tradução. Haroldo de Campos e a educação dos sentidos, 2022
Em Finismundo (1990), Haroldo de Campos confronta diretamente com a figura literária de Ulisses. ... more Em Finismundo (1990), Haroldo de Campos confronta diretamente com a figura literária de Ulisses. Nesse poema, Campos escreve a sua versão da última viagem de Ulisses, seguindo o relato de Dante no canto 26 do Inferno. Neste ensaio apresento uma nova tradução italiana de Finismundo e indago a poética do naufrágio de Campos. Focalizo- me sobre exemplos específicos da tradução em relação à visão do poeta sobre a potencialidade da tradição linguística e literária do Brasil. Na parte central, analiso a passagem do poema no qual Ulisses navega “o mar atrás do mar”, onde o naufrágio acontece. Minha tese é que Campos funde aqui o texto de Dante com a tradição grego- bíblica do mar/ caos. Minha tradução tenta conservar um eco disso com uma escolha linguística a partir de Leopardi e Milton. Na última parte, reflito sobre a representação gráfica do naufrágio no poema que lembra a obra da poesia concreta e Mallarmé em Un coup de dés.
Oscar Draghi Mondadori , 2021
Introduction to Dante Alighieri, La Divina Trilogia. Paradiso, Milano, Mondadori, 2021. An essay ... more Introduction to Dante Alighieri, La Divina Trilogia. Paradiso, Milano, Mondadori, 2021. An essay on Dante and World Literature, starting from Erich Auerbach's Philology of World Literature and ending with Borges El Aleph
Strumenti Critici, 2019
In the manuscript known as ‘Autografo Napoletano’, one of the interventions made by Giacomo Leopa... more In the manuscript known as ‘Autografo Napoletano’, one of the interventions made by Giacomo Leopardi in the text of the idyll "L’Infinito" reads ‘ultimo orizzonte’ as an interlinear correction of ‘celeste confine’. The first Italian translation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, by Paolo Rolli, reads ‘Celeste | confin’ for the original ‘heavenly ground’ in a passage from Book Seven. As the possible original source of Leopardi’s first choice has never been detected, this essay argues that ‘celeste confine’, taken from the Italian version of Milton, stands as a textual trace of the authorial process towards the definitive text. The analysis explores the plausibility of Leopardi as a reader of Milton as well as the fortunate reception in literature and the arts of this discarded variante.
American Dante Bibliography, 2019
This bibliography is intended to include all publications relating to Dante (books, articles, tra... more This bibliography is intended to include all publications relating to Dante (books, articles, translations, reviews) published in North America in 2017, including reviews published in North American journals of books published elsewhere. In English.
Cenobio , 2018
In this paper I consider the presence of Dante's Divine Comedy in the poetry of the Swiss poet Gi... more In this paper I consider the presence of Dante's Divine Comedy in the poetry of the Swiss poet Giorgio Orelli (1921-2013). An «operaio della critica verbale», as he defined himself, Orelli shows a deep familiarity with the dantean text: different degrees of allusions, direct recalls, phonetic or rhythmical memories mark the presence of a great canonical text into the poetic laboratory of a modern poet. In Italian.
Book Reviews by Giacomo Berchi
Prometeo, 2023
Review of M. Longley, "Il Maestro del lume di candela e altre poesie" (2023)
Prometeo , 2023
Review of F. Moretti, "Falso Movimento. La svolta quantitativa nello studio della letteratura" (2... more Review of F. Moretti, "Falso Movimento. La svolta quantitativa nello studio della letteratura" (2022)
Prometeo, 2022
Review of H. French, "Born in Blackness" (2021)
Prometeo, 2022
Review of K. Clark, 'Eurasia Without Borders' (2021)
Campi immaginabili , 2020
Review of: S. Turco, The Marble Faun. Art, Nature, and Morals Between Classicism and Aestheticism... more Review of: S. Turco, The Marble Faun. Art, Nature, and Morals Between Classicism and Aestheticism, Canterano (Rimini), Aracne Editrice, 2020, pp. 276, € 14
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Papers by Giacomo Berchi
Book Reviews by Giacomo Berchi