Explore UCD

UCD Home >

ITAL10120

Academic Year 2026/2027

Dante's Inferno Reloaded: Text, Reception, Adaptation (ITAL10120)

Subject:
Italian
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
Languages, Cultures & Linguis
Level:
1 (Introductory)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Dr Serena Laiena
Trimester:
Spring
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module invites the study of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, and particularly its first cantica, Inferno, through a blended approach that is both prospective and retrospective. We will look at our recent past through the lens of Dante’s characters and at Dante’s time through the lenses of his commentators, adaptors, and fans, from the fourteenth century to the present day. At the core of this module lies the notion of the universality of literary works, that students will tackle in a global, transcultural, and intermedial perspective. The reading and analysis of the core text will intertwine the examination of its intertextual reuses and adaptations, from Gustave Doré’s illustrations to Thom Yorke's lyrics, from Go Nagai’s manga to Royal Ballet’s Dante Project, from Primo Levi’s references to Dante’s Inferno videogame, and through films, tv series, billboards, and commercials. At the end of this module, students are expected to achieve a solid knowledge of the core text as well as reflect on the relevance of Dante’s Inferno to them and in our time.

Content warning: This module discusses images and texts of explicit/disturbing nature, including violence, sex and discrimination. Should you have concerns with such material, please contact the module coordinator.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
- analyse a selection of cantos of Dante's Inferno in terms of both form and content and provide an informed, critical reading of them;
- demonstrate familiarity with the social and political context of fourteenth-century Italy;
- define and use the concepts of intertextuality, adaptation, and reception;
- creatively engage with the core text, reflecting on its relevance in our times;
- participate in in-class discussions, presenting personal ideas or critical readings orally;
- complete assignments, focusing on content, structure, style of the analysed texts.

Indicative Module Content:

- Reading of selected cantos from Dante Alighieri's Inferno
- Reading of secondary sources on Dante, his works, the selected cantos and the adaptation of Dante's Inferno
- Examination of literary, visual, musical, and multimedia content related to Dante's Inferno

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Proficient

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Expert

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Expert

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Advanced Beginner

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Advanced Beginner

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Proficient

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Expert

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Competent

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Competent

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Advanced Beginner

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Proficient

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


Goal Name Description Coverage

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 5

Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls 5

Reduce inequality within and among countries 3

Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable 4

Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels 4
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

12
Tutorial

12
Specified Learning Activities

52
Autonomous Student Learning

36
Total

112

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Lectures, reflective learning, collaborative teaching, creative learning

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

Not applicable to this module. This module is open to students without previous knowledge of Italian. The primary texts will be read in English.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Exam (In-person): Class test
 Week 7 Graded No
40
 No
Individual Project: Creative literary, artistic or multimedia output
 Week 14 Graded No
30
 No
Quizzes/Short Exercises: In-class, open-ended questions
 Week 12 Graded No
30
 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

ITAL 10120 – Dante's Inferno Reloaded: Text, Reception, Adaptation

Reading List

Core text: Dante Alighieri, Inferno, Canto I, III, IV, V, VI, X, XXVI, XXXIII. Text, translation and commento baroliniano available on Digital Dante website: https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/

Secondary readings (uploaded on Brightspace):

Week 1:
• Lino Pertile, Dante, in The Cambridge History of Italian Literature, eds Peter Brand and Lino Pertile, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 37-69.
• Lino Pertile, Introduction to Inferno, in The Cambridge Companion to Dante, ed Rachel Jacoff, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 67 – 90.
• Linda Hutcheon, Beginning to Theorize Adaptation: What? Who? Why? How? Where? When?, in Linda Hutcheon, A Theory of Adaptation, New York: Routledge, 2006, pp. 1-32.

Week 2:
• Katherine Powlesland, Dante and Video Games: The Unrealised Potential of the Virtual Commedia, Italian Studies, 77:2, 2022, 146-156.
• Dante’s Inferno, Visceral Games, 2010 (Videogame).
• Extracts from the script of 7 Deadly Sins by Niall Austin (2024).

Week 3:
• Giulio Carlo Pantalei, The Middle Ages of Postmodernism: Dante, Thom Yorke and Radiohead, Dante e l’arte, 6, 2019, pp. 127-142.

Week 4:
• Alastair J. Minnis, Medieval Theory of Authorship, London: Scolar Press, 1984, pp. 9-12.
• Simone Marchesi, Classical Culture, in The Cambridge Companion to Dante's "Commedia", eds Zygmunt G. Baranski and Simon Gilson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019), pp. 127-39.

Week 5:
• Teodolinda Barolini, Dante and Francesca da Rimini: Realpolitik, Romance, Gender, Speculum, 75,1, 2000, pp. 1-28.
• The Dante Project (Wayne Mc Gregor), The Royal Ballet, 2021.

Week 6:
• Deborah Parker, Doré’s Dante: Influence, Transformation, and Reinvention, in Dante Alive, eds Francesco Ciabattoni and Simone Marchesi, New York: Routledge, 2022, pp. 3-21.
• Go Nagai, La Divina Commedia (Manga).

Week 8:
• Macs Smith, The Icon, the Exile: Dante and Contemporary Italian Street Art, in Dante Alive, eds Francesco Ciabattoni and Simone Marchesi, New York: Routledge, 2022, pp. 262-287.

Week 9:
• Primo Levi, If This Is a Man, The Canto of Ulysses Chapter: https://levidigitalcommentary.org/english/.
• Risa Sodi, “La terza via": Dante and Primo Levi, MLN, 127,1, 2012, 199-203.

Week 11:
• Jorge Luis Borges, The False Problem of Ugolino, in Selected Non-Fictions, ed. Eliot Weinberger, New York: Viking, 1999, pp. 277-279.
• Patrick Cassidy, Dante: From Inferno to Paradise.

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Mon 11:00 - 11:50
Spring Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Wed 12:00 - 12:50
Print this page
Fill in the following details:
Enter the body of your query here.

From time to time UCD would like to send you further information that we feel, based on your enquiry, would be of interest to you.