A different translation.

 While trying to find material for this fortnight’s blog post I stumbled upon a new translation of Canto III that I hadn’t seen before.  The Translation was done by Seamus Heaney.  For those unfamiliar with Heaney he is an Irish Poet Laureate who while famous for his own poetry, has also made multiple best seller lists for his translation of Beowulf.  

Being familiar with his work on Beowulf, it was surprising to then find his name associated with Dante as well.  Old English and 13^th century Italian are after all, extremely different.  They share the same basic alphabet and otherwise are completely different.  Old English is primarily based on Germanic languages which do not find their roots in Latin.  Instead Old English is much more closely associated with Old Norse, Old Icelandic and Gaelic.  In a general sense, Old English is largely a continuation of “Barbarian” languages, which were conquered and to a large extent rebelled against the Latin speaking Romans. 

Being even more familiar with Heaney’s work however, I have learned that Heaney (aside from being Irish and embracing the culture of his heritage thoroughly) translated Beowulf without knowing Old English.  In fact, to produce his translation of Beowulf he worked closely with people who had already done translations, and using their knowledge, set out to make a version of Beowulf that exhibited the cultural traditions rather than the linguistic traditions.  Furthermore as a Poet Laureate (a very (globally recognized) skilled poet,) Heaney set out to create a translation of Beowulf that was a good epic poem. 

Knowing that about Heaney makes it very interesting that he would then turn his hand to Dante’s Inferno as well.  Beowulf and Inferno share many things after all.  They are both Epic Poems, they are both looked upon as foundational literary classics, they both talk about cultures and people that are very far removed from the 21^st century and they both are widely read by high-schoolers and college students today.  They are also both viewed by said students as tedious and difficult to get through.  So in those senses, it is not so far removed from the realm of reasonability that a world renowned poet would try to make sense of them for modern generations. 

I will be honest here, I don’t know if Heaney has an in-depth knowledge of early Italian, Latin, or Mediterranean culture, so my dubiousness is in large part a conjecture based on the probability of a similar fundamental ignorance.  But it is interesting to me that he (seeing the success of one epic) decided to try his pen at another epic as well. 

My dubiousness aside however, his translation was published by Emerson College, and in comparing it with Durling and Martinez’s translation does hit the main points.  Not surprisingly though, he captures the feeling of the Canto while ignoring the word structure and format of the original.  For example, the first three Stanzas (the warning on the first gate of hell) of the Original text reads as follows:

PER ME SI VA NE LA CITTA’ DOLENTE, /PER ME SI VA NE L’ETTERNO DOLORE, /PER ME SI VA TRA LA PERDUTA GENTE

GIUSTIZIA MOSSE IL MIO ALTO FATTORE;/ FECEMI LA DIVINA PODESTATE, /LA SOMMA SAPIENZA E’L PRIMO AMORE

DINANZI A ME NON FUOR COSE CREATE /SE NON ETTERNE, E IO ETTERNO DURO. /LASCIATE OGNE SPERANANZA, VOI CH’INTRATE.

The Durling and Martinez translation reads as follows:

THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE GRIEVING CITY, /THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW, /THROUGH ME THE WAY AMONG THE LOST PEOPLE.

JUSTIVCE MOVED MY HIGH MAKER;/ DIVINE POWER MADE ME, /HIGHEST WISDOM, AND PRIMAL LOVE. 

BEFORE ME WERE NO THINGS CREATED/ EXCEPT ETERNAL ONES, AND I ENDURE ETERNAL./ ABANDON EVERY HOPE, YOU WHO ENTER.

It is important to note that the Durling and Martinez maintains the sentence structure, it maintains the word order, and it is very close to the same meter of the original.  In comparison to that is the Heaney translation. 

THROUGH ME IT LEADS TO THE CITY SORROWFUL./ THROUGH ME IT LEADS TO THE ETERNAL PAIN./ THROUGH ME IT LEADS AMONG THE LOST PEOPLE.

 JUSTICE INSPIRED MY MAKER ABOVE./ IT WAS DIVINE POWER THAT FORMED ME,/ SUPREME JUSTICE AND ORIGINAL LOVE.

BEFORE ME NO THING WAS CREATED THAT WAS NOT /FOREVER CREATED, AND I SHALL LAST FOREVER. /LEAVE EVERY HOPE BEHIND YOU, YOU WHO ENTER.

It is obvious with even a brief glance that not only does Heaney change the tone to be more “epic,” but he also changes the form of the poem (making three sentences from one,) disregards the word order from the original, and finally (as he does in Beowulf) he adds words.

Perhaps this works better for Dante’s Inferno than it did for Beowulf, because it adds a modern formality to an intentionally very Catholic based writing(Inferno), opposed to adding a modern formality to a slightly catholic transcribed pagan text (Beowulf.)  Effects of the translation aside, it is still interesting that a modern turned epic poet is expanding his base to a second epic poem, and showing the same qualities in both.  Heaney’s translation of Inferno has the potential to be relatable and beautiful, it also has the potential to frustrate scholars and misguide students.  The questions raised by Beowulf scholars, and translators everywhere persist.  Is it more important to faithfully represent a work, or to get people to read and appreciate a slightly altered work?

Dante for Broadway

Links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7wmFqoCD78

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVF8va0PDUE&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcwEgV8CmNc&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1nhV3k8O4s&feature=relmfu

Above are links to a four part video of a musical interpretation of Dante’s Inferno.  The entire production is approximately 45 minutes, and is a complete reenactment of the entirety of Inferno.  It was written/composed, directed, staged, and produced by a pair of high school students who were particularly inspired by the Comedy about a year ago.  The entire video is worth a watch, as the book is pretty comical, and the music tends to be pretty catchy.

The show begins with an austerely dressed Dante, singing an opening number, when he is approached by a character who turns out to be Vergil.  For the remainder of the show, the two travel through the depths of Hell, descending circle by circle, and encountering each individual character that appears.  In most cases, they sing a quick little number, or perhaps just have a short comical interaction, but the pair actually passes through the eighth circle of Hell fairly quickly; they move from bolgia to bolgia, observing the inhabitants of each.  For this particular section, I can’t say I really enjoyed the music behind the passage.  The humor, as well, was a bit crass.  However, they did catch all the important information from each bolgia, the sins punished, and a bunch of the characters presented.

The entire production is an interesting interpretation, because, as I talked about a bit in my post about the song inspired by Dante’s Inferno, the Comedy is a piece that holds a lot of power through speech; it is often very reminiscent of the ancient world tradition of plays.  In this musical, it captures this culture of performance, as well as pulls the content into a musical setting, which is representative of the nature of Dante’s own language through his epic poem.  

In addition to this, the musical is very frequently cheesy and ostentatious.  This touches on a lot of the satiric content that Dante plays with, as well as the undertones of sarcasm that Dante inserts every once in a while.  Musicals, even in modern culture, are somewhat mocked for their unrealistic tendency to incorporate music into social scenarios that don’t necessarily need them, and, in this case, this musical tends to insert this music at unimportant pieces of the Inferno, in my opinion.  For example, the interpretation of Dante and Vergil’s encounter with Francesca da Rimini and her lover, Paolo, in the circle of lust, is short and topical.  Francesca has a brief dialogue with the pair, and Dante subsequently faints.  Though this is somewhat what occurs in the actual Inferno, there are a lot of really important references missed by the brevity of that interaction.

So, in totality, the piece is not the most profound interpretation of the Comedy, but it can be fun to watch and has a bit of fun lines to pay attention to.  The austere feeling of the entire performance does draw attention to the lines/lyrics of the characters, which is what Dante really intended; it was not for the reader to see Inferno as he saw it, but rather how he describes it.

Dante DmC-a new kind of video game

Of the many entertainment version of Dante's Inferno I have already discovered the Itouch app. There are a few video game version, but the one I will cover in my Blog is perhaps the least true to the original work. Dante DmC or Dante Devil may Cry was originally made to be a sequel to the well know Resident Evil video game series. However, after it's development it was so drastically different they decided to make it it's own entity. The game has had multiple sequels after the initial game became popular, and has now led to a comic version, action figures, two animated series, and a movie is set to begin. Of the character for Dante's Inferno only Dante, Virgil spelled Vergil, and Lucia make it into the video game. Instead of the position of friend and mentor Vergil is the protagonist of the series. In the video game world Dante is the son of an angel and demon who runs a shop, but also works as a vigilante demon hunter as a way to avenge the death of his mother. His brother Vergil is an evil character throughout the series who uses demonic powers to work against Dante. They live in Limbo city which is a demon run society. The series and characters do not really follow the Divine Comedy, but there are the undertones of the work through the imagery and themes.
Dante's look changes between the games but here is a photo of him in the 4th game Dante DmC

Vergil

Limbo City

The city's design is one of the few things that shows allusions to the original work. The design is loosely based on modern day New York City, but the placement of the tower in the city is a reference to the Tower of Babel, and the just as with Sandow Birk's version they use modern designs to make the old landscape more relatable. This is shown by the use of a Coney Island like amusement park 

There are also marketing devises used in the game that simulate the sins punished in hell. 

 One of the food stands uses "Gluttony is Good" as their slogan. 

The game is a great example of how we as a society have taken classic works of the past and used them to create entirely unique organisms. There are points of reference, but overall they have taken the characters and ideas of The Inferno and completely remade it into something new.

Futurama - Robot Hell

In the episode of the first season of the animated comedy Futurama, title “Hell is Other Robots, Bender, a robotic character, enters into robot hell. His journey to this robot hell is initially caused by a robot drug induced “trip,” similar in nature to what a human being would experience on LSD, known as “jacking on,” in which the robot abuses electricity. Bender, now clearly reliant on abusing electricity (he steers their space ship directly into an electrical storm for the sake of getting “high” on electricity). His addiction to electricity is a satirical play on Dante’s line in which he states that he has strayed from the straight path.

Bender, recognizing his problem decides to attend a meeting at the Temple of Robotology, which is a church-like organization for robots where the “robot devil” is discussed. Robots can potentially be downloaded straight to hell. Soon afterwards, Bender is quickly converted to a religious and pure lifestyle. Within three minutes he gives into his temptations and again starts living irresponsibly, lustfully, avariciously, etc. The robot devil comes for him soon afterward and downloads him to robot hell. The gateway to this robot hell is found at an abandoned carnival on a ride titled “Inferno.”

Upon entering into this robot hell, the robot devil informs Bender that “We know all your sins Bender and for each one we’ve prepared an agonizing and ironic punishment!” Level one consists of depriving Bender of all of the things that made him happy on earth. For instance, he loved cigars; now in Robot hell, Bender takes the place of the tobacco and is rolled up into a cigar leaf and then he is smoked by other robots. Level two consists of leaving Bender’s punishment up to fate. He is placed on a spinning board and spun around a wheel on which different punishments are describe; wherever he lands, once he is done spinning, will determine his punishment—he gets deep fried. Level three and four are skipped. Level five consists of Bender having his hard drive “scratched” by the preserved head’s of the members of the Beasty Boys…

There is no real description of any of the other levels passed level 5. Only after challenging the devil in a fiddling contest, the prize being a golden fiddle,—what’s up Charlie Daniel’s band—as a divergence, do Bender and his friends escape.

Dante's Inferno Done Classically 

Dante's Inferno has been referenced in other books, plays, movies, and even video games since being written. But a challenge that has proved to be hard to overcome by creative and great minds alike is putting the story that is found in Dante's Inferno into a classical symphony orchestra. To transfer an epic work of literature such as The Divine Comedy into a musical masterpiece is no easy feat. Many have tried to do such things but only a few have been successful in bringing the general feel and passion of the words into music.

The two composers that are renown for their success in this area are Liszt and Rachmaninoff. The appeal that Dante's work brought to composers is the way his words flowed and had the occasional rhyme. If read in the original Italian, the poem has quite a flow to it and that is something that Dante was praised for. Though in many modern translations, the Italian words cannot equivalently express the structure that Dante's genius constructed.

The two composers, Liszt and Rachmaninoff, approached this in two different ways. Liszt, who appreciated Dante's style of flow, created a masterpiece without using any specific text from Dante in his symphony. Instead, he created a symphony which flowed and went up in down in both pitch and volume according to how Dante's journey went. For instance, the beginning of the symphony is slow and erie (just as the scene seems to be when Dante finds himself in the wood and confused), and then it continues to get louder and faster (as Dante encounters Nicholas III in Hell for instance, or when Virgil and Dante are at the gates of Dis). Liszt wanted to show his audiences that there is in fact a way to make not a soundtrack, but a comparable experience to the work of Dante itself.

Rachmaninoff on the other played majorly on the part of Dante's epic that focused on Paolo and Francesca. For even though Dante created this example in his work, it has clung to the minds and hearts of all of those who have read the novel. Rachmaninoff uses direct text, announcing the scenes in which the music pertains to in between each act of his symphony. He believed that if the audience was prompted with information on which the music pertained to, then they would better understand it.

Both of these composers successfully captured the essence of Dante's work in their musical pieces. This should be viewed as a strong achievement because though there have been many attempts to do so, these are the most successful composers to do so. Here is the beginning of Liszt's Dante's Symphony, while here is Rachmaninoff's work on the Inferno.

A “Contra-Contrapasso” of Canto XIII

Click here to view the Suicide Forest by Vice Productions. Click here for extra background info on Aokigahara.

Long after I read through Canto XIII of the Inferno, the imagery of the forest of suicide stuck with me. As this imagery persisted and took root in my mind, I started to play around with its elements. However, I was afraid that the dry morbid subtext of the imagery would poison my diversionary exercise and prevent it from bearing any significant fruit. Moreover, in order to dispel any wrong impressions, I must clarify that my fascination with the imagery did not involve a particular interest in the terrible and sad act of suicide itself; rather my fascination was directed towards Dante’s reasons for constructing the imagery and the associated significance that resulted for that choice. Anyways, in the spirit of the element of reversal in the contrapasso of the forest imagery, I attempted to come up with a “contra-contrapasso” by reversing the function of the forest. In an ironic sense, it seemed to me that the seclusion of a forest would more make it a place that invites suicide than a place that condemns it. In order to add body and substance to my musing, I endeavored to find any historical or incidental suicides that have taken place in forests. The results of my search vastly surpassed my expectations. Not only did I find instances of suicide in forests, but I literally found an actual suicide forest where an average of nearly 100 suicides have taken place in the span of several decades; in fact, so many suicides have committed in this place that special signs have been put up and strict measures have been implemented to prevent further suicides. This interesting yet bizarrely creepy forest is the Aokigahara forest located near the base of Mount Fuji in Japan.

            My discovery of the Aokigahara forest was through a short 30-min documentary titled Suicide Forest. The format of the documentary bears some semblance to basic premise of the Inferno. In both, there is a knowledgeable and calm tempered guide who escorts a pilgrim through a scary landscape. As this guide makes the journey through the landscape with the pilgrim, he describes and adds meaning to important scenery that is unfamiliar to the pilgrim. Specifically, in the case of this film, the guide is not Virgil but a geologist named Asuza Hayano, the pilgrim is not Dante but the viewer, and the scary landscape is not the demonic Hell but the haunted Aokigahara.

Moreover, despite its “contra contrapasso” aspect of encouraging suicide, the Aokigahara forest shares some important thematic elements with Canto XIII. For instance, the forest in the canto pertains to the souls’ abandonment of their bodies and their subsequent embodiment as trees. In a similar but reversed way, those seeking to commit suicide purposely make the way into the “sea of trees” of Aokigahara where they subsequently abandon their bodies and problems. Another point of correspondence between Canto XIII and the Aokigahara forest is the strong element of separation from society that is present in both. The Aokigahara forest is literally separated from society by virtue of the fact that it is several miles from the nearest town. As a result, the forest has a very quiet and secluded quality that attracts suicidal individuals seeking to permanently separate themselves from the torments of society. Similarly, the main character of Canto XIII, Pietro delle Vigne, committed suicide in order to separate himself from his persecution by the society of Frederick II’s court.

Gustave Doré's illustrations of the Divine Comedy

http://www.worldofdante.org/gallery_dore.html

Gustave Doré is a French artist (1832-1883) who is known for his well-known and incredibly detailed illustrations of Dante’s inferno. By the age of 12, Doré had already started to make illustrations of not only Dante’s work, but also that of Milton, Balzac, Homer, Ossian, Byron, Goethe, Racine, and Corneille and others. Doré also illustrated an oversized edition of Edgar Allen Poe’s "The Raven," in 1883. Dore’s illustrations prove to be very accurate, very visual and very true to the images introduced to us in Inferno by Dante himself.  Doré refers to his inferno illustrations as "chefs-d'oeuvre de la literature," translating literally into masterpieces of literature. While France’s initial interest in the divine comedy was limited to certain specific cantos, Doré’s illustrations brought a much more intellectual interest of the divine comedy in France, which resulted in  “numerous translations of the Commedia into French, critical studies, newspapers, and specialized journals, and over 200 works of painting and sculpture between 1800-1930.”

Limited by the financial aspects of publication, Doré himself paid for the fist publications, which instantly became popular in France. Doré’s use of beautiful landscape, contre-passo and an incorporation of popular culture make his illustrations all so vivid. And as one critic wrote in an 1861 publication of the illustration of the inferno: "we are inclined to believe that the conception and the interpretation come from the same source, that Dante and Gustave Doré are communicating by occult and solemn conversations the secret of this Hell plowed by their souls, traveled, explored by them in every sense."

I personally felt that Doré’s illustrations are very accurate to the descriptions of the sin, the punishments and the sinners in Inferno. His use of vivid imagery and attention to detail is what makes these illustrations very remarkable. Among the illustrations on the website (above link,) there is an illustration of Charon in his boat, which makes him look very displeased, as Dante indeed describes him in Inferno. Another illustration is that of Limbo, where we see all the enlighten poets and we can clearly see that Doré puts them in a spotlight by literally shining the light on them, while everything around them is in the dark. We see Paolo and Francesca in another illustration and we can clearly see the sin of lust being portrayed in the illustration, with Francesca sitting on a throne and Paolo kissing her neck, with Francesca’s husband spying on them in the back.  Thus, I believe that Doré’s illustrations depict the divine comedy beautifully in a very vivid manner, and are definitely worth to look at.