Tag: Voxiversity

Next week’s reading is cantos XIV and XV

This one is a bit shorter than usual, but it is arguably more difficult unless you’ve read carefully. Next week’s reading is cantos XII and XIII

Next week’s reading is Cantos X and XI

A rather interesting take on the fate of nations, I thought. And despite its age, much superior to the absurd notions of the end of history that were being bruited about much more recently.

I will readily admit that one of the questions is not, strictly speaking, fair, as the correct answer is not directly provided in the actual text of the canto. That being said, I will nevertheless not have the least bit of sympathy for anyone here who has read the canto and still manages to get that question wrong. Next week’s reading is Cantos VI and VII.

Next week’s reading is Cantos IV and V.

After reading five translations in detail this week and comparing them to the original Italian, I think we’re going to switch to Longfellow’s translation as our primary text; even though Cary’s is superficially more similar to the Binyon translation that I prefer, I am coming to believe that Longfellow’s is the best of the three freely available ones, at least for our purposes. I am increasingly unenthusiastic about Pinsky’s pedestrian translation, the credible justification he offers for his metaphorically prosaic approach notwithstanding. As should be obvious after taking the quiz, I am focusing on content, not interpretation. Unless the various meanings behind the metaphors are spelled out explicitly and unmistakeably in the text, I will not ask you questions about them. Such matters of interpretation rather than content will be reserved for discussion in the comments. The reading for next week is Cantos II and III.

It would appear I am not alone in my preference for Binyon. “If he wants to read Dante, he had best go to Binyon, but since Binyon’s English is sometimes as difficult and contorted as Dante’s Italian, he may prefer Ciardi.” If you’re planning on actually buying a text rather than downloading one, I’d recommend the Viking portable edition.

I’m getting more than a little tired of economics after four months of writing RGD and more than thirty interviews in two months, so I think it makes sense to accede to the will of the readers and go with the Inferno portion of La Commedia Divina, which beat RGD by a vote of 133 to 128. I’d previously been leaning towards Commentarii de Bello Gallico, but that finished a distant fourth with only 28 votes. Here is a link to the Cary translation; those who prefer Longfellow or Norton translations may be interested in this three-way comparison site. For simplicity’s sake, I’ll use Cary supported by the bilingual edition that features Robert Pinsky’s translation.

Ironically after all that, the translation with which I’m most familiar, and which inspired my economic satire, was Lawrence Binyon’s. But I think it’s best to work with the freely available texts. Start reading Canto 1 for next Saturday.

I’d encourage those who have participated in past Voxiversities or are seriously contemplating taking part in the next one to vote. If you’re not, don’t bother.