Cormac O Cuilleanain writes:
A French company advertises the whole Commedia in French
Which brings to mind something that has weighed on my mind for many
years... About 15 years ago I had the displeasure of meeting a Professor
of French Literature (an american) with whom I was discussing Dante. He
told me that it is documented--and for the life of me I have no idea
where, and neglected to ask him where, it was "documented" because at
the mention of it caused my thoat to tightened and my blood pressure to
rise--that it was documented in one of Dante's writings that Dante
actually intended to write the Commedia in French because he felt he
would have a broader readership and because Dante himself felt that
French was a more respectable and more beautiful language.
I have never had the occasion to run across this "writing" of Dante that
claims any such thing even remotely. (I have not read all of Dante's
works.) Can any of the Dante scholars on the list tell me if there is
any truth in what this French professor claims? Could he have
misinterpreted something he read in De Vulgari Eloquentia, or something
one of the personages in the Commedia says? Or is the misinterpretation
mine?
If not list worthy would you please respond to me.
Thank you,
Robert Colasacco
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