Encountering Dante’s Beatrice: Poetry, Persons, Theology and Thought

This two-day online conference, held on Zoom, will examine critical questions raised by the figure of Dante’s Beatrice.

Conference

8 and 9 July 2021 

Papers will consider the following questions:

• What role does Beatrice play in Dante’s poetic, theological and philosophical projects?
• How might recent developments in our understanding of Dante’s works and context affect scholars’ (often unspoken) assumptions about the figure of Beatrice?
• What is the importance of biographical and historical information in interpreting Dante’s Beatrice?
• How do the differing presentations of Beatrice across all of Dante’s works affect our reading of those texts – and to what extent is it legitimate to think of her as a consistent presence in Dante’s opus?
• What can past debates about the figure of Beatrice, and representations of her, still contribute to reading Dante today?

How to register

Please register through Eventbrite; for further information, please email Matthew Treherne (m.treherne@leeds.ac.uk).

Speakers include:

• Dr David Bowe (University College Cork) 
• Dr George Corbett (University of St Andrews)
• Professor Emeritus Peter Hawkins (Yale University)
• Dr Tristan Kay (University of Bristol)
• Dr Catherine Keen (University College London)
• Dr Patricia Kelly (Leeds Trinity University)
• John Bugbee (University of Virginia)
• Professor Elena Lombardi (University of Oxford)
• Dr Vittorio Montemaggi (King’s College London/Von Hügel Institute)
• Dr Abigail Rowson (University of Leeds)
• Dr Erik Van Versendaal (Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts)
• Dr Heather Webb (University of Cambridge).

Hosted by the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies, with support from the Modern Humanities Research Association Conference fund

Organisers: Dr Abigail Rowson and Professor Matthew Treherne