Anne Leone, research assistant professor in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Notre Dame, presents “Dante and Blood in the Medieval Context.”
Despite the varied and central roles that blood played in medieval culture, as has been demonstrated in studies from an array of disciplines, including history, art history, medicine, theology and literature, the issue of blood in Dante has escaped systematic investigation. This is surprising given blood’s not infrequent appearance—and wide-ranging implications—in nearly all the poet’s works. This talk introduces some of the key philological, theological, and metaliterary questions relating to Dante’s treatment of blood that remain to be addressed, which are treated systematically in Leone’s current book project.
Leone is a research assistant professor in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Notre Dame. In addition to conducting research, she helps run Italian Studies at Notre Dame, performing various administrative duties for the program. Her research has focused primarily on issues relating to blood in Dante and medieval culture, Dante’s treatment of female figures, and intersections between theological, metaliterary, and medical issues in Dante’s works.
The Italian research seminar, jointly organized by the Devers Program in Dante Studies and by Italian Studies at Notre Dame, aims to provide a regular forum for faculty, postdoctoral scholars, graduate students, and colleagues from other universities to present and discuss their current research.