Below is the abstract for my essay project for next year: Post Graduate Diploma: Political Science. I loved reading Dante and realized how incredible the 14th century was. I have to write about 20,000 - 30,000 words and so have plenty of books to read and notes to take.
Abstract
Dante Alighieri was born May-June 1265, in what could be described as a revisionary period for Europe and Italy. The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries was primarily a political struggle between popes and emperors for supremacy of their worldview; for the temporal and spiritual governance of Europe and Italy; about how society ought to live and work, as well as accept who is governing.
Dante’s Divine Comedy completed just before his death in September 1321, was a three volume prophetic and political statement - a statement about corruption, about the struggle for the temporal and spiritual realms of human societies [in the name of self interest]. It is loaded with observations and allusions; criticism of both popes and emperors.
Dante chose to write The Divine Comedy because he saw it as a way of questioning the motives and attitudes; the battle for the hearts and minds of ordinary people, for the control of commerce of trade and for large tracts of land.
In the twenty-first century therefore, is this struggle for supremacy of one political worldview over another any different from the fourteenth century? Is the ‘war on terror’, globalization and the ‘new world order’ any different from fourteenth century politics? I propose to posit that there is very little difference. Apart from advances in technology, Dante’s three-volume work (Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradise) has explicit notions of sin and spiritual degradation, self-interest, avarice and violence.
Therefore, these prophetic mentions are also prevalent in the twenty-first century. Second, I will argue that the twenty-first century is also a revisionary period, much similar to the fourteenth century of Dante Alighieri. Third, I will explore what kind of political philosophy best describes Dante’s work and how it relates to the century we live in.
Keywords and Phrases:
Empire, worldview, Christianity, Islam, New World Order, American Democracy, Americanism Neo-conservatism, papacy, Holy Roman Empire, sin, crusades, Beatrice, Virgil, Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradise, Middle Ages, utopian idealism, secularism, realism, Islamikaze terrorism, globalization, axis of evil, good versus evil, supremacy, resource depletion, climate change, conspiracy theories, factions, moralizing, popular culture, hubris, Herodotus, power, hegemony, überpower, War Corporatism, Exceptionalism, Zealous Nationalism, Liberal Idealism, Corruption
Sounds like a very interesting research project. You must keep us posted and provide us some samples as you go along. Good luck with it.
Posted by: Jeff | 12/20/2009 at 12:51 PM
Merry Christmas, Quentin.
Posted by: Jeff | 12/26/2009 at 03:09 AM