This original volume proposes a novel way of reading Dante's Vita nova, exemplified in a rich diversity of scholarly approaches to the text.
This groundbreaking volume represents the fruit of a two-year-long series of international seminars aimed at developing a fresh way of reading Dante's Vita nova. By analyzing each of its forty-two chapters individually, focus is concentrated on the Vita nova in its textual and historical context rather than on its relationship to the Divine Comedy. This decoupling has freed the contributors to draw attention to various important literary features of the text, including its rich and complex polysemy, as well as its structural fluidity. The volume likewise offers insights into Dante's social environment, his relationships with other poets, and Dante's evolving vision of his poetry's scope. Using a variety of critical methodologies and hermeneutical approaches, this volume offers scholars an opportunity to reread the Vita nova in a renewed context and from a diversity of literary, cultural, and ideological perspectives.
Contributors: Zygmunt G. Baräski, Heather Webb, Claire E. Honess, Brian F. Richardson, Ruth Chester, Federica Pich, Matthew Treherne, Catherine Keen, Jennifer Rushworth, Daragh O'Connell, Sophie V. Fuller, Giulia Gaimari, Emily Kate Price, Manuele Gragnolati, Elena Lombardi, Francesca Southerden, Rebecca Bowen, Nicolò Crisafi, Lachlan Hughes, Franco Costantini, David Bowe, Tristan Kay, Filippo Gianferrari, Simon Gilson, Rebekah Locke, Luca Lombardo, Peter Dent, George Ferzoco, Paola Nasti, Marco Grimaldi, David G. Lummus, Helena Phillips-Robins, Aist¿ Kiltinavi¿i¿t¿, Alessia Carrai, Ryan Pepin, Valentina Mele, Katherine Powlesland, Federica Coluzzi, K. P. Clarke, Nicolò Maldina, Theodore J. Cachey Jr., Chiara Sbordoni, Lorenzo Dell'Oso, and Anne C. Leone.

Preface: Dante's Vita nova: A Collaborative Reading, by Zygmunt G. Baräski and Heather Webb
Vita nova I-IV [1-2.5]: Introduction, by Claire E. Honess
Vita nova I [1.1], by Brian F. Richardson
Vita nova II [1.2-10], by Ruth Chester
Vita nova III [1.12-2.2], by Federica Pich
Vita nova IV [2.3-5], by Matthew Treherne
Vita nova V-XII [2.6-5]: Introduction, by Catherine Keen
Vita nova V and VI [2.6-2.11], by Catherine Keen
Vita nova VII [2.12-18], by Jennifer Rushworth
Vita nova VIII [3], by Daragh O'Connell
Vita nova IX [4], by Sophie V. Fuller
Vita nova X and XI [5.1-7], by Giulia Gaimari
Vita nova XII [5.8-24], by Emily Kate Price
Vita nova XIII-XVIII [6-10.11]: Not Just a Passing Phase, by Manuele Gragnolati, Elena Lombardi, and Francesca Southerden
Vita nova XIII [6], by Rebecca Bowen
Vita nova XIV [7], by Nicolò Crisafi
Vita nova XV [8], by Lachlan Hughes
Vita nova XVI [9], by Franco Costantini
Vita nova XVII-XVIII [10.1-11], by David Bowe
Vita nova XIX-XXIV [10.12-15]: Introduction, by Tristan Kay
Vita nova XIX [10.12-33], by Filippo Gianferrari
Vita nova XX [11], by Simon Gilson
Vita nova XXI [12], by Rebekah Locke
Vita nova XXII [13], by Luca Lombardo
Vita nova XXIII [14], by Peter Dent
Vita nova XXIV [15], by George Ferzoco
Vita nova XXV-XXVII [16-18]: Literature as Truth, by Paola Nasti
Vita nova XXV [16], by Rebecca Bowen
Vita nova XXVI [17], by Marco Grimaldi
Vita nova XXVII [18], by David G. Lummus
Vita nova XXVIII-XXXIV [19-23]: The Poetics of a New Affective Community, by Heather Webb
Vita nova XXVIII [19.1-3], by Helena Phillips-Robins
Vita nova XXIX [19.4-7], by Aist¿ Kiltinavi¿i¿t¿
Vita nova XXX [19.8-10], by Alessia Carrai
Vita nova XXXI [20], by Ryan Pepin
Vita nova XXXII [21], by Valentina Mele
Vita nova XXXIII [22], by Katherine Powlesland
Vita nova XXXIV [23], by Katherine Powlesland
Vita nova XXXV-XXXIX [24-28]: Introduction, by Simon Gilson
Vita nova XXXV [24], by Federica Coluzzi
Vita nova XXXVI-XXXVII [25-26], by K. P. Clarke
Vita nova XXXVIII-XXXIX [27-28], by Nicolò Maldina
Vita nova XL-XLII [29-31]: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by Theodore J. Cachey Jr
Vita nova XL [29], by Chiara Sbordoni
Vita nova XLI [30], by Lorenzo Dell'Oso
Vita nova XLII [31], by Anne C. Leone Bibliography List of contributors Index

Zygmunt G. Baräski is Serena Professor Emeritus at the University of Cambridge, Emeritus R. L. Canala Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University of Notre Dame, and co-editor of Dante's "Other Works": Assessments and Interpretations (University of Notre Dame Press, 2022).

Heather Webb is professor of medieval Italian literature and culture at the University of Cambridge and author of Dante, Artist of Gesture.