Dantesque Aeviternal Apocalypses: stasis and motion in the eternal timescapes of Dante’s Inferno

Abstract

This dissertation examines Dante’s apocalyptic imagination which manifests in Inferno in the conception of history and time, and its effect on the stylistic presentation of allegory. In this dissertation, I argue that Dante creates ‘pockets of historical time’ in which his presentation of earthly time and history is housed within an aevum-like state against the backdrop of the eternal-infernal environment. I explore Dante’s apocalyptic imagination focussing on his conception of time and history and its manifestation in allegorical representation in Inferno.Anagogical allegorical interpretation is at the forefront of interpretation of apocalyptic instances, and I place emphasis on this mode of reading in the study. Dante’s interpretations of the journey motif are the narrative context in which understandings of time are demonstrated and in which canonised sources of apocalyptic narratives are displayed. The journey convention inherently invites allegorical interpretation and, since it houses temporal representations, allows for the representation of apocalyptic moments. The journey topos, by nature, invites allegorical interpretation and further contains representations of history. Dante’s representation of history and time are elements of apocalyptic instances which I explore in this dissertation. This study proposes a different understanding of Dante’s sense of time and history and how this affects his allegorical representation