This project aims to examine how the personal biases, histories and biographies of translators influence their work of translation. The Divine Comedy has inspired literature, film and media for centuries, but for English readers translation is the only way to access Dante's journey first hand. This makes the work of translation, and the translator's personal contributions incredibly important and impactful. By reading 5 translations of The Divine Comedy I'm able to illustrate how each translator brings their unique touch to each translation.
The translators included in this project are: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, John Ciardi, Allen Mandelbaum, Dorothy Sayers and Michael Palma.
Project by Harley Johnson
June 2025
"There's no rule in translation. There's no rule that says the good translation has to be half accurate, half accessible or 83% accessible and 17% accurate, you know, because there's been classic translations that are completely free-form. And then there's been really good translations that are super kind of close to the original. At the end, translation is a form of autobiography." -Professor Joseph Luzzi Bard University
"Dante he hath seen hell" Jean-Léon Gérôme (French 1824 -1904)
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