My Project

For my Textual studies and Digital Humanities Capstone project I chose to examine how a translator’s personal background or bias would influence their work of translation. Reading through five translations of The Divine Comedy- Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso I was able to see extreme differences in each translation. I studied each translator’s life and background the best I could, and I studied the annotation notes in each translation copy.

My Background & Process

Coming into this project, I had taken a course in Autumn 2023 Dante’s Divine Comedy. We read through Inferno in its entirety; we visited multiple Cantos in Purgatorio and a very limited selection of Paradiso. My first experience reading Dante was with Allen Mandelbaum’s translation, though I did use Longfellow’s translation for Purgatorio and Paradiso interchangeably through Columbia University’s Digital Dante online project and website.

Digital Dante is the resource I used when I needed clarification on passages or had questions regarding Dante’s work. It features the translations of Longfellow and Mandelbaum, both translators that I focused on for my project.

I have no background in Italian. I took Spanish courses many years ago so I have some familiarity with root words and conjugation but nothing more than a passing familiarity.

When working with the cantos and deciding what passages I would select, I would read the summaries of each canto provided by Ciardi and Sayers. I would first read Sayer’s passage and then go to Mandelbaum’s translation. Sayers would give me a solid grasp on the narrative and story. Mandelbaum’s would give me insight to any academic or literary complexities that Sayers may have simplified. I would skim over Longfellow’s translation and Ciardi’s translation for anything that looked different or impactful and then I would end with Palma’s translation to get an idea of the Terza Rima that Dante had written in.

I had to make a choice to either analyze the cantos and then research the translators or do the research and then analyze. I decided to research the translators first, with the understanding that I may struggle with confirmation bias as I’m writing notes.

The Translators

It was important to me to find translators who had worked with all three canticles – Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. There have been many translations of Inferno and of individual cantos, but the impact of the Divine Comedy can’t be understood in reading just Inferno alone. Dante introduces the reader to the journey in Inferno I, Purgatorio and Paradiso were not sequels added on due to popularity.

But as for thee, I think and deem it well
thou take me for thy guide, and pass with me
Through an eternal place and terrible

Where thou shalt hear despairing cries, and see
long-parted souls that in their torments dire
howl for second death perpetually

Next thou shalt gaze on those who in the fire
Are happy, for they look to mount on high
In God’s good time, up to the blissful quire;

To which glad place, a worthier spirit than I
Must lead thy steps, if thou desire to come
with whom I’ll leave thee then, and say good-bye;
(Sayers 1.112-123)

The journey that Dante is taking his readers on doesn’t stop at the desperation and agony of Hell. We see that first to Purgatorio and Paradiso show Dante and the readers that there is hope for redemption and what divine love and transcendence can look like. All three canticles are crucial to Dante’s messages.

With that in mind, I decided to work with the following translators:

• Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1807-1882.

The first American translator of the Divine Comedy

• Dorothy Sayers 1890-1957.

The first woman to publish a translation of the Divine Comedy

• John Ciardi 1916-1986.

His translations have been celebrated for being more accessible for a modern audience, easier to read and understand

• Allen Mandelbaum 1926-2011.

His translations are often used in educational settings as they are often readily available and affordable. They strike a balance between the complexities of Dante’s work and the accessibility modern readers need.

• Michael Palma 1945 – Current.

The most recent publication of the entire Divine Comedy. Like Ciardi, his translation is more poetic following the Terza Rima rhyming structure used by Dante