Research Symposium

BIO

Harrison Betz is in his final year of undergraduate studies as an International Affairs and Spanish student at Florida State University. In addition to his coursework, Harrison has been involved in various forms of research on Dante Alighieri and contemporary, Latin American receptions of his seminal text, the Divine Comedy. The recent recipient of the SAMLA Undergraduate Essay Award, Harrison also loves good books and coffee; two things he looks forward to a continued relationship with in graduate school.

Adapting Dante's Francesca: Re-imagining a Medieval Epic in Modern Latin America

Abstract

Adaptation has long been in the toolkit of artists of all media. As each source is taken up by a new cohort of adaptors, the time and place from which these adaptations emerge open novel discourses on the original work and the issues raised within it. In this presentation, I review the adaptive process as it develops around the Dantean character Francesca da Rimini (the memorable seductress of “Inferno V”). Specifically, I interrogate the adaptation of Francesca in cross-cultural references to her in Latin American texts and images from the last century. In doing so, I consider the complex relationship between Latin American and global literatures; specifically, how Latin American creators use the figure of Francesca to position themselves in relation to complex worldwide artistic networks. Addressing this question can also help us to contemplate the adaptive process itself and address notions of “global literature” and “postcoloniality.” Ultimately, this project is concerned with how one of the hallmarks of the Italian literary landscape has spread beyond its homeland and the changes it has undergone due to that diffusion.

Keywords: Latin America, Dante, Adaptation Studies, Global Literature