A Journey Through Hell

In The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri conceived of the Inferno as a physical landscape which could be mapped and navigated through. In so doing, he helped created the language and imagery which modern-day writers and artists often turn to when describing Hell. It also created a shared reference poin...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ireland, Brian, James, Penelope
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repositorio:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:200669
Acceso en línea:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/200669
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/dea.105
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Dante
Divine comedy
Inferno
Spiegelman
Maus
Holocaust
Shoah
Divina Commedia
Olocausto
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spelling A Journey Through HellDante's influence on Art Spiegelman's MausIreland, BrianJames, PenelopeDanteDivine comedyInfernoSpiegelmanMausHolocaustShoahDivina CommediaOlocaustoIn The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri conceived of the Inferno as a physical landscape which could be mapped and navigated through. In so doing, he helped created the language and imagery which modern-day writers and artists often turn to when describing Hell. It also created a shared reference point for discussion of horrific events such as the Holocaust/Shoah. For example, in Survival in Auschwitz (1959), Primo Levi turned to Dante's Inferno to make sense of his experiences in the concentration camps. In this paper we suggest that comic book artist Art Spiegelman utilised the imagery and lexicon of the Inferno to create Maus, a two volume biography of his father Vladek Spiegelman, a former inmate of Auschwitz and Holocaust survivor. We posit that there are four key ways in which Spiegelman draws inspiration from Dante's epic work. The first is the stylistic form which Dante and Spiegelman chose to tell their monumental stories. The second is Spiegelman's authorial decision to locate himself in Maus as both narrator and a character. We then consider how Maus explores huge themes of life such as survival and historical memory through complex father-son relationships. Finally, we contend that Spiegelman borrows extensively from Dante's depiction of the physical landscape of Hell to visualise the horrors of life at Auschwitz.Spiegelman utilises structural and thematic elements of Inferno to help explain the tortured relationship he had with his parents, especially the effects on him of his mother's suicide, as well as the difficulties of recording history, particularly an event as immense and traumatic as the Holocaust.Nella Divina Commedia, Dante Alighieri concepì l'Inferno come un paesaggio fisico che poteva essere mappato e attraversato. In tal modo, ha contribuito a creare il linguaggio e le immagini a cui gli scrittori e gli artisti odierni si rivolgono spesso quando descrivono l'inferno. Ha anche creato un punto di riferimento condiviso per la discussione di eventi orribili come l'Olocausto / Shoah. Ad esempio, in Survival in Auschwitz [Se questo è un uomo], Primo Levi si è rivolto a Dante's Inferno per dare un senso alle sue esperienze nei campi di concentramento. In questo articolo suggeriamo che l'artista di fumetti Art Spiegelman abbia utilizzato l'immaginario e il lessico dell'Inferno di Dante per creare Maus, una biografia in due volumi del padre Vladek Spiegelman, un ex detenuto di Auschwitz e sopravvissuto all'Olocausto. Art Spiegelman utilizza elementi strutturali e tematici dell'Inferno per aiutare a spiegare il rapporto torturato che aveva con i propri genitori, specialmente gli effetti su di lui del suicidio di sua madre, così come le difficoltà di registrare la storia, in particolare un evento immenso e traumatico come l'Olocausto. 22018-01-0120182018-01-01Articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501VoRhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85info:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://ddd.uab.cat/record/200669https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/dea.105reponame:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UABinstname:Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaInglésengopen accesshttp://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ddd.uab.cat:2006692026-06-06T12:50:31Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv A Journey Through Hell
Dante's influence on Art Spiegelman's Maus
title A Journey Through Hell
spellingShingle A Journey Through Hell
Ireland, Brian
Dante
Divine comedy
Inferno
Spiegelman
Maus
Holocaust
Shoah
Divina Commedia
Olocausto
title_short A Journey Through Hell
title_full A Journey Through Hell
title_fullStr A Journey Through Hell
title_full_unstemmed A Journey Through Hell
title_sort A Journey Through Hell
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Ireland, Brian
James, Penelope
author Ireland, Brian
author_facet Ireland, Brian
James, Penelope
author_role author
author2 James, Penelope
author2_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Dante
Divine comedy
Inferno
Spiegelman
Maus
Holocaust
Shoah
Divina Commedia
Olocausto
topic Dante
Divine comedy
Inferno
Spiegelman
Maus
Holocaust
Shoah
Divina Commedia
Olocausto
description In The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri conceived of the Inferno as a physical landscape which could be mapped and navigated through. In so doing, he helped created the language and imagery which modern-day writers and artists often turn to when describing Hell. It also created a shared reference point for discussion of horrific events such as the Holocaust/Shoah. For example, in Survival in Auschwitz (1959), Primo Levi turned to Dante's Inferno to make sense of his experiences in the concentration camps. In this paper we suggest that comic book artist Art Spiegelman utilised the imagery and lexicon of the Inferno to create Maus, a two volume biography of his father Vladek Spiegelman, a former inmate of Auschwitz and Holocaust survivor. We posit that there are four key ways in which Spiegelman draws inspiration from Dante's epic work. The first is the stylistic form which Dante and Spiegelman chose to tell their monumental stories. The second is Spiegelman's authorial decision to locate himself in Maus as both narrator and a character. We then consider how Maus explores huge themes of life such as survival and historical memory through complex father-son relationships. Finally, we contend that Spiegelman borrows extensively from Dante's depiction of the physical landscape of Hell to visualise the horrors of life at Auschwitz.Spiegelman utilises structural and thematic elements of Inferno to help explain the tortured relationship he had with his parents, especially the effects on him of his mother's suicide, as well as the difficulties of recording history, particularly an event as immense and traumatic as the Holocaust.
publishDate 2018
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2
2018-01-01
2018
2018-01-01
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
VoR
http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
dc.type.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
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https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/dea.105
url https://ddd.uab.cat/record/200669
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.5565/rev/dea.105
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
eng
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.rights.openaire.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv open access
http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2
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eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
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instname:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
instname_str Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
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