Dante’s Construction of Justice and the Diasporic Interpretation
Author(s)
Abstract
The need for justice and selfhood has never been a stranger to African Diasporic communities. From the colonialization of Africa to the new era of Jim Crow the constructions of selfhood and justice have always been prevalent. The construction of these two themes can be traced back to a medieval Italian author Dante Alighieri. It is of importance to note the disparaged access to European Classicism during the early 1800’s to the early 1900’s and onward to the 21st century today. This understanding of disparaged access lends to why these Diasporic communities repurpose Dante’s construction of justice and selfhood; both within the realms of theological tradition and social understanding. The poetic imagination of a disadvantaged community was researched for this work to draw literary comparisons from the Commedia to contemporary African works such as The System of Dante’s Hell by Amiri Baraka and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Looking at this small sample of literary works within this essay there is both an explicit and implicit reference to the Commedia. With this research I hope to reveal and create a dialogue of understanding about how black classicism and the appropriation of Dante’s Justice has fostered a construction of what Diasporic freedom can be within justice, society and various forms of art.
Format
Conference Proceeding
Contributor(s)
Faculty Mentor
Kristen Stasiowski
Modified Abstract

The need for justice and selfhood has never been a stranger to African Diasporic communities. From the colonialization of Africa to the new era of Jim Crow the constructions of selfhood and justice have always been prevalent. The construction of these two themes can be traced back to a medieval Italian author Dante Alighieri. The poetic imagination of a disadvantaged community was researched for this work to draw literary comparisons from the Commedia to contemporary African works. With this research, I hope to reveal and create a dialogue of understanding about how black classicism and the appropriation of Dante’s Justice have fostered a construction of what Diasporic freedom can be within the justice, society and various forms of art.
Permalink https://oaks.kent.edu/ugresearch/2020/englishlanguagescommunication/dantes-construction-justice-and-diasporic
Howard, A. (n.d.). Dante’s Construction of Justice and the Diasporic Interpretation (1–). https://oaks.kent.edu/node/10225
Howard, Alina. n.d. “Dante’s Construction of Justice and the Diasporic Interpretation”. https://oaks.kent.edu/node/10225.
Howard, Alina. Dante’s Construction of Justice and the Diasporic Interpretation. https://oaks.kent.edu/node/10225.