Conversations on Dante 2: Jacob Blakesley on Dante, Translation and Wikipedia

Leeds Dante Podcast

Conversations on Dante is a new set of podcast episodes from the Leeds Centre for Dante Studies at the University of Leeds. In each episode, we sit down with researchers from a range of disciplines to discuss some of the work which is helping to shape our understanding of Dante, his context and works, and his place in the cultures of the world.

In this episode, Dr Jacob Blakesley discusses his work on Dante in translation, offering some fascinating insights into where Dante has, and hasn't, been translated - and into who is, and isn't, doing the translating. We discuss some critical aspects of Dante's life in translation, including the strategies of censorship and self-censorship, and how a full picture of translation of Dante can challenge notions of Dante as a world poet. Jacob also describes his research into the presence of Dante on Wikipedia, and what that might tell us about Dante's role in world literature.

Jacob Blakesley is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Literary Translation at the University of Leeds.

The conversation is hosted by Matthew Treherne.