Preface: Dante’s Vita nova: A Collaborative Reading, by Zygmunt G. Barański and Heather Webb Vita nova I-IV [1-2.5]: Introduction, by Claire E. Honess Vita nova I [1.1], by Brian F. Richardson Vita nova II [1.2-10], by Ruth Chester Vita nova III [1.12-2.2], by Federica Pich Vita nova IV [2.3-5], by Matthew Treherne Vita nova V-XII [2.6-5]: Introduction, by Catherine Keen Vita nova V and VI [2.6–2.11], by Catherine Keen Vita nova VII [2.12-18], by Jennifer Rushworth Vita nova VIII [3], by Daragh O’Connell Vita nova IX [4], by Sophie V. Fuller Vita nova X and XI [5.1-7], by Giulia Gaimari Vita nova XII [5.8-24], by Emily Kate Price Vita nova XIII-XVIII [6-10.11]: Not Just a Passing Phase, by Manuele Gragnolati, Elena Lombardi, and Francesca Southerden Vita nova XIII [6], by Rebecca Bowen Vita nova XIV [7], by Nicolò Crisafi Vita nova XV [8], by Lachlan Hughes Vita nova XVI [9], by Franco Costantini Vita nova XVII-XVIII [10.1-11], by David Bowe Vita nova XIX-XXIV [10.12-15]: Introduction, by Tristan Kay Vita nova XIX [10.12-33], by Filippo Gianferrari Vita nova XX [11], by Simon Gilson Vita nova XXI [12], by Rebekah Locke Vita nova XXII [13], by Luca Lombardo Vita nova XXIII [14], by Peter Dent Vita nova XXIV [15], by George Ferzoco Vita nova XXV-XXVII [16-18]: Literature as Truth, by Paola Nasti Vita nova XXV [16], by Rebecca Bowen Vita nova XXVI [17], by Marco Grimaldi Vita nova XXVII [18], by David G. Lummus Vita nova XXVIII-XXXIV [19-23]: The Poetics of a New Affective Community, by Heather Webb Vita nova XXVIII [19.1-3], by Helena Phillips-Robins Vita nova XXIX [19.4-7], by Aistė Kiltinavičiūtė Vita nova XXX [19.8-10], by Alessia Carrai Vita nova XXXI [20], by Ryan Pepin Vita nova XXXII [21], by Valentina Mele Vita nova XXXIII [22], by Katherine Powlesland Vita nova XXXIV [23], by Katherine Powlesland Vita nova XXXV-XXXIX [24-28]: Introduction, by Simon Gilson Vita nova XXXV [24], by Federica Coluzzi Vita nova XXXVI-XXXVII [25-26], by K. P. Clarke Vita nova XXXVIII-XXXIX [27-28], by Nicolò Maldina Vita nova XL-XLII [29-31]: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by Theodore J. Cachey Jr Vita nova XL [29], by Chiara Sbordoni Vita nova XLI [30], by Lorenzo Dell’Oso Vita nova XLII [31], by Anne C. Leone Bibliography List of contributors Index

“The range of contributions is impressive and unprecedented: combined, they amount to what is probably the single most valuable resource for generating new interpretive perspectives on one of the most important works of European literature.” —Vittorio Montemaggi, author of Reading Dante’s “Commedia” as Theology

To “reread” Dante’s first book inevitably involves comparing and contrasting today’s reading to those of the past, to when one first encountered the libello at university, and to those occasions over the years when one has reread it for research or in preparation for teaching Dante, as I have done countless times. Since I first read it more than thirty years ago, the text has itself evolved over time. Indeed, the Vita nova has proved to be perhaps the most mobile of Dante’s works, shifting back and forth in its editorial appearance over the last generation, even changing its title, as new editions and commentaries have appeared. As is well known, this instability is a characteristic that goes back to its earliest manuscript tradition. Even before Boccaccio’s interventions, copyists seem to have been uncertain about what to make of the text. A first thing to reflect upon, therefore, before considering the final three chapters, is how the text has evolved, just as we as readers have evolved, both collectively and individually over time. How is the ending of the Vita nova different from the ending we thought we knew? What’s new about the Vita nova, now that we seem to have come to some kind of provisional traguardo or finish line, at least in terms of the currently available texts and commentaries? I say provisional because as far as the contemporary editorial presentation of the libello is concerned, the present state of the question of the text and its division into chapters is as mobile and unstable as it ever was. Stefano Carrai, in fact, adopts Guglielmo Gorni’s ordering and the title Vita nova in his edition and commentary, while Donato Pirovano has returned to Michele Barbi’s chaptering and title. In light of the fact that “the manuscript tradition does not support in any way the hypothesis of an original paragraphing of the Vita nuova,” it is hard to dissent from Richard Lansing’s judicious review of the question of the formal structure of the text and his conclusion that the genuine structure of the work “is created by its events, the experiences that the poet relates sequentially, the nature, tenor, and symbolic significance of its episodes.” Perhaps for this reason toggling back and forth between the Gorni and Pirovano editions can be very stimulating from an interpretive point of view. It leads one to reflect, for example, on the nature of the transition between the last movement of the episode of the “donna gentile” and chapters XL-XLII [29-31], the final section of the work under discussion in the tryptic of readings that follows. To what extent does chapter XXXIX [28], mark the end of the “donna gentile” episode and to what extent does it mark the beginning of the final resolution of the book, as Gorni suggested: “La porzione di testo definito dai paragrafi 28-31 è quasi una ‘vita nova’ della vita nova” [the portion of the text demarcated by chapters 28-31 is virtually a “new life” of the new life). In any event, the final chapters are ideal for fostering retrospective and anticipatory reflections; retrospective to the extent that the discussion of these final chapters can illuminate major episodes, images, and themes that have come before; anticipatory to the extent that these same episodes, images, and themes, can be projected into the future, and can have implications for Dante’s works to come, representing a new beginning, “a vita nova of the vita nova.”