Caroling Like Clockwork: Technologies of the Medieval Dancing Body in Dante's Paradiso

Dance studies scholars have explored the interrelatedness of dance, text, and technology in productive ways. Reorienting such an approach toward a medieval perspective, this article focuses on how Dante poeticizes dance in Paradiso, the third section of his Commedia. I begin by exploring Paradiso�...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Dance chronicle 2018-09, Vol.41 (3), p.303-334
Main Author: Dickason, Kathryn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dance
Dante
medieval/Middle Ages
neologism
Proprioception
sacred
technology
time
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Summary:Dance studies scholars have explored the interrelatedness of dance, text, and technology in productive ways. Reorienting such an approach toward a medieval perspective, this article focuses on how Dante poeticizes dance in Paradiso, the third section of his Commedia. I begin by exploring Paradiso's representations of technology and kinesthesia. Dante, I argue, converges clockwork and dance imagery and, in doing so, simulates the experience of sacred phenomena. Next, I examine the vernacular technologies of Dante's dance language, which demonstrate linguistic mastery, envision a just society, and articulate an ethical approach to love. Ultimately, I posit that Dante's rendering of dance in poetry overcomes the limits of verbal communication and formulates a moralizing discourse.
ISSN:0147-2526
1532-4257
DOI:10.1080/01472526.2018.1514213