<div dir="ltr"><b><font size="4">Divine Comedy is 'offensive and discriminatory', says Italian NGO
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Human-rights organisation calls for Dante's 'racist, Islamophobic and antisemitic' epic poem to be removed from classrooms
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<img class="gmail-maxed gmail-responsive-img" alt="Hell bent … a Gustave Doré engraving to accompany Canto 19 of Dante's The Divine Comedy." src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2012/3/14/1331738743839/Hell-bent---a-Gustave-Dor-007.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=6d713f67825fdb09e73326ad93fb42f2"><br><div class="gmail-content__article-body gmail-from-content-api gmail-js-article__body">
<p>Abandon all hope, ye who enter here:<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> Dante's medieval classic <a href="http://www.divinecomedy.org/" title="" class="gmail-u-underline">the Divine Comedy</a></b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>has been condemned as racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic by a group calling for it to be removed from classrooms.</b></span></p>
<p>The epic poem, written in the 14th century, is split into three
parts, tracing the poet's journey through Inferno, Purgatorio and
Paradiso. It is seen as one of the cornerstones of world literature. But
the Italian human rights organisation <a href="http://www.gherush92.com/" title="" class="gmail-u-underline">Gherush92</a>,
which advises UN bodies on human rights issues, wants it to be removed
from school curriculums, or at least used with more caution, because it
is "offensive and discriminatory" and young people lack the "filters" to
understand it in context.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Gherush92 singled out </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>some particular cantos from Dante's masterwork <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>for criticism</b></span>: I<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>nferno's 34th, which tells of Judas, endlessly chewed in
the teeth of Lucifer, and 28th, in which Mohammed is depicted torn
"from the chin down to the part that gives out the foulest sound", as
well as Purgatorio's 26th, which shows homosexuals under a rain of fire
in purgatory. </b></span>The work, it says<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">, slanders the Jewish people, depicts <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/islam" class="gmail-u-underline">Islam</a> as a heresy and is homophobic.</span></p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>"We do not advocate censorship or burning but </b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">we would like
it acknowledged, clearly and unambiguously, that</span><b> in the Divine Comedy
there is racist, Islamophobic and antisemitic content," <a href="http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/News/Cronaca/Testo-di-Dante-e-razzista-via-la-Divina-Commedia-dai-programmi-scolastici_313078521667.html" title="" class="gmail-u-underline">said Valentina Sereni, president of Gherush92, to the Adnkronos news agency</a>. "Art cannot be above criticism."
</b></span><p>But Italy's cultural scene has been quick to come to the defence of
one the country's most famous works. "The benefits to be gained from
reading and studying the Divine Comedy are so many that statements of
this kind are just ridiculous," the poet and literary critic Maurizio
Cucchi told the news agency. Literary historian, critic and author
Giulio Ferroni called the comments "another frenzy of political
correctness, combined with an utter lack of historical sense", and said
that the Divine Comedy needed to be read in its historical context. "You
could also include a few more notes, but it would be folly to abandon
the study of a masterpiece that has helped build the image of humanity."</p>
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Hell bent … a Gustave Doré engraving for Canto 19 of Dante's Divine
Comedy. Click for the full image. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis
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<p class="gmail-byline"><span>
<a rel="author" class="gmail-tone-colour" href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/alisonflood"><span>Alison Flood</span></a></span></p>
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<time datetime="2012-03-14T16:07:27+0000" class="gmail-content__dateline-wpd gmail-js-wpd gmail-content__dateline-wpd--modified">
Wednesday 14 March 2012 <span class="gmail-content__dateline-time">16.07 GMT</span>
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First published on Wednesday 14 March 2012 <span class="gmail-content__dateline-time">16.07 GMT</span>
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<p>Abandon all hope, ye who enter here: Dante's medieval classic <a href="http://www.divinecomedy.org/" title="" class="gmail-u-underline">the Divine Comedy</a> has been condemned as racist, antisemitic and Islamophobic by a group calling for it to be removed from classrooms.</p>
<p>The epic poem, written in the 14th century, is split into three
parts, tracing the poet's journey through Inferno, Purgatorio and
Paradiso. It is seen as one of the cornerstones of world literature. But
the Italian human rights organisation <a href="http://www.gherush92.com/" title="" class="gmail-u-underline">Gherush92</a>,
which advises UN bodies on human rights issues, wants it to be removed
from school curriculums, or at least used with more caution, because it
is "offensive and discriminatory" and young people lack the "filters" to
understand it in context.</p>
<p>Gherush92 singled out some particular cantos from Dante's masterwork
for criticism: Inferno's 34th, which tells of Judas, endlessly chewed in
the teeth of Lucifer, and 28th, in which Mohammed is depicted torn
"from the chin down to the part that gives out the foulest sound", as
well as Purgatorio's 26th, which shows homosexuals under a rain of fire
in purgatory. The work, it says, slanders the Jewish people, depicts <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/islam" class="gmail-u-underline">Islam</a> as a heresy and is homophobic.</p>
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</aside><p>"We do not advocate censorship or burning but we would like
it acknowledged, clearly and unambiguously, that in the Divine Comedy
there is racist, Islamophobic and antisemitic content," <a href="http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/News/Cronaca/Testo-di-Dante-e-razzista-via-la-Divina-Commedia-dai-programmi-scolastici_313078521667.html" title="" class="gmail-u-underline">said Valentina Sereni, president of Gherush92, to the Adnkronos news agency</a>. "Art cannot be above criticism."</p>
<p>But Italy's cultural scene has been quick to come to the defence of
one the country's most famous works. "The benefits to be gained from
reading and studying the Divine Comedy are so many that statements of
this kind are just ridiculous," the poet and literary critic Maurizio
Cucchi told the news agency. Literary historian, critic and author
Giulio Ferroni called the comments "another frenzy of political
correctness, combined with an utter lack of historical sense", and said
that the Divine Comedy needed to be read in its historical context. "You
could also include a few more notes, but it would be folly to abandon
the study of a masterpiece that has helped build the image of humanity."</p>
</div></div>