CMS student Brianna Daigneault is featured in a new release by the Toronto Salutes Dante project, reading Inferno 30 in French:
Brianna says she first read Dante at age 17 in a liberal arts program in Quebec’s CEGEP system. The assignments given to her class were creative: If you were making a hell like Dante, who would you put in it? Whose sins would be worse? One of Brianna’s assignments even involved “Dante’s Prayer” by Canadian musician Loreena McKennitt. “Dante’s Prayer” is incorporated as the theme music for the Toronto Salutes Dante project.
In discussing Inferno 30, Brianna notes that the canto is about people who have falsified things, whether by creating counterfeit coins, bearing false witness, or otherwise lying. They are portrayed as some of the worst sorts of people. She also notes her surprise at how well the rhythm of the translation works to convey the original poetry, as well as its careful use of vocabulary. The translation was published by Jacqueline Risset in 2010.
For more videos celebrating the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, keep an eye on the Toronto Salutes Dante project!