Popular Culture as Pedagogy : Teaching “Il Canto di Ulisse” from Dante to Jovanotti in the American College Classroom

This article explores the challenges of teaching Dante’s Divine Comedy to contemporary American college students. In particular, the study addresses the role of subtext that the “Canto di Ulisse” plays to rap-pop artist Jovanotti’s song “Bruto” (Album : Buon Sangue, 2005) and to director Emanuele Cr...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marzia Caporale
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société de Langues et de Littératures Médiévales d'Oc et d'Oil
Series:Perspectives Médiévales
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/peme/50351
Description
Summary:This article explores the challenges of teaching Dante’s Divine Comedy to contemporary American college students. In particular, the study addresses the role of subtext that the “Canto di Ulisse” plays to rap-pop artist Jovanotti’s song “Bruto” (Album : Buon Sangue, 2005) and to director Emanuele Crialese’s film Terraferma (2011). It further argues that the gap between “high” and “low” culture can be bridged by adopting alternative pedagogical tools (e.g., blogging, Twitter) to be used in the classroom.
ISSN:2262-5534