The Danteum, from Rome to Ravensbrück. Fascism, modernism, dantism: rise and fall of an “imperial” Dante

The “use” of Dante in Fascist Italy is at the center of the paper, which presents the case of architects Lingeri and Terragni’s unfulfilled project of a Mussolinesque Temple to Dante in Rome, the Danteum, approved in 1938 on the same day of the anti-Semitic laws. The Danteum’s project needs to be analyzed at the intersection between the literary field of Dante studies and the socio-ideological context, taking into consideration as well its aftermath in German concentration and extermination camps, and the Axis invasion of the U.S.S.R. I argue that an unprejudiced examination of such diverse phenomena should stimulate a likewise unprejudiced critique of the “inevitability” of Dante, alerting the modern reader to the non-neutrality of a contemporary use of Dante’s grand encyclopedia and great poetry. In fact, during the Twentieth century, Dante has consistently represented an occasion for a troublesome reflection on power, on collective identity, and on intellectual authority.