The Problem of the Unification of Italy in Dante Alighieri’s Works

Abstract

The year 2021 is a remarkable date for the Italian history: 160 years ago the unified Italian state was created. As a matter of fact, before then, the necessity to unify the country had been discussed for more than five centuries. One of the first who expressed these ideas was the great poet and politician Dante Alighieri, whose anniversary is also celebrated this year. In Russian Dante studies, the poet’s ideas on the Italian unification have been usually considered within the context of his own political views. It is the case of A.K. Dzhivelegov’s and I.N. Golenishchev-Kutuzov’s studies, which considered the biography and political activity of the famous Italian poet, whereas E.P. Naumov paid special attention to Dante’s view on the contemporary political situation in Europe. Our article is entirely dedicated to the development of the issue concerning the Italian unification in Dante Alighieri’s work. Basing on a systematic analysis of the entire body of Dante’s work, this article highlights the fact that the idea of unification is not only found in Dante’s political writings but is, in fact, a keynote of all his literary work. Although Dante considered the unification of Italy in the context of the utopian universal monarchy, he also saw the roots of this unification much deeper than that, i.e. in the organic unity of the Italian people. Our work emphasizes a given evolution of Dante’s philosophical and political views, in connection with the unfolding events of his time. In conclusion, this article provides a comprehensive description of Dante’s views on the unification of Italy, highlighting the necessity of this unification, the unwillingness of the country to it, as well as the reasons of this unwillingness coming from the contemporary municipalism.