Dante, Berlusconi, and the Bordello State: Paolo Sylos Labini’s and James Walston’s Democratic Dante at the Ebb of the Seconda Repubblica

Dante’s memorable invective in Purgatorio 6 has consistently been politicized, especially during the Risorgimento. Vittorio Alfieri, Ugo Foscolo, and Giuseppe Mazzini used the invective while promoting a revolutionary and patriotic Dante. Modern scholars such as Edoardo Sanguineti and Lino Pertile have refuted this political interpretation by classifying Dante and his works as reactionary, antibourgeois, and antidemocratic. However, the question is far from settled, especially if we consider how Purgatorio 6 has acquired great exposure in recent years through new media with wide circulation, such as pamphlets and magazine articles. In this study, I shall examine Paolo Sylos Labini’s Ahi serva Italia: Un appello ai miei concittadini (Servile Italy: An Appeal to My Fellow Citizens) (2006) and James Walston’s “The Bordello State: Italy’s Descent under Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi” (2010). Both authors advance their criticism against Berlusconi’s government by using Dante’s invective as their starting point. By doing so, they propagate a “democratic Dante,” reach a worldwide audience, and thus introduce a new political model that differs from both the revolutionary and the reactionary interpretations. While exploring Labini’s and Walston’s works, I will also juxtapose the dynamic exchange that occurred between Walston and one of his most outspoken detractors, the Italian diplomat Giulio Terzi. Finally, I shall assess these political expropriations and appropriations by proposing my own conclusion. Even though Labini and Walston successfully revived the Commedia in contemporary political debates by stirring readers’ response to divisive issues pertaining to Italy’s Seconda Repubblica, they also advance the idea of Dante as the champion of democracy.