The Dante Working Group Presents:
A talk by Professor Andrea Celli
(Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut)
‘He Pretended to Be a Prophet’
The Dangerous Liaisons of Dante and Macometto in the Early-Modern Period
Andrea Celli, Chair of Italian Studies and Assistant Professor of Italian and Mediterranean Studies at the University of Connecticut, graduated in Literary Theory at the Università di Padova (Italy), where he also received his PhD Degree. Before joining UConn, he lectured at the Università della Svizzera italiana. He has translated a number of works from French and Arabic authors (such us the scholar of Islamic mysticism Louis Massignon and poet Adonis).
Currently he is working on two books: a monograph on early-modern treatments of the Biblical story of Hagar, servant of Abraham and mother of Ishmael (Genesis, 16; 21), as a paradigm of the outcasts in the Counterreformist world; and a book dealing with critical trends and new questions in debates on Dante and Islam. He has also submitted for publication a long essay on Saladin and the early modern legend of the captive Holy Bread.
Light refreshment will be served