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Dante's works contain too much and too little blood. On the one hand, one might wonder why there is any blood in the Comedy; why are the souls - which lack flesh and blood - bleeding at all? On the other hand, we must ask: in a Christian poem that claims to be salvific, why are references to the Eucharist, and to the Passion either implicit, understated or parodic? Investigating blood across all of the poet's works, Leone shows that Dante's treatment of blood reveals a sophisticated and self-conscious metaliterary project: the poet exploits blood's connotative force in medieval culture in ways that engage with - and diverge from - the various traditions and cultural practices that inform his work: scientific, theological, devotional, classical and literary.
Anne C. Leone is Assistant Professor of Italian Studies at Syracuse University.