Apocalyptic Specularity in Dante's Eschatology: Narcissus and the Imagination of Salvation |
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| Authors: | Bruno M. Shah O.P. |
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| Affiliation: | University of Notre Dame, Department of Theology, Malloy Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA |
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| Abstract: | Dante's Commedia provides a performative eschatology or “apocalyptic specularity” that shows well how to keep concerns for apophasis, imagination, and salvation in balance. His literary appreciation for mirroring enables him to re‐present and imitate revelation. Displaying a metaphysically robust imagination, Dante's eschatology is akin to the biblical genre of apocalypse. Dantean analogy—personal and historical while theological and apocalyptical—resists tendencies to account for theology in reducibly negativist terms. The Divine Comedy hopes for the salvation of Narcissus, whose figure reflects the “everyman,” who would furthermore reflect even the triune God. |
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