Giuseppe Ledda is full professor of Italian Literature at
the University of Bologna, where he teaches "Dantean Literature and
Criticism"; "Dantean Literature and Philology"; "Italian Literature".
Born in Sardinia (1964), he studied at the University of Florence and
obtained his MA degree in Philosophy, writing a dissertation on
Aristotle's Poetics (1989). In 1990 he moved to Bologna to
enrol in the Degree Program on Classical Studies and Italian
Literature at the City University. In 1996 he earned his second MA
degree with a thesis on Dante, written under the supervision of
Ezio Raimondi and Andrea Battistini. In 1997 he was awarded the
“Massimo Bontempelli Fellowship” by the Lincei National Academy. In
the same year he entered the Graduate School at the
University of Pavia, where he carried out his research project
under the supervision of Cesare Segre. Finally he received his PhD
with a dissertation on the topoi of inexpressibility in Dante's
Commedia (2000). After earning his PhD, he was able to
continue his research on Dante's Commedia thanks to the two
year post-doctorate fellowship awarded by the University of Bologna
(2000-2001).
In the meantime he also started teaching at the University of
Bologna, as adjunct instructor, in the course on Dantean Philology
(1999-2002). From 2002 to 2005 he also tutored the Italian
Literature course at the Faculty of Foreign Languages and
Literature (2002-2005).
As a visiting assistant professor he taught the course on
Dantean Philology and Criticism at the Faculty of Arts and
Humanities (2003-2008). He collaborated also with the study centres
of American universities in Bologna, teaching Italian
Literature seminars to American exchange students (University of
California, 2005-2009; Dickinson College, since 2006-2009).
From 2008 to 2014 he was "ricercatore" (assistant professor) of
Italian Literature at the University of Bologna, where he thaught
the courses "Dantean Literature and Criticism", and "Dantean
Philology".
From 2014 is associate professor of Italian Literature at the
University of Bologna, where he teaches "Dantean Literature and
Criticism" and "Dantean Philology".
He spent a term as a Visiting Fellow at Selwyn College, University of Cambridge (2018).
He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Dante Center of
Ravenna (2005-), and of the Summer International School in Dante
Studies, Catholic University of Milan - Dante Center of Ravenna
(2007-); and of the Advisory Board of the Project “ Dante and
Late Medieval Florence: Theology in Poetry, Practice and Society” -
University of Leeds - Leeds Center for Dante Studies (2011-), and
of the “The William and Katherine Devers Series in Dante and
Medieval Italian Literature”, Notre Dame University Press - Notre
Dame, Indiana, USA; a member of the Scientific Committee of the international review «Le Tre Corone. Rivista internazionale di studi su Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio» (2013-); of the International Advisory Board della of the review «Dante Studies» edited by the Dante Society of America (2015-); of the Scientific Commitee fof the Società Dantesca Italiana (2015-); of the Scientifica Commitee fo the Observatory on Dante Studies at Utrecht University, Olanda (2016-); of the International Editorial Board of the journal «The Italianist»; of the "Comitato Nazionale per le Celebrazione del Settimo Centenario della morte di Dante Alighieri" (2018-2022); of the "Comitato del Comune di Ravenna per le Celebrazioni del Centenario dantesco 2021" (2018-2021); member and vicedirector of the “Centro per la Ricerca sulla Didattica dell’Italiano” (CRDI), Università di Bologna (2019-); member of the "Consiglio scientifico del Centro di poesia contemporanea dell’Univrsità di Bologna" (2018-); associated member of the research project “Interpretation and Uses of the Psalms in Dante’s Comedy” - Royal Society of Scotland – University of Scotland (2019-2021); Associated Member of the "Centre for Dante Studies in Ireland (CDSI)" – University College Cork (2021-); member of the “Editorial Board” of «Italian Studies», Society for Italian Studies, UK (2021-); of the “Advisory Board” della rivista «Annali d’Italianistica. Italian Studies Journal», USA (2022-).
His main research field is Dante and the medieval literature. He also works on Renaissance and 20th Century Italian literature.
He
has published several articles, congress papers, books and article
reviews.
He is the author of six books on Dante: La guerra della
lingua. Ineffabilità, retorica e narrativa nella
Commedia di Dante (2002); Dante (2008); La Bibbia di Dante, (2015); Leggere la «Commedia» (2016); Il bestiario dell'aldilà. Gli animali nella cultura di Dante (2019); Diavoli, bestie, gigli e smeraldi. Dalla selva al cielo, la natura in Dante, Roma, Gruppo GEDI - La Repubblica, 2021.
He also edited the following volumes: L'Umanesimo e il
Rinascimento. Pagine di letteratura italiana, Roma, Carocci,
2003 (with G.M. Anselmi e G. Forni); La civiltà del
Rinascimento. Pagine di letteratura italiana, Roma, Carocci,
2003 (with G.M. Anselmi e G. Forni); Dalle origini al
Cinquecento, nella La letteratura italiana diretta da
Ezio Raimondi, Milano, Bruno Mondadori, 2007 (with L. Chines, G.
Forni, E. Menetti); Il Medioevo, a cura di U. Eco, Milano,
Motta Editore, 2009 (coeditor of the section “Letteratura”, with E.
Raimondi, M. Bazzocchi); La poesia della natura nella Divina
Commedia, Ravenna, Centro Dantesco dei Frati Minori
Conventuali, 2009; La Bibbia di Dante. Esperienza mistica,
profezia e teologia biblica in Dante, Ravenna, Centro Dantesco
dei Frati Minori Conventuali, 2011; Preghiera e
liturgia nella «Commedia», Ravenna, Centro Dantesco dei
Frati Minori Conventuali, 2013; Le teologie di Dante, Ravenna, Centro Dantesco dei Frati Minori Conventuali, 2015; Sergio Atzeni e le voci della Sardegna, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2017 (with G. Sulis); Dante e la cultura religiosa medievale, Ravenna, Centro Dantesco, 2018; «Letture Classensi», 49 (2021): Cinquant’anni di «Letture Classensi»: lingua, storia e modernità di Dante, Ravenna, Longo, 2021; Lectura Dantis Bononiensis, vol. XI, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2021(on a project by E. Pasquini); Unholy & Holy Violence in Dante’s «Comedy», = «Annali d’Italianisitica», 39, 2021 (with Dino S. Cervigni, Christopher Kleinhenz, Heather Webb); Dall’Alma Mater al mondo. Dante all’Università di Bologna. Catalogo della Mostra, Bologna 25 ottobre – 15 dicembre 2021, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2022 (with A. Zironi); Dante e la molteplicità delle culture nell’Europa medievale, Bologna Bologna University Press, 2022; Società Dantesca Italiana. Lopereseguite. Atti degli incontri sulle opere di Dante, vol. V. Commedia. Inferno, Firenze, SISMEL-Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2022 (with P. Allegretti e M. Ciccuto); Letture Classensi», 50 (2022): Dante oltre il centenario. Nuove prospettive per gli studi danteschi internazionali, a cura di Giuseppe Ledda, Ravenna, Longo, 2022; Lectura Dantis Bononiensis, vol. XII, Bologna, Bononia University Press, 2022 (on a project by E. Pasquini).
He is the co-editor of the international Dante journal
“L'Alighieri”, and a Senior Member of the Editorial Board of the review «Studi Danteschi», edited by the Società Dantesca Italiana.
