L'originale e la maschera: Stefan George traduttore di Dante

This essay sets out to examine Stefan George’s version of the Divina Commedia from the viewpoint of the translator/poet’s performative reactivation and transmission of the cultural devices embedded in the original. At the basis of the partial rendering of Dante’s poem, of which single significant episodes are translated, is the idea of its rebirth in the modern era in the form of a complete work in German, in line with the objectives of George’s circle for literary reform. Through the translation, the translator/poet’s goal is to assimilate the whole cultural system of the Dantesque model into his own poetological system and values. This complex operation of poetic transposition (Übertragung) and literary transfer is done on several levels and even includes “disguise” as the extreme form of emulation of the translated author