ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a new perspective on Dante's conception of the city. It explores different aspects of the notion of citizenship, through the fundamental distinction between 'insiders' and 'outsiders'. The book focuses on Dante's treatment of one particular city, the city of Jerusalem, a city which has not traditionally been highlighted in relation to Dante, yet one which has many important resonances within medieval culture. It also explores the interface between Dante's conceptions of 'the poetic' and 'the civic'. The book investigates the possible ways in which Dante's contact with the rich and varied experience of life in a medieval city may have influenced the plurilingual stylistic experimentation of the Commedia. It examines the poet's treatment of the outsider from both an earthly and an eternal perspective in order to assess the significance of this figure within the Commedia's moral structure.
