Dante’s linguistic cosmology: a reading of the Quaestio de aqua et de terra

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18364/rc.2026n71.1502

Keywords:

Dante Alighieri, medieval cosmology, philosophical language, Aristotelianism, disputatio, nature of earth

Abstract

This article examines Dante Alighieri’s Quaestio de aqua et de terra, a lesser-known work within the Dantesque canon, which addresses the medieval dispute concerning the form and position of the elements water and earth in the cosmos. The rationale lies in the need to reassess the work as an expression of an embedded philosophy of language, in which cosmological argumentation serves the elaboration of a veridical discourse. The general objective is to demonstrate how Dante articulates, through precisely constructed language, a response to the physical-cosmological problem, integrating philosophical authority, sensible experience, and divine revelation. The methodology employs close reading textual analysis, with emphasis on rhetorical structure and argumentative strategies. The corpus is the Quaestio itself, contrasted with passages from the Commedia and Aristotelian works. The theoretical framework engages scholars such as Gilson (1949), Nardi (1967), and Corti (1983), who deal with Dantesque philosophical thought. The results indicate that the Quaestio is not a mere scholastic exercise but a foundational piece of a language that aspires to the totality of knowledge, uniting science, theology, and poetry.

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Author Biography

Maria Cecilia Casini, Universidade de São Paulo (USP)

She holds a degree in Letters from the University of Florence (Italy), with a specialization in History of Performance. She earned a Ph.D. in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature from FFLCH/USP and completed a Postdoctoral fellowship at L'Orientale University of Naples (Italy). She is a professor of Italian Language and Literature in the Department of Modern Letters at the Faculty of Philosophy, Languages, and Human Sciences (FFLCH) of the University of São Paulo (USP). In the first semester of 2023, she was awarded a CAPES/Print grant, which enabled her to conduct exchange activities with Italian universities (particularly Sapienza University of Rome) aimed at writing a book on Italian women's literature from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. The book will form an anthology featuring some of the most interesting female writers of the period, including previously unpublished excerpts of their poetic works. Her research focuses on Italian Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque literature, particularly the works of Dante Alighieri and Florentine culture; the formation and history of Italian literary language (the Questione della lingua); classical literature; the formation of the literary canon and the role of intellectuals; comparative literature; literature in dialogue with other arts (visual arts, music, theater); women's literature; and literary criticism. She leads the research group A tradição literária italiana (Italian Literary Tradition), dedicated to deepening the study of intercultural relations between Brazil and Italy, and is vice-leader of the research group Estudos linguísticos aquisição/aprendizagem do italiano como língua estrangeira (Linguistic Studies: Acquisition/Learning of Italian as a Foreign Language), focused on translating and editing previously unpublished texts on the history of Italian language and art in Portuguese (both groups are accredited by CNPq). She is a member of the Brazilian Association of Italian Teachers (ABPI), the International Association of Italian Teachers (AIPI), and the American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS). Additionally, she serves on the Steering Committee of the Società internazionale di Linguistica e Filologia Italiana (SILFI).

References

ARISTÓTELES. De Caelo. In: ARISTÓTELES. The complete works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation. Edited by Jonathan Barnes. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984. v. 1.

AVERRÓIS. Commentarium magnum in Aristotelis De Anima Libros. Edited by F. Stuart Crawford. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1953.

BHASKAR, R. A Realist Theory of Science. Leeds: Leeds Books, 1975.

CORTI, M. Dante a un nuovo crocevia. Firenze: Sansoni, 1983.

DANTE ALIGHIERI. Quaestio de aqua et de terra. In: DANTE ALIGHIERI. Tutte le opere. Roma: Newton Compton, 1997.

ECO, U. The limits of interpretation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.

GILSON, E. Dante et la philosophie. Paris: Vrin, 1949.

KUHN, T. S. The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.

NARDI, B. Saggi di filosofia dantesca. Milano: Franco Angeli, 1967.

OROSIUS, P. Historiarum adversum paganos libri vii. Leipzig: Teubner, 1889.

PORFÍRIO, J. Epistemologia medieval: Razão e Fé na Idade Média. Lisboa: Edições 70, 2023.

POPPER, K. R. The logic of scientific discovery. London: Hutchinson, 1959.

PTOLOMAEUS, C. Almagest. Translated and annotated by G. J. Toomer. New York: Springer, 1984.

Capa da Confluência 71

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Published

2026-07-20

Issue

2026: Número 71

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2026 Maria Cecilia Casini

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