An Italian school’s decision to exempt Muslim children from studying Dante because the mediaeval poet placed Mohammed in hell in The Divine Comedy has sparked a backlash and a debate over cancel culture.
As reported by the Telegraph, politicians from both the Left and Right said that Dante was a pillar of Italian literature and that it was unacceptable for children to be exempted from studying his writing because of their faith.
The row broke out after a secondary school in Treviso in the north of the country reportedly allowed two Muslim children, aged around 14, to not attend classes in which The Divine Comedy was being studied.
Written at the start of the 14th century, it is an allegorical poem that revolves around a man’s journey to Hell, Purgatory and Paradise, aided by two guides, Virgil and Beatrice.
In the epic work, Dante places the Prophet Mohammed and his cousin Ali in Hell, where they are tortured by sword-wielding demons.
“How is Mohammed mangled! Before me walks Ali weeping, from the chin his face cleft to the forelock,” Dante wrote.
The exemption was criticised by MPs from across the political spectrum.
Simona Malpezzi, a senator with the centre-Left opposition Democratic Party, said it was “deeply wrong” to deprive any pupils of the chance to acquire the “deep knowledge of Italian culture that studying Dante brings. Knowing Dante does not take anything away from children’s religious faith and adds a great deal to their knowledge of Italian culture”.
Federico Mollicone, an MP from Brothers of Italy, the party led by prime minister Giorgia Meloni, said: “This is just the latest shameful case of cultural cancellation. An exemption like this not only undermines our national identity but deprives new generations of formative scholastic study.”
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