«Dante schwenkt / Den dürren Hintern» : Classico, poesia ed esilio in Bertolt Brecht

The essay reconstructs the presence of Dante in the work of Bertolt Brecht, in particular in his poetry of the 1920s-40s. Dante is in Brecht's poetry one of the "Klassiker": intertextual adoption, formal experimentation, reflection on the role of the intellectual are the key strategies for a dialectical, free and open re-use of tradition ("material/ideal value of the classics" against "classical status as an intimidating factor"). The modern writer is looking for the "Haltung" (posture) to take on in front of what remains of tradition, so as to understand contemporaneity and become an actor of its necessary, radical change.