Griffith and Dante

Abstract

Sir Samuel Walker Griffith (1845–1920) is distinguished as the first Australian translator of Italy’s ‘Supreme Poet’, Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). This article considers how Griffith’s entanglement with Dante casts light on the Queensland–Italian connection. First, it sketches the concept of entangled history and entanglement, an evolving transcultural historiographic approach. Second, it canvasses how entangled history can assist in appraising implications of Griffith’s recently contested legacy as Premier of Queensland. Third, it outlines points of convergence between Griffith and Dante, beginning with Griffith’s translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Fourth, it extends this lens on convergence to Griffith’s and Dante’s common dimensions that include Griffith’s Italophilia, and the experience of divisive, factional and fractious politics. Fifth, it narrows to consider the limited justice of contrapasso in Dante’s treatment of crime and punishment. Finally, it traverses codified justice that features in Griffith’s entanglement with Dante and the Italian Penal Code – Griffith translated Dante when drafting Queensland’s ground-breaking Criminal Code and when referencing the Italian Penal Code as a source therein. This article proposes that Griffith’s translational project was not simply a vehicle for sharpening his Italian or pursuing fame or status per se, but was a lifelong creative pursuit that offered imaginative, intellectual applications resonating with his public service values. Whatever impelled Griffith’s translations, his appreciation of Dante clearly instances Queensland–Italian interconnectedness.