First Austen, now Dante...

Sounds...interesting. o_o

IMO I think it could have been a lot more interesting if they'd stayed a tiny bit truer to the original (which I've read about but haven't read)--I mean, Dante seems like he'd make an interesting-enough protagonist without him having to be some huge hulking Crusades warrior, and without there being a murder or big weapons--but then again I'm not a videogamer. *shrug*

Maybe it'll entice teens into reading some Dante? Probably not, but meh.

BTW, when does poor Virgil enter the picture? Is he the wisecracking sidekick...? (Sorry if it's mentioned in the article, I admit I haven't read that either. )

Hey, if it gets the kids reading the Inferno, I'm all for it.

And you may laugh, but you'd be surprised how often pop culture hobbies turn into serious scholarly interests even among undergraduates. I've got a student who got into Japanese literature and religion through manga. And another who developed interests in the anthropology of masks in traditional cultures through cosplay. It almost makes up for all those years I had to spend deprogramming kids who'd seen Braveheart.

This is interesting because in the V vs Ac thread I wondered about Dante, but though no, surely not. Where would the zombies fit?

lkp said:

Hey, if it gets the kids reading the Inferno, I'm all for it.

And you may laugh, but you'd be surprised how often pop culture hobbies turn into serious scholarly interests even among undergraduates. I've got a student who got into Japanese literature and religion through manga. And another who developed interests in the anthropology of masks in traditional cultures through cosplay. It almost makes up for all those years I had to spend deprogramming kids who'd seen Braveheart.

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Well, I got interested in Ojibwa mythology, culture, and history (and then into Great Lakes history, Iroquoian culture, etc. etc.) after looking at some cheesy horror displays in a wax museum, so...anything's possible!

lkp said:

I've got a student who got into Japanese literature and religion through manga.

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I was much the same. I didn't really get interested in the culture until my husband introduced me to anime (I believe the one that really sparked my interest was the historical based Rurouni Kenshin, set in the Meiji era). Once something catches my interest, I become a little obsessed about it...

Anyway, I believe that initial interest in manga and anime eventually translated to my greater interest in Japanese history and culture. Then again, it was probably only a matter of time as I find different cultures around the world intriguing (probably stemming from my unfulfilled desire to be an archeologist).