Abstract: In this contribution, I intend to analyze the influence of Dante’s Inferno in Pasolini’s works, in particular in his literary works that taken on Dante’s poem as a structural model. Specifically, I will focus on the first attempt of Pasolini to rewrite the Inferno, titled La Mortaccia, in two ways: through an intertextual key, in the relationship with Dante’s model; and through an intertextual key in the relationship with the successive rewritings, investigating the differences and similarities between the texts. Together with these Dantean textual references, I will also considere Dante’s presence in Pasolini’s filmography, in particular regarding Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma. At the base of this analysis of La Mortaccia that I am proposing, I will consult both the preparatory material that led to the text and the comparison of it with the edited version. This essay proposes to assign to this work the foundational writing of Pasolini with regard to infernal subject matter and Pasolini’s Dante.
Keywords: Dante, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Inferno, La Mortaccia, La Divina Mimesis, Petrolio, Salò.
