The art of remembering and the art of forgetting in Dante's Commedia

I intend to explore the oscillations between remembering and forgetting in Dante's Commedia. The connection between memory and the classical practice of ars memoria was first hazarded by Yates in 1966. Since then, the importance of memory to Medieval culture has been treated by Carruthers and critics, such as Lina Bolzoni, Harald Weinrich, Roberto Antonelli, and Otello Ciacci, have developed the relation between memory and Dante's opus magnus. Claudia Crevenna, in an article exploring "dolcezza", or, "sweetness" as a common factor to both memory and forgetting, has begun to consider the manner in which remembering and forgetting might be intertwined in Commedia.
My research will thus centre around both memory and forgetting. I propose that memory is important to Commedia on two levels: at a structural level and at a thematic or symbolic level. Weinrich and Bolzoni have looked more closely at the relationship between the structure of Commedia and its resemblance to a medieval "memory palace" or "memory theatre". Bolzoni considers the phenomenon of "memoria appasionata" where she notes that Dante's memory is aided by strong emotion, another fundamental aspect of medieval ars memoria. At a symbolic level, remembering is fundamental to Dante's mission as a visionary poet as he is charged with recording what he has seen. At the end of Purgatorio, Dante compares his brain to wax ready to receive a seal. In comparing the pilgrim's brain to wax, Dante draws on the classical metaphor in which wax represents memory. In order to continue into Paradise, he must be ready to remember. My first aim is thus to offer a more complete look at memory in Commedia.
As if to contradict this initial validation of memory, Dante must also drink from the river Lethe before continuing his journey. My second goal is to consider the oscillations between memory and forgetting through a comparison of Commedia and other monastic or vision texts. I believe that The Clowde of Unknowing would present a particularly interesting contrast, in which we see a structure reminiscent of mnemonical texts and Walter Hilton's Scale of Perfection, but where contemplation takes place through forgetting, or "unknowing". Though I will use a comparative methodology, the focus will remain on Commedia, and I will use other relevant texts to develop and contextualise Dante's work.
The poet's imagination and memory (the two faculties being closely bound in ars memoria) often fail to describe his vision of the afterlife. Weinrich notes that because the Lethe does not appear in Inferno, the souls in the first two canticles are able to recall their life. However, I believe that Dante's placement of the river Lethe at the end of Purgatorio also highlights the importance of forgetting on the path to salvation, as Dante must forgive himself and forget his sins before he can move on to paradise. Similarly, The Clowde author urges the reader to make a "cloud of forgetting" between himself and earthly things and to "beat against the cloud of unknowing" echoing Dante's transition from earthly paradise to paradise.

Though many small studies and articles have been conducted on memory in Commedia, no large work focuses on this topic yet. Furthermore, very little work has been done on the spiritual importance of remembering and forgetting and how these two phenomena might be related in Commedia. By drawing on other medieval monastic texts, I hope to offer a new and interesting perspective on the spiritual importance of memory and forgetting. This will firstly offer a new interpretation of Commedia but would also be pertinent to the modern interests in mental health, wellness and spirituality. Furthermore, I believe that my research could be of interest to a society in which we are increasingly losing touch with old memory systems thanks do modern means of accessing data and information.