In The Banquet Dante Alighieri described the \"senses\" in which a text might be expounded and understood. The immediate and common sense was the literal; the remaining senses were the allegorical, the moral, and the anagogic, or spiritual. A text could be meaningful on all four levels, but the highest and ultimately most valued sense was the spiritual. For Dante the world itself was symbolic, pointing to a greater truth beyond it.
","abstract_html":"<p>In <em>The Banquet</em> Dante Alighieri described the "senses" in which a text might be expounded and understood. The immediate and common sense was the literal; the remaining senses were the allegorical, the moral, and the anagogic, or spiritual. A text could be meaningful on all four levels, but the highest and ultimately most valued sense was the spiritual. For Dante the world itself was symbolic, pointing to a greater truth beyond it.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Swanson, Diana"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"thesis","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Department of English","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1989,"date_issued":"1989","date_published":"1989","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:38:46Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.31274/rtd-180813-6218"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.31274/rtd-180813-6218","href":"https://doi.org/10.31274/rtd-180813-6218","code":true}]},{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/21/"],"render_values":[{"text":"archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/21/","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/73615","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Department of English"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Swanson, Diana"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2018-08-24T22:16:05.000"]},{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2020-06-30T08:16:54Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2020-06-30T08:16:54Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["1989"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/21/"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.31274/rtd-180813-6218"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/73615"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In The Banquet Dante Alighieri described the \"senses\" in which a text might be expounded and understood. The immediate and common sense was the literal; the remaining senses were the allegorical, the moral, and the anagogic, or spiritual. A text could be meaningful on all four levels, but the highest and ultimately most valued sense was the spiritual. For Dante the world itself was symbolic, pointing to a greater truth beyond it.
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