With its roots in the author's doctoral dissertation (2002, Princeton U.), this study "...locates itself at the crossroads of two distinct but not unrelated approaches to Dante: on the one side, the investigations into the internal articulation and theoretical foundations of Dante's meta-poetic thinking and, on the other, the studies of Augustine's influence on Dante's praxis as a poet." So states Marchesi (French & Italian, Princeton U.) in her introduction. She brings together these two strains, focusing on Dante's interaction with Augustine's theories of language and literature. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)