Mapping Infernal Narratives: Traversing Dantean Hellscapes in the Digital Soundscape of Hozier's Unreal Unearth

This study traverses from literary text to musical track, employing the concept of Narratology by Gérard Genette as a lens to investigate the transformative interplay between Dantean Hellscapes in the Inferno and Hozier’s Unreal Unearth as discussed in his seminal work Narrative Discourse. Using qualitative analysis as a method, the study decodes adaptation strategies and explores narrative convergence points within the digital soundscape. This study unveils the symbolic translations in Dante’s work, which in turn unravel the metamorphosis of Dante’s imagery in Hozier’s music, which eventually sheds light on the reshaping of Hellscapes in contemporary music. Meanwhile, digital platforms like Spotify’s gapless playback and at times non-linear access options allow the listeners to travel Dante’s hellish circle non-sequentially. Moreover, different music production techniques like layering, harmonisation, and sudden changes in instrumentation create narrative depth through internal focalisation. Findings contribute nuanced perspectives on digital narrative resonance and temporal frameworks, emphasising the dynamic evolution of classical themes across diverse artistic media. This study not only enriches one’s understanding of the process of bridging text and track but also encourages further interdisciplinary inquiry into the fusion of literary and musical narratives in the digital age.