2022 Call for papers
Bologna in-person
(May 29 - June 1)

@ZANZOTTO. ONE HUNDRED

2021 witnessed the centenary of Andrea Zanzotto, one of the most significant poets of the 20th and 21st centuries, with international conferences and exhibitions in Venice, Pieve di Soligo, Milan, Bologna, Oxford, Paris, Berlin, Padua, Pisa, Florence, Rome, and Brazil. New criticism, special issues of journals, new volumes by Zanzotto, Erratici: disperse e altre poesie 1937-2011, and Traduzioni trapianti imitazioni, and a documentary film, Logos Zanzotto, by Denis Brotto add to the list. This panel welcomes papers addressing the poet’s legacy from inter-disciplinary perspectives, including environmental studies, literary theory, film and media studies, translation studies, gender studies and philosophy.

Please send an abstract (150-200 words) and brief bio to the panel organizer by January 31, 2022.

Organizer:
John P. Welle, University of Notre Dame, emeritus, jwelle@nd.edu

DALLE DUE SPONDE: FASCISMS IN ITALY AND THE USA

The Center for Transatlantic Italian Studies (CETIS) invites proposals for papers on any aspect of the political, cultural, diplomatic and social relationship between Italy and the USA at the time of Fascism. Topics could include (but are not limited to): influence of Fascism on US politics in the 1920s and 30s; Italian fascist views of the US as world power; Italian-American fasci, prominenti, and Fascist League of North America; the “transatlantic” role of Gaetano Salvemini; the US reception of the March on Rome.

Organizers:
David Ward, Wellesley College, Dward@wellesley.edu
Mattia Acetoso, Boston College, mattia.acetoso@bc.edu
Renato Camurri, University of Verona, renato.camurri@univr.it

COORDINATE DI LETTURA: LUIGI CAPUANA FUORI D’ITALIA

Alla luce dell’interesse nei confronti dell’opera di Luigi Capuana da parte di studiosi afferenti a Istituzioni fuori d’Italia (Monash University di Melbourne, University of the Witwatersrand a Johannesburg, Université Rennes 2 in Francia solo per citare alcuni esempi), il panel si propone di rileggere l’opera e la figura di Luigi Capuana da una prospettiva d’Oltralpe. Saranno dunque accolti interventi su: Capuana visto dall’estero e/o letto dall’estero; la fortuna di Capuana all’estero; Capuana tradotto.

Lo scopo del panel è far emergere le prospettive di ricerca legate alla figura e all’opera dello scrittore siciliano nell’ottica di un paradigma di ricezione della letteratura italiana all’estero.

Organizers:
Lara Michelacci, Alma Mater Studiorum- Università di Bologna, lara.michelacci2@unibo.it
Anita Virga, University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, anita.virga@wits.ac.za

CAN PASOLINI BE A THINKER FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY?

Is Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) still helpful to understand our times? Are his works–those transcribed within his role as polemicist and public intellectual, but also his artistic output from films to novels–still relevant, or do they reflect outdated sensibilities? How much are we willing to forgive and/or forget to keep Pasolini in the pantheon of influential intellectuals?

In this panel, we wish to test the currency of Pasolini’s thought for our times. Among other themes, we wonder how we might consider him in the new cultural and political environment of the politically correct, Cancel Culture, free speech, and me-too era. We welcome papers on all aspects of Pasolini’s work in relation to our current moment.

Please send a 250-word abstract and a 100-word bio to Luca Peretti, luca.peretti@warwick.ac.uk, and Karen T. Raizen, kraizen@bard.edu by 23 January 2022 – the full paper proposal is due for the AAIS committee on 31 January.

SPAZIO E DIALOGO IN BOCCACCIO

Boccaccio e i primi novellieri creano uno spazio all’interno delle loro novelle per narrare una storia, spesso basata sul dialogo. Questo spazio può essere geografico o architettonico, può basarsi su immagini simboliche, o può essere caratterizzato da ambienti sociali o linguistici. Intendiamo sondare lo spazio nelle novelle, e accettiamo proposte su Boccaccio e novellieri che scrivono fino a Boccaccio (1375).

Boccaccio and early writers of short stories use the space within their stories to narrate a story, often based on dialogue. This space can be geographical, symbolic imagery, metaphoric or a social or linguistic milieu. We welcome proposals from all authors, up to and including Boccaccio (1375).

Organizer:
David P. Bénéteau, Seton Hall University, David.Beneteau@shu.edu

HUMANISM AND POSTHUMANISM IN ITALIAN STUDIES

The purpose of this panel is opening a discussion about connections, conflicts and boundaries between Humanism and Posthumanism in the Italian Studies, by exploring philosophical, cinematic and literary scenarios in diverse ages of the Italian artistic creativity and thinking, from the Renaissance to the Romanticism to the Postmodern. The panel wishes to create a debate on the interplay between Humanism and Posthumanism as a crucial issue of our time. What is meant by human and posthuman in Italian Studies? What remains today of the “anthropocentric position” that distinguished humanism, from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment? What is human in the space of the post-human? And how much of the post-human has always inhabited the human?

Organizer:
Giorgia Bordoni, UNC - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, giorgia@live.unc.edu

Roundtable: PER LA COSTRUZIONE DI UN CENTRO INTERNAZIONALE DI STUDI SU EMILIO VILLA

Un gruppo di lavoro che si è creato in modo informale nel corso dell’anno si incontrerà per discutere pubblicamente la creazione di un centro di ricerca internazionale dedicato allo studio della scrittura (nella sua multiforme varietà) di Emilio Villa e ai collegamenti fra questi e la cultura dell’avanguardia internazionale dal Giappone al Brasile, all’Europa. All’ordine del giorno sono le priorità per la ricerca, gli studi in corso, le pubblicazioni in preparazione, la situazione delle carte negli archivi italiani e esteri, le prospettive per nuovi convegni.

Organizer:
Gianluca Rizzo, Colby College, grizzo@colby.edu

RE-ORDERING CHAOS: SOCIAL DISRUPTIONS AS LIMINAL PHASES IN LITERARY AND VISUAL TEXTS (MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN)

In the Decameron, Boccaccio illustrates how plague turned the world upside down and, “per che, quasi di necessitá, cose contrarie a’ primi costumi de’ cittadini nacquero tra coloro li quali rimanean vivi.” This panel will discuss how literary and visual texts represent and frame traumatic phases of disruption as liminal moments that can lead to new horizons in the wake of chaos. We welcome proposals that consider how such phases (for example, epidemics, natural disasters, uprisings, conflicts) are positioned betwixt and between the realities of chaos and order, suspend social conventions, and have the unique potential to remodel sociocultural paradigms.

Please send abstracts (150-200 words) and a short bio to the panel organizers by January 25, 2022.

Organizers:
Guido Capaccioli, gucapaccioli@utexas.edu, University of Texas at Austin, and Robert Bucci, robert.bucci@utexas.edu, University of Texas at Austin

FRAMING PIER VITTORIO TONDELLI: THE AUTHOR IN AND OUT THE LITERARY CANON

The year 2021 celebrated the 30th anniversary since Tondelli’s death. The recurrence underlined a major issue concerning the reception of this author, still very overlooked in its connections with the wider literary canon, as well as other contemporary radical voices.

This panel invites to set a dialogue between Tondelli and the (national and international) literary tradition aiming to explore analogies and differences of approaches in terms of style, themes and literary genres. Beside Italian studies, we welcome contributions in fields such as comparative literature, gender studies, queer studies and cultural studies.

Organizers:
Dr Olga Campofreda, UCL, olga.campofreda.14@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Giorgia Tolfo, British Library, giorgiatolfo@gmail.com

THE POWER OF ADAPTATION FOR UNLOCKING LITERARY TEXTS, MEDIA, HISTORY AND HISTORICAL FIGURES.

History and historical figures have remained a key source for television and cinema since their inception. The resulting adaptations tend to be fictionalized representations and interpretations. Italian history with its melodramatic figures and their storied tales have become a core material for transmedia storytelling, as it once was for opera. But what is left of history and its figures, and what has been altered and why? In the case of Giovanni Sforza, accurate historical depiction seems conspicuously inconvenient for storyline and consumer reaction. Such are the depictions in the two Borgias, where we are offered a Giovanni who is meek and fey (in the 1981 British television series), and a Giovanni who is cruel and violent (in Showtime’s 2011 series). Neither is an accurate portrayal. This panel examines the motives for what is left of history in adaptation and what is changed. Of outmost significance, is what it tells about a society that reimagines history in a fictional manner. Possible topics may include:

- Adaptation of historical figures to television and cinema, and the changes in historical events that it fosters.

- Adaptations of history to the opera libretto.

- The historical female figure as fictional femme fatale.

- Comic and/or film adaptations in dialogue with original texts.

- Adaptations as aesthetically rich works in their own rights.

- Adaptation and transmedia storytelling in convergence and participatory culture.

- Transmedia narratives, translation, and adaptation.

Please, send a 250-word abstract and a 75-word bio by January 10, 2022 to Jason Collins at jcoll121@utk.edu and Annachiara Mariani at amariani@utk.edu.

Organizers:
Jason Collins, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, jcoll121@utk.eduAnnachiara Mariani, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, amariani@utk.edu

EARLY MODERN ITALIAN THOUGHT IN A GLOBAL CONTEXT (1400-1700)

Panel sponsored by international peer-reviewed journal Mediterranea

Early modern Italian thought has influenced, and been influenced by, an array of cultural realties and perspectives. Recent scholarship has challenged Italo-centric and Eurocentric views and emphasized the value of intercultural exchanges. This panel will address intra-European, Mediterranean, and transcontinental intellectual connections in early modern Italian culture, as they relate to literature, religion, science, philosophy, and the arts.

Please send a 150-200 word abstract and short bio to session organizers by January 31st, 2022.

Organizers:
Giuseppe Bruno-Chomin, brunjo@sas.upenn.edu, and Tommaso De Robertis, derob@sas.upenn.edu, University of Pennsylvania

NATURECULTURE, SPECIES AND PLANETARY THINKING IN THE ITALIAN LITERATURE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE

Learning a new order of relationship between nature, humans and non-human species is the current task at hand. In the epoch of the Anthropocene, the new climate of history is planetary (Chakrabarty 2009). This entails moving away from the specular ecology of a broken nature and toward a natureculture continuum (Latour 1993, 2004; Haraway 2003; Braidotti 2013). Literature is a tool for “species thinking,” where “species may indeed be the name of a placeholder for an emergent, new universal history of humans that flashes up in the moment of the danger that is climate change” (Chakrabarty 2009).

Submissions in English and Italian are welcome.

Please send title, 150-200 words abstract, brief bio by January 31st to mmarchesini@tamu.edu

DANTE’S INFERNO AS A WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

I solicit essays, in Italian or English, on Dante’s Hell as a world upside down.

To render the transgressors’ condition in the afterlife, Dante’s Hell portrays God’s enemies’ choice, that is, a world turned upside down, in which sinners suffer the consequences of their rejection of Christ’s redemptive death.

Possible topics: Hell and the fall of Lucifer. Hell as the Negation of the Earthly Paradise. Divine justice or the Wages of Sin? Holy (the harrowing of hell; the Pilgrim’s descent into hell) and unholy violence in hell. The Refusal of Christ’s Redemption. Silence in hell.

Organizer:
Dino S. Cervigni, Professor Emeritus, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, cervigni@unc.edu

VIVERE CON TE SULL’ORLO DI UNA SCARPATA.ALLA RICERCA DI UNA NARRATIVA LESBICA ITALIANA

Nel corso del Novecento, la narrativa italiana presenta numerose tracce di relazioni omosessuali femminili, talora offuscate o fantasmatiche, eppure testimonianze effettive di autrici che decidono di mettere in scena un aspetto della loro soggettività divergente e fuori dalla norma. Spesso tali relazioni si sviluppano “nei misteri delle notti di collegio” (Violette Leduc) o in contesti a prevalenza omosociale; in altri casi, è complesso riconoscere il poroso confine che intercorre fra sorellanza, amicizia e amore.

Il panel ha l’ambizione di impostare un primo discorso sulla possibilità di definire una narrativa lesbica in Italia, alla ricerca di una prospettiva comune, in un quadro cronologico che si estende dall’inizio del Novecento all’estremo contemporaneo. Si propongono qui, a titolo non esaustivo, alcune autrici che meriterebbero un approfondimento:

Sibilla Aleramo, Fausta Cialente, Alba De Céspedes, Margherita Giacobino, Milena Milani, Mura, Goliarda Sapienza, Sara Zanghì

Si accettano, altresì, interventi comparatistici o teorici, su tematiche quali:

- Lettrici italiane di Colette, Leduc, Wittig…

- L’impegno critico di Liana Borghi

Si prega di inviare una proposta di almeno 200 parole a jessy.simonini@gmail.com entro il 31 gennaio 2022.

MAPPING FASHION, MIGRATION AND CULTURE IN ITALY TODAY

This roundtable seeks to map the connections between fashion and migration in contemporary Italy. We welcome presentations that investigate how the encounter of different cultures has promoted the development of multiple collaborative projects that have encouraged new fashion trends throughout Italy. We are particularly interested in considering proposals that bear on sustainability, social justice, forms of activism and the New Made in Italy, as well as papers that examine cinematographic and/or narrative representations of the innovations that migration has generated in the fashion industry and culture. This session’s format is in-person.

Papers can be presented in English or Italian. Please send a 200-word abstract and short bio to Eugenia Paulicelli, EPaulicelli@gc.cuny.edu, and Giulia Po DeLisle, giulia_delisle@uml.edu, by January 20, 2022.

Roundtable: GLOBAL DIRECTIONS IN ITALIAN STUDIES: TRANSMEDIALITY AND CROSS-CULTURAL TRANSLATION

Drawing on recent research on transnational approaches to languages and cultures, translation as core transcultural practice, and transmedial formations of Italian literature, The ‘Global Directions’ roundtable aims to explore new directions for research in Italian Studies. The roundtable will discuss the way to reconceptualise the study of Italian culture, by looking at how contemporary Italian cultural production interacts with transnational phenomena of globalisation and migration within Italy, in the forms of cross-cultural translation and migration literature, and outside Italy, in the form of a global reception that retains its distinctiveness and local character.

Dr Mila Milani, University of Warwick, m.milani@warwick.ac.uk
Prof. Jennifer Burns, University of Warwick, j.e.burns@warwick.ac.uk

CONTEMPORARY WRITING IN BOLOGNA

As either a setting for novels and short stories or as the place of birth or residence of several Italian writers, Bologna is one of the centers of contemporary and near contemporary Italian narrative. This session invites proposals for papers on any aspect of Bologna’s contemporary narrative scene or that bear on the work of writers such as (but not limited to), Stefano Benni, Enrico Brizzi, Valerio Evangelisti, Marcello Fois, Kai Zen, Carlo Luccarelli, Loriano Macchiavelli, Antar Mohamed, Pier Vittorio Tondelli, Grazia Verasani, Simona Vinci and Wu Ming.

David Ward, Wellesley College, dward@wellesley.edu

FIGURES OF TREASON: TRAITORS IN ITALIAN CULTURE

As a concept, treason has been the subject of legal scrutiny since the very first organization of people into communities, giving birth to a set of different definition of the crime. Traitors, however, did not always fit into the categories which were constructed for them by the legal system, and their figures have often eluded a clear-cut characterization. Why do traitors share this elusiveness? What is their role in society at large and in media in particular? How do literature and films toy with their ambiguous nature?

This panel seeks papers that explore the theme of treason in Italian culture in all its manifestations and consequences – betrayal, adultery, rebellion, shame, sedition, revenge etc. In particular, it welcomes contributions that address the theoretical discussion of the theme and the multifaceted representation of the characters that embody it, and their evolution over time.

This panel is for the Bologna in-presence format of the conference (May 29-June 1, 2022). Submissions in both English and Italian are welcome. Please send title, 150-200 words abstract, brief bio, and A/V requests to Alberto Luca Zuliani (a.zuliani@unito.it) by January 23, 2022.

Organizer:
Alberto Luca Zuliani, Università degli Studi di Torino, a.zuliani@unito.it

NEW CRITICAL APPROACHES TO GIOVANNI VERGA’S WORK/NUOVI APPROCCI CRITICI ALL’OPERA DI GIOVANNI VERGA

This session explores new critical approaches to Giovanni Verga’s work (novels, short stories, and plays) since his death in 1922. While we are especially interested in interpretative modes that respond to societal changes (in areas such as race, gender, and sexuality), we also welcome papers that trace the evolution of critical approaches to his work over the past one-hundred years. These new directions in Verga criticism may refer to the content of the author’s works, to his narrative style--whether before, during, or after verismo—and to the act of translating his texts, and the insights it may offer.

Organizer and chair:
Susan Amatangelo, College of the Holy Cross, samatang@holycross.edu

PIER PAOLO PASOLINI: SEARCHING FOR A LANGUAGE

Over the arc of his career, Pasolini constantly changed his mode of expression, moving from poetry to prose, from one language to another, from academic writing to cinematic and theatrical representations. This movement represents not only Pasolini’s never-ending interest in experimentation but also his search for a language, a medium, and a manner to convey his thoughts and ideas. To understand how Pasolini uses a combination of different forms, languages, and styles to address specific issues, as well as to shed light on the extent to which these various forms relate to each other, this panel aims to investigate Pasolini’s works from an intra- and inter-medium perspective.

Organizers:
Katie Sparrow, University of Notre Dame, ksparrow@nd.edu
Mattia Boccuti, University of Notre Dame, mboccuti@nd.edu

IMAGO DEI: HUMAN DIGNITY AND FLOURISHING, ITALIAN STYLE

This panel seeks abstracts exploring the role of classical Christian anthropology in Italian thought and creative output - particularly, but not exclusively, from the 1960s onwards. By mid-decade, the 1960s had revealed that much change was afoot, whether philosophical, sociocultural, political, or theological. And yet, some Italians (e.g. Pasolini, Del Noce) continued to find inspiration for the pursuit of human dignity and flourishing in the transcendence and immanence of classical Christianity, whether adopted as foil or foundation for their own work.

Organizer:
Fiona M. Stewart, Pepperdine University, fiona.stewart@pepperdine.edu

GIULIANO SCABIA: UN’AVANGUARDIA LUNGA QUASI UN SECOLO

Dal suo debutto con La fabbrica illuminata, attraverso l’esperienza di Marco Cavallo, fino ai romanzi di Nane Oca, l’opera di Giuliano Scabia attraversa la seconda metà del Novecento, riflettendone le preoccupazioni teoriche ed estetiche, affrontandone i paradossi, e spesso escogitando le soluzioni più interessanti e produttive.

A un anno dalla sua scomparsa, a Bologna, città dove ha insegnato a generazioni di studenti, questo panel intende riflettere sull’eredità artistica e intellettuale di Giuliano Scabia, sulla sua scrittura, e in particolare su quel suo modo di farsi azione sociale, occasione di incontro, strumento attraverso cui una comunità prende coscienza di sé.

Organizer:
Gianluca Rizzo, Colby College, grizzo@colby.edu

UGLY, UNPLEASANT, AND STRANGE: THE 21ST CENTURY WOMAN

From Fumetti Brutti’s self-narrated trans experience, to Teresa Ciabatti’s obsession with de-canonizing beauty, and Elena Ferrante’s genealogy of bad mothers, how we define womanhood has most certainly changed since the turn of the millennium. Women are nasty, unpleasant, strange, old, ugly, trans, and proud. Women are mothers, sisters, surrogates, sex workers, homemakers, and breadwinners. Building upon the foundation laid by 20th Century feminists, this panel aims to explore the evolving permutations of “woman” in theory, literature, art, and film. Submissions can investigate any facet of the feminine other but should focus on the ultra-contemporary period of the last twenty years.

Organizers:
Marta Cerreti, mcerret1@jhu.edu, Silvia Raimondi, sraimon2@jhu.edu, Samuel Zawacki, sam.zawacki@jhu.edu, Johns Hopkins University

CARAVAGGIO E LA LUNGA ONDA DEL CARAVAGGISMO

La presenza di Caravaggio a Roma e poi Napoli, tra fine Cinquecento e inizio Seicento, imprime una svolta determinante all’interno delle scuole di pittura delle due capitali e, in senso più ampio, alle teorie della realtà rappresentata. Tuttavia, l'influenza della lezione caravaggesca va ben oltre il diciassettesimo secolo. All'ampia e variegata gamma di estetiche barocche sviluppatesi nel corso del secolo, seguono una serie di caravaggismi minori nei settori dell'arte, della scrittura e più recentemente del cinema.

In questo panel si invitano saggi che esaminino il concetto di caravaggismo all’interno di opere letterarie, pittoriche e cinematografiche, dal diciassettesimo secolo fino ai giorni nostri. Eventuali proposte dovranno essere inviate entro il 29 gennaio 2022 a Alessandro Giardino, agiardino@stlawu.edu. Si prega di allegare un abstract di 250 parole circa e una breve scheda biografica dell’autore.

DINO BUZZATI AT 50: NEW RESEARCH PERSPECTIVES

Fifty years after Dino Buzzati’s death (1966-1972), we aim to celebrate the author’s work by discussing new perspectives and less known aspects of one of the most versatile and fascinating figures of twentieth century Italian literature. We therefore welcome papers covering any reflection on Buzzati’s writing activity, namely comparisons with other authors, as well as intersections of different methodological approaches such as ecocriticism, posthumanism, visual studies, intermediality, spatiality. Papers analyzing unpublished texts, letters, and author’s archives are also welcome.

Organizers:
Eloisa Morra, University of Toronto, eloisa.morra@utoronto.ca
Marco Ceravolo, University College Cork, 119226158@umail.ucc.ie

ITALY TODAY IN THE LIGHT OF SPIRITUALITY, RELIGION, AND POLITICS

Is Italy, birthplace of Catholicism and host of the Holy See, still a religious country today? Catholicism has been instrumental in shaping Italy as a nation but while it remains the religious focus for one billion Catholics worldwide, it is also gradually home to those of other faiths. This panel welcomes papers on the relationship between the Italian state and the Catholic Church which also examine some of the new challenges in a post-secular and multi-religious society, such as immigration, diversity, women’s rights and LGBT, etc…

Please, submit via email a 250-300 word abstract, a brief biographical note, and requests for audio visual equipment to the session organizer by January 31, 2022.

Organizer and Chair:
Rémi Lanzoni, Wake Forest University, lanzoni@wfu.edu

AGAINST PASOLINI

In the occasion of the anniversary of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s birth (1922-1975), celebrating his figure and works is the most intuitive choice. In this panel, we aim to give a counter-perspective on Pasolini’s legacy, focusing on the several controversies he caused during and after his life. Who were his most passionate contestants in the literary, cinematographic, cultural field? What can we still learn from discussions nowadays being an undisputed part of 20th century Italian history? On a diachronic side, what can we inquire about those intellectuals who did not look up to him after his death, yet decided to criticise his legacy in their works?

Silvia Cucchi, University of L’Aquila, silvia.cucchi@univaq.it
Lorenzo Marchese, University of L’Aquila, lorenzo.marchese1@univaq.it

MERCURIAL MEANINGS: SILENCE AND SILENCES OF ITALIAN CULTURE

In Du Silence, French anthropologist Le Breton maintains that silence represents a mode perception that engenders meaning, rather than being a mere acoustic estimation. In this sense, silence exhibits itself through a kaleidoscopic array of intersecting articulations: starting with the fundamental role it plays in communication, silence also and often participates in the philosophical, literary, political, psychological, social, ecological, spiritual, cultural, artistic, and anthropological domain.

This panel seeks papers that explore the vast gamut of manifestations and intersections that illustrate the phenomenon of silence within Italian culture. Papers utilizing original theoretical approaches and focusing on different chronological periods are welcome.

Submissions in English and Italian are welcome. Please send title, 150-200 words abstract, brief bio, academic affiliation and technological needs to paolo.pellecchia@ufv.es.

Organizer:
Paolo Pellecchia (Francisco de Vitoria University)

SOUNDSCAPES IN ITALIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE

This panel moved to the "Bologna and Virtual" page.

IDENTITY, SPACE, AND PLACE IN CONTEMPORARY ITALIAN LITERATURE

Problematic as it is, the concept of identity (e.g. gendered, cultural, national, etc.) necessarily deals with the creation of limits, in a continuous practice of alteration, integration, and exclusion. Geographical space, in particular, whether approached as literary mapping or cognitive hermeneutics, is a crucial element in the processes of identity construction. This panel aims to question the relationship between identity, space, and place in the broad context of Italian prose and poetry from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and to encourage a debate on how contemporary authors frame identities based on different perceptions of space.

Organizers:
Dario Galassini, University College Cork, 120228026@umail.ucc.ie
Jacopo Turini, University College Cork, 119227362@umail.ucc.ie

ANDROGYNY, CROSS-DRESSING, TRANSGENDER, AND INTERSEXUALITY IN ITALIAN CULTURE

In the recent years, we have witnessed a growth of reflections on and redefinitions of gender and sexuality. The goal of this panel is to follow and develop this trend in the field of Italian studies by examining or re-examining, in particular, representations of androgyny, cross-dressing, transgender, and intersexuality in Italian culture. Papers in Italian or English that discuss theoretical frameworks and/or case studies are welcome. Please, send submissions with title, brief abstract (150-200 words), and short bio to epecchio@buffalo.edu by January 20, 2022.

SECULAR MARTYRS IN MODERN ITALY

The role of secular martyrs in Italy has become a major subject of research in recent times, from the Risorgimento through to the ‘years of lead’ and beyond. Political movements, and the Italian state, have actively sought to construct a myth of its past through their ‘fallen’. This panel will look to draw together and compare work on national and trans-national martyrs over a range of periods and in connection to a series of outcomes, and with reference to the various means and medias and lenses through which ‘martyrdom’ is underlined, contested, remembered and forgotten.

Send a 200-word abstract and short bio to John Foot, j.foot@bristol.ac.uk by January 20, 2022.

TRANSITALIES

This panel welcomes papers that engage with notions of transness, in its movement (literary and media transitions, transitory/migratory perspectives) and its betweenness (translations and translation studies, transnational production, transgender identities and theories). We welcome scholarship that makes use of the spaces between borders/disciplines/theories/eras in order to reflect on anti-colonial approaches to Italian studies. We envision this panel as a generative space of collaboration for reflecting on the ways the multitudes of Italian identities are made and experienced in transition, in translation, and in conversation with other identities and lived practices.

Some possible subjects may include but are not limited to:

- Translation of queer and feminist scholarship to and from Italian

- Media/literature that centers migrant voices

- Analyses of texts that engage in trans-genre play

- Texts that reflect transgender experience in and through Italy

- Transnational media creation

- Hyphenated identity media/literature

This session’s format is in-person. Please submit an abstract of 200 words and a very brief bio to sanatrone@vassar.edu, and heimj@sas.upenn.edu, by January 31 2022.