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2022 Call for papers
virtual and bologna in-person
(May 12-15 and May 29-June 1)
~~Panels and roundtables presented in this category will take place both online and in-person. ~~
REBELLION AND ITALIAN LITERATURE From ancient Rome up to Genova’s G8 in 2001, rebellious events have marked indelibly important periods in which the dispossessed have staged spontaneous oppositional actions against the ruling classes. How have Italian writers participated in, represented, and formally reflected these events? Is there such a thing as a literature of rebellion? The goal of this panel is to attempt to answer these and other questions by focusing on literary works written between the late nineteenth century and the new millennium. Send inquiries and abstracts to sferrarese@wm.edu by January 31st, 2022. There will be two sessions. The first will take place in a virtual mode (May 13-15), while the second will take place in person in Bologna (May 29-June 1). FORMS OF IMPOTENTIALITY IN ITALIAN LITERATURE It is common to understand ourselves based on what we can be or do, or on who we are or were. Recently, however, thanks to the philosopher Giorgio Agamben’s reconceptualization of impotentiality, we have started to rethink identity also based on what we can not-be or not-do. This panel will explore forms of impotentiality and potentiality in Italian literature (and other medias) with a specific focus on modernity (but not exclusively). This panel will show how the alleged superiority of action, progress and nation-state during modernity is simultaneously accompanied by positive representations of impotentiality in literature, and will undermine the logic requiring human beings to identify with actualities. Teresa Valentini, Centre for Comparative Literature University of Toronto, Teresa.valentini@mail.utoronto.ca Ideally, the panel will be in person, but I am happy to have a two-part session if some of the panelists will not be able to attend in person.
COMPARATIVE ITALIAN STUDIES?
The field of comparative literary studies is often centered on English-language perspectives. In the United States, Italian has tended to remain somewhat peripheral for Comparative Literature. But with Italian Studies’ increased investment in comparative frameworks and the growing popular attention to contemporary Italian authors in English translation, both Italian’s role in comparative literature and comparative approaches in Italian studies appear to be shifting. What particular challenges and opportunities does comparative work in Italian Studies present? These connected panels, taking place virtually and in Bologna, will offer a series of case studies of comparative works that include broader reflections on the field. Please send a short abstract and brief bio to the co-organizers by January 31st, specifying if you plan to participate virtually or in Bologna.
Organizers: GLOBAL DANTE (1800 TO PRESENT): TRANSLATIONS, TRANSFORMATIONS, ADAPTATIONS In modern times, Dante’s work has been the object of an impressive number of appropriations, reinterpretations, and transformations of various kinds. Theatrical and film adaptations are but two well-known examples, yet the poet’s influence resonates widely across many other media and artistic genres, from music to graphic novels to videogames. Concomitantly, a number of translations have been published which made his works available for the first time to new linguistic communities, thereby tracing what can be considered as a sort of “global Dante” phenomenon. At the 2022 AAIS-AATI annual conference, the international journal Bibliotheca Dantesca is sponsoring online and in-person panels (or series of panels) exploring global appropriations and adaptions of Dante’s works as they relate to language, literature, performative arts, and new media. The session(s) will take place online (May 13-15) and in person (May 29-June 1): please specify your preference. The panel(s) is sponsored by Bibliotheca Dantesca: Journal of Dante Studies Please send a 150-200 word abstract and a short CV to bibliothecadantesca@sas.upenn.edu by January 31st, 2022 CRITICAL RACE, MIGRATION AND DIASPORA CAUCUS The Critical Race, Migration and Diaspora Caucus brings together scholars, artists, and activists whose research, pedagogy, and activities interrogate the cultural, social, theoretical, and political constructions of racialized, migrant and/or diasporic identities and communities.
To this end, we invite paper proposals that emphasize these themes and reflect the significance of critical race, migration and diaspora theories across time and geographies. Any chronologic period of Italian, postcolonial and Mediterranean studies is welcome. We are planning two sessions: one virtual (May 13-15) and one in-person in Bologna (May 29-June 1).
Submissions are due on January 31. Please indicate your preference for virtual or in-person attendance, along with paper title, abstract (200 words), and a short bio to michela.ardizzoni@colorado.edu TECHNICS, MEDIA, LANDSCAPE. NEW POSTCARDS FROM ITALIAN MODERNITY The transformation of landscape is a crucial outcome of Italian modernity. Whereas the connection between natural elements and archeological relics has always been celebrated as the most distinctive feature of this landscape, with the economic miracle, however, signs of modern technology abruptly appeared, while media started producing new images of it. We invite contributions for both an online panel and an in-person roundtable aimed at exploring how visual culture has represented this Italian “techno-landscape” defined by media and technological elements. We particularly welcome theoretical interventions, case studies and comprehensive assessments about the second half of the 20th century. Please send an abstract (max 250 words, in Italian or in English) and a short bio to Angela Maiello, angela.maiello@unical.it, and Giacomo Tagliani, giacomo.tagliani@unipa.it, by 20 January 2022. Notification of acceptance of abstracts will be sent out to authors by 31 January 2022. Virtual conference: panel FOSCOLO RELOADED: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON UGO FOSCOLO’S WORK During the last three decades Ugo Foscolo’s work has gained a new attention by scholars, which leads to a general rethinking of his work and the creation of CRIF (Centro di Ricerca Interuniversitario Foscolo). The roundtable, both online and in presence, aims to discuss new perspectives on Foscolo’s work, including the project of new critical editions, the reconstruction of writer’s allegeable library, his figurative world and of his milieu. Part of the online session will be devoted to the celebration of the anniversary of publication of the Dissertation of an Ancient Hymn to the Graces. Please send an abstract (max 250 words, in Italian or in English) of your proposal and a short biography (max 100 words) to the Daniela Shalom Vagata, danielashalom.vagata@gmail.com. Please indicate whether you wish to speak in the online session (May 13-15) or in presence in Bologna (May 29-June 1) by 25 January 2022. Organizer: SOUNDSCAPES IN ITALIAN LITERATURE AND CULTURE In memory of R. Murray Shafer (1933-2021), this panel aims at investigating soundscapes, intended both as ‘music on paper’ and as sound imprints, in Italian literature and culture. The period of interest is between the end of the nineteenth century, when the principle of consubstantiality of the arts is affirmed and music is in synergy with poetry and narrative, the early twentieth century, where the musical experience and the phonic volume of the real becomes a privileged means to access the Absolute or attains a relevant hermeneutic function, and the second half of the twentieth century, where literary communication acquires a multimedia trait and sound contributes to the production of sense. Please send a 250-word abstract and a 100-word bio to Ellen Patat, ellenpatat@gmail.com, and Daniela Bombara, daniela.bombara63@gmail.com by 20 January 2022. Notification of acceptance of abstracts will be sent to authors by 31 January 2022. The languages of the conference are English and Italian. |
EMILIO VILLA AND INTERNATIONAL AVANT-GARDE This panel aims to explore Emilio Villa’s continuous rapport with the languages, expressive forms, and main authors of international Avant-Garde movements, as well as the demonstrated convergence among his aesthetics and those of contemporary authors around the world, both in the East and the West.
Organizer: Women’s Studies Caucus Sponsored Sessions 1) FEMINIST PEDAGOGY What texts are you teaching in class, and how are you engaging with a feminist pedagogy? Let’s share notes in this roundtable about how and what we’re learning with our students. 2) ITALIAN AND ITALIAN AMERICAN WOMEN AND SOCIAL JUSTICE The panel aims to document the often- overlooked history of Italian and Italian Americans women who fought for social justice and human rights. The panel intends to shed light on these forgotten figures and recuperate their writings, teachings, and stories to discover how they can still inspire us today. 3) WOMEN AND THE ARTS IN ITALY IN ANY AGE This very open-ended panel seeks to encourage dialogue across time periods and geographic regions as the panelists share their research on women who practiced or financed various forms of artwork. Please email the officers of the caucus: Juliet Guzzetta, guzzetta@msu.edu, and Anna Marra, Anna.Marra@unh.edu, with a brief abstract (150-200 words) and short bio by January 31, 2022. Please also indicate your preference for the virtual (May 13-15) or in-person conference (May 29-June 1). NUOVI SGUARDI SULLE OPERETTE MORALI Dell’attenzione critica stimolata dalla traduzione inglese dello Zibaldone per la prosa filosofica di Leopardi le Operette morali hanno beneficiato solo marginalmente e, fatta eccezione per gli aspetti filologici, il capolavoro a cui l’autore affida il compito di innovare “lo stile e le bellezze parziali della satira fina” resta ancora, per molti versi, da indagare. In un doppio panel, riflessioni teoriche (1) e commenti al testo (2) offriranno una disamina innovativa – in chiave postcoloniale, di genere, ecocritica, decostruzionista e, in generale, poststrutturalista e intersezionale – della raccolta leopardiana, che ampli le conoscenze circa modelli, finalità e rilevanza attuale del discorso delle Operette. Organizers: Panel doppio, in formato virtuale (13-15.5.2022) e in presenza (Bologna, 29.5-1.6.2022). THINKING ITALIAN PLANTS This session invites papers rooted in an engagement with botanical life on our shared planet. The work of scientists like Monica Gagliano and Stefano Mancuso has positioned Italy at the forefront of a reconsideration of plant being that shatters the mute passivity conventionally associated with plants, recognizing instead their ability to communicate, strategize, remember, and even play. We seek to extend this project to the cultural sphere by exploring Italian literary and cinematic reflections on how plants shape, sustain, or inspire animal life. Contributions approaching plant life from all theoretical perspectives and time periods are welcome. Please send an abstract (150-200 words) and brief bio to the panel organizers by January 31, 2022, specifying whether you wish to participate virtually (May 13-15) or attend in person (May 29-June 1). Organizers: Roundtable: ITALIAN FEMINIST THOUGHT TODAY AND TOMORROW
Building on our session last year, we invite short position papers that take a macro-view of the present and future of Italian feminist thought. What role will feminist thought have in reshaping Italian society? Participants might analyze feminism through the ethics of care, law, labor and work, activism (e.g., non una di meno), migrations, ecology, economy, art, music, theater, cinema, literature, religion, health etc. Since we believe the present and future of Italian feminism both needs to and will rigorously engage diverse identities along race, ethnicity, ability, gender, sexual orientation, age, and religion, we encourage each participant to consider these positionalities even if they are not the central focus. Contributors may be invited to expand their papers into an essay for our co-edited volume on this topic.
Co-organized and co-chaired by Juliet Guzzetta, Michigan State University, guzzetta@msu.edu, and Graziella Parati, Dartmouth College, graziella.parati@dartmouth.edu Ideally we will hold two sessions, one virtually, and one in Bologna. Please send your title, brief abstract (150-200 words) and short bio by January 31, 2022, and indicate your preference for which format, including interest in participating in both. SIBYLS, SIRENS, CRAZIES AND CRONES: FEMALE FIGURES OF POWER AND THREAT FROM THE ANCIENTS TO TODAY In Nonostante Platone (1990), Adriana Cavarero plucks women figures from the margins of their age-old stories and repurposes them as the protagonists of an alternative philosophy. This panel seeks to explore the recuperation and reanimation of submerged female voices in Italian and its contiguous literatures through feminist, posthumanist, and reception readings, investigating such figures as Dante’s femmina balba/dolce sirena/antica strega in Purg. XIX or Anna Maria Ortese’s fantastical female iguana in L’iguana. Where have these prophetic, menacing, mad, or healing female figures reemerged, and what purposes have they served in the hands of the artists who reimagine them? Please send a title, brief abstract (150-200 words), and short bio to Costanza Barchiesi costanza.barchiesi@yale.edu and Maria Massucco massucco@stanford.edu by 31 January 2022. In order to facilitate equitable participation, we propose to organize two thematically linked panels: the first to be held virtually May 13th-15th and the second to be held in-person in Bologna, IT, May 29th - June 1st. Please specify in your submission whether you prefer to participate virtually or in-person. Organizers: NARRAZIONE INTERATTIVA: ENGAGING NEW POETICS, PEDAGOGIES, AND PUBLICS (two-part session)
How is media changing the ways in which we interact with one another? What augmented, hybrid, virtual spaces are generated across media for those interactions? How might diverse media offer new affordances for critical inquiry across disciplines and communities? This two-part session seeks to spark conversation about how interactive media is actively changing the landscape of Italian Studies, both by expanding poetics and storytelling and through encouraging interactive modalities and pedagogies that engage with publics beyond the academy. We are interested in uniting a variety of perspectives on interactive narration as digital, immersive, transmedial, and widely accessible.
Please send a title, brief abstract (150-200 words), and short bio to the organizers by January 24, 2022. Notification of acceptance of abstracts will be sent out to authors by January 31, 2022.
In order to facilitate equitable participation, we propose two linked panels: a virtual roundtable (May 13-15) and an in-personal panel in Bologna (May 29-June 1). Please specify in your submission whether you prefer to participate in the virtual roundtable or the in-person panel. Organizers: |