CfP: "Elsa Morante and the Italian Arts" (The Davy Carozza International Conference)
- Ort: Washington DC, USA
- Beginn: 25.10.12
- Ende: 27.10.12
- Disziplinen: Literaturwissenschaft, Medien-/Kulturwissenschaft
- Sprachen: Italienisch
- Frist: 01.04.12
The Davy Carozza International Conference
“Elsa Morante and the Italian Arts”
This conference aims to shed new light on Elsa Morante’s influence during her time (eg. her collaborations with Pier Paolo Pasolini) and on her artistic/literary legacy in a celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of her birth. Morante’s contribution connects the Italian novelistic tradition to international currents and trends far beyond modernism and the influence of American writers in postwar Italy. The Roman author pioneered many a dramatic change in rhetoric and style later seen in the work of Fabrizia Ramondino, Patrizia Cavalli, Carmelo Samona', Simona Vinci, Elena Ferrante among many artists of our time. While Morante’s influence does not define a clear literary path that would define the elements of a proper Morantian ‘school,’ it seems unquestionable that her rich style suffuses the pages of many Italian contemporary novels. Indeed, Morante’s works are often quoted in films as a source of inspiration for the characters, as Cristina Comencini’s filmic texts show.
Also Morante’s prophetic and critical sides still need to be fully acknowledged and explored. In this light, many of her prophecies need to be analyzed or rethought against the backdrop of our times: the true meaning of the atomic bomb (1965 Turin speech), the postwar rise of an Italian lower-middle bourgeoisie unwittingly complacent with capitalism, the fate of youth, and the idea of intellectual and esthetic commitment seen as political engagement. Morante touches upon many important issues still prevalent in today’s Italian society: outcasts, the disenfranchised, powerless creatures like the ghettaroli (the Roman Jews) of the Roman Round-up of 1943, children and women.
In this respect, she is similar to her close friend and artistic companion Pier Paolo Pasolini, with whom she also a shares a position of eccentricity — and of resistance. To this end, a part of the conference will be dedicated to her original relationship with Pasolini and their reflections on controversial concepts as smagamento (disillusionment), barbarie (the barbaric), irrealta' (unreality), grazia (grace), and the world of ragazzini (youth) as objects of desire and carriers of salvation.
In accordance with Morante’s beliefs, this conference also aims at creating an intergenerational collaboration, engaging established and emerging scholars in a constructive dialogue.
Key speaker: Daniele Morante, “Elsa’s Epistolary”
Confirmed Speakers: Cristina Della Coletta, Marco Bardini, Manuele Gragnolati, Gaetana Marrone, Hanna Serkowska, Giuliana Zagra, Thomas Harrison.
We seek proposals for 20-minute papers on possibly (but not necessarily limited to) the following topics:
- Narrative voice
- Jewishness or Hebraitude: the particolar fabric of Roman Jews
- Morante between Classicism and Postmodernism
- Relationship with other writings/writers (Ortese, Pasolini, Dante, Saba)
- Morante’s Marginality / Queer Morante
- Morante and Feminism: a troubled relation
- Morante and cinema
- Morante and Rome
- Morante and the classics
- Morante and the South
- Androgyny/Hybridity
- Untimeliness and eccentricity
- The corporeal/the animal
- Eco-criticism
- Smagamento (disillusionment) - barbarie (the barbaric) - irrealta' (unreality)
- La grace et la pesanteur
- Cinematic adaptations
Proposals (c. 300 words with preliminary bibliography) are invited from both established and emerging scholars. They should include institutional affiliation and full contact information, and should be sent to chiafele@cua.edu
The organizers are exploring publication options for a volume of selected conference papers.
Conference Organizer:
Stefania Lucamante, Professor of Italian, CUA
lucamante@cua.edu
Organizing Committee:
Stefania Lucamante, Anna Chiafele, Valeria Garino, and Alberto Manai (Italian Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C.)
Scientific Committee:
Stefania Lucamante; Manuele Gragnolati, Oxford University; Gaetana Marrone, Princeton University; Nadia Setti, Universite de Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis; Giuliana Zagra, Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele II, Rome.
Registration Fee: 100 dollars
Publiziert von: cs