Italian - Doctoral Theses

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‘Poeta che mi guidi’: Dantean afterlives in the poetry of Giorgio Caproni, Antonia Pozzi, Vittorio Sereni and Mario Luzi
(University College Cork, 2024) Galassini, Dario; O'Connell, Daragh; Irish Research Council
This study explores the enduring influence of Dante Alighieri’s Commedia on Italian literature and culture by focusing on episodes of readerly engagement and literary appropriation in the practices of four middle-generation poets (Moliterni 2021), all born between 1912 and 1914: Giorgio Caproni, Antonia Pozzi, Vittorio Sereni and Mario Luzi. The central argument of this study is that the four authors, who represent a cohesive poetic group within the generation itself for a variety of reasons, stand out as particularly exemplary and influential agents of the creative reception of Dantean poetics in the twentieth-century Italian literary panorama. The contribution aligns with Coolahan’s definition of reception (2020) to assess Dante’s impact on the manifold poetic developments of the Italian Novecento. Its fundamental research questions address matters of poetic influence, canon formation and literary monumentality. Rather than focusing on the poets individually, the project works on and further develops existing lines of contact between one another to explore transversal evolutionary trajectories that manifested consistently throughout the century. It centres on three main case studies that shed light on different understandings and modalities of engagement with the Commedia. Particular attention is dedicated to the poet Antonia Pozzi, who stands out for her significant marginalisation and consequently scarce literary recognition accorded to her, even in academic contexts. In this study, her engagement with Dante’s works is not only studied in relation to her own poetic production but also investigated via her personal Dante volumes as collected in her private library – either primary texts or secondary literature on the Medieval author. The study of the many marginalia in such texts proves informative of both her engagement with Dante and the school system that was in place in Italy during the 1920s as well as the contemporary debate on arts and humanities. Her poetic oeuvre, which has hitherto never been studied in relation to Dante, showcases interesting traces of the Dantean model. Pozzi responded to the Commedia in a personal way, most frequently elaborating on its central archetype of the journey, declined either in its infernal connotations or as a purgatorial ascent. The second case study of this contribution looks at the poetic works of the four authors as they modelled a new poetic form that opened to inclusiveness (Montale 1964). Pozzi is presented in her role as a forerunner of some of the century’s most important instances in terms of poetic linguistic advancements, with correlated implications on the positioning of the poetic Self. The study demonstrates how Dante played a pivotal role in shaping such poetic transformative experiences, proposing an inclusive textual model that can welcome dialogues and other prose elements. This shift eventually allowed twentieth-century poetry to dismiss the prevailing arguments of idealist thinking and its corollary of artistic effects with the predominance of lyrical and Hermetic stylemes. The study concludes by further analysing the nature of the new poetic Self as shaped by such inclusive poetry fashioned on the Dantean rather than the Petrarchan literary model. Drawing from socio-cultural readings of modernity that address episodes of permanent liminality (Szakolczai 2000, 2017) and the crisis of presence (De Martino 1956, 1973), selected poems of the authors elucidate the appropriations of the Dantean dichotomy of body and shade as well as the role of light as a dehumanising agent. Not only did the Commedia’s dialogic and plurilinguistic character help them frame a new poetic diction, but it ultimately granted them an image reservoir to draw from to represent best a new poetic Self that cannot describe its identity and can only thrive in an in-between position, as neither human nor non-human.
L’infante, la donna, la bestia: un’analisi ecocritica degli incontri non umani in Federigo Tozzi, Dino Buzzati, Anna Maria Ortese
(University College Cork, 2023) Ceravolo, Marco; Ross, Silvia; Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology
The authorial connections between Federigo Tozzi, Dino Buzzati and Anna Maria Ortese are notable and varied. Linked by a fervent animalistic and, in the case of the latter two, also environmentalist spirit, the non-human plays a central role in the works of the authors, who represent natural entities, animals, or fantastic creatures as narrative archetypes of universal pain. This thesis investigates the encounters between the human and the nonhuman in the works of Tozzi, Buzzati, and Ortese with the aim of answering the questions “what does otherness represent for the authors?”, and “how is this 'other' portrayed in their novels, short stories, and journalistic writings?”. To tackle these issues, my analysis considers three thematic areas, namely the representation of the child, the woman, and the beast, categories united by a perception of inferiority, and thus of marginalization, in a purely patriarchal social context. In the three chapters, one per individual author, the investigation of the three principal thematic areas makes use of a range of critical theories such as Ecocriticism (Garrard, Buell, Wolfe, Iovino), Animal Studies (Derrida, Cimatti, Regan, Singer), Ecofeminism (Warren, Adams, Plumwood, Ruether) and Children's Studies (Freud, Joosen, Khan, Kellert). In the works of the three authors, the animal is portrayed as abused, castrated, and killed, and this confirms how, due to a lack of logos, the nonhuman can be easily subjugated in human society. On other occasions, the animal, as a model of otherness, is acknowledged by the authors as a fragile entity, and thus in need of protection or defense. However, animality also serves the function of representing human figures through animalistic characteristics, or portraying characters who are placed on the same social scale as beasts enslaved to man: namely, women and children. Therefore, after having traced the narrative archetypes and symbolic connections between the child, the woman, and the animal in selected works of Tozzi, Buzzati and Ortese, the last part of the respective chapters addresses the salient themes of the three authors' attitude towards animals from an ethical-moral perspective. In the case of Tozzi, I analyze texts that draw upon his strong influence by nonhuman agents. For Ortese and Buzzati, I consider a selection of the authors’ militant journalistic production which advocates for the protection of those who have no voice to denounce their own oppression, existential imperatives of an ethical-moral order which constitute the critical building blocks of their animalist spirit. The conclusions highlight the connections between the authors through the three thematic cores examined (child, woman, and beast), and trace the positioning of the nonhuman in the authorial imaginary of Tozzi, Buzzati and Ortese, authors who are only seemingly dissimilar, but who are linked, instead, by a profound, indissoluble interest in the other.
From literary text to digital story: an innovative approach to teaching Italian as a foreign language and an analysis of its impact on the manifestation of students’ expressive potential
(University College Cork, 2020) Lis Ventura, Sara; Chu, Mark; University College Cork
This study explores the impact on foreign language learning of an innovative pedagogical approach, one which brings together literature and digital technology. Specifically, it investigates how combining the analysis of a literary text and the creation of a multimodal composition can help students generate communicative artefacts that simultaneously adhere to the stylistic features of a specific genre and respond to personal expressive intentions. The purpose of the project is twofold. On the one hand, it intends to encourage a humanistic-holistic approach to foreign language teaching by re-establishing the role of the expressive and aesthetic functions of language and by re-focusing attention on learners as sensitive and emotional beings (Kramsch, 2006). On the other, it aims to contribute to the expansion of the concept of literacy in language education by exploring new ways of including multimodal composition in the language classroom. The study, which draws on the theoretical framework of the multiliteracies approach (Kern, 2003; Paesani, Allen & Dupuy, 2016), takes the form of a qualitative case study: eight second-year undergraduate students of Italian as foreign language were first introduced to a literary text, a mix of two genres (i.e. a recipe and an autobiographical narrative). They were instructed on the stylistic features characterizing the text and finally they were engaged in creating a multimodal composition. The last task involved producing a digital story, a short digital video based on a script of 250-350 words that combines the author’s narrative voiceover with a variety of multimedia tools, such as photographs, music, and sounds. The objectives of the research were mainly three: i) investigating the students’ multimodal orchestration practices in order to understand how their “voice” – reinterpreted here as sign of personal and emotional involvement in the meaning-making process – emerges in the digital stories; ii) exploring the impact of the combination of text-analysis and multimodal composition on the students’ development of genre awareness; and iii) examining their perception of the learning experience, in particular considering its impact on linguistic skills, intrinsic motivation, and emotional engagement. The investigation was undertaken by carrying out a multimodal discourse analysis (MDA) of the participants’ digital artefacts and a thematic analysis of their individual semi-structured interviews and reflective journals. The MDA was conducted from a social semiotic perspective and by applying the Appraisal Framework (Martin & White 2005), an approach that aims at understanding how different resources are used by the author to construct textual personae, to manage interpersonal positionings and to negotiate and amplify emotions, judgments, and evaluations (Martin, 2000). The findings of the study show that the combination of literary text analysis and digital storytelling: i) can deeply engage students in the meaning-making processes by expanding their opportunity to manifest expressive intentions through multimodal orchestration; ii) can facilitate students’ development of genre awareness in the FL and promote the emergence of individual stylistic variations at the same time; iii) can intrinsically motivate the students, engage them on an aesthetic and emotional point of view, and be useful for developing their speaking and writing skills. Considering that due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic Irish higher education institutions have moved all teaching and assessment online, my study provides important insights into an approach that can be adapted and implemented in an online environment, thus offering a contribution to addressing some of the many challenges third-level language education is going to face in the next few years.
Distorted bodies: gender, sexuality and performativity in twentieth-century Italian fantasy literature
(University College Cork, 2018) O'Leary, Martina; Ross, Silvia; Cork County Council; University College Cork
Any examination of fantasy literature’s rich use of symbolic subject matter can reveal both the genre’s highly subversive potential, and its capacity to explore concepts generally perceived as off-limits, examples of which have famously been transgressive sexuality and gender expression. Simultaneously, all fields of gender studies contend that gender and sexuality are largely directed by social prompts proffering hegemonic ideals, including those exemplified through literary representations. This thesis investigates models of gender and sexuality articulated through unreal bodies in fantasy texts in order to explore and bring further insight to this unique relationship, and addresses the current paucity in Italian literary scholarship in this regard. Further, it examines whether the selected representative works spanning the twentieth century reinscribe or subvert patriarchal regulation of gender and sexuality, using fantasy genre theory (Todorov), feminist criticism (Butler), masculinity studies (Connell), queer theory (Sedgwick), ecofeminism (Plumwood) and posthumanism (Wolfe). This study explores a cross-section of twentieth-century Italian fantasy literature, given this period’s rich and active history in both the suppression and the development of gender and sexual rights and equalities. A chapter is dedicated to each of the five representative authors and a selection of their fantasy texts in order to provide an overview of the evolution of these themes in the chronological period covered. Luigi Capuana uses the trope of invisibility in his short stories “L’invisibile” (1901) and “Un vampiro” (1907) to articulate discussions on queerness and female sexuality, upholding a traditionalist attitude, as well as (unsurprisingly for his time) a general view of women and femininity as inferior. In contrast, Aldo Palazzeschi’s Il codice di Perelà (1911) and Stefanino (1969) treat femininity as a positive attribute in male characters. These works also explore sexuality, but with a progressive (though coded) aim, in developing compassion towards dissident sexualities. Italo Calvino’s fantasy trilogy I nostri antenati (1960) yields a fruitful discussion of masculinity, advocating lightness as a beneficial characteristic to be embraced, though the author utilizes other feminine traits to demonize male characters, and his portrayals of women and girls in general are found to be one dimensional – particularly in how they do not search for meaning, or attempt to understand the complexities of existence, as their male counterparts do, but are simply rewards for men. Anna Maria Ortese’s L’Iguana (1965) serves a specific goal of addressing various forms of oppression in society; her use of anthropomorphic characters in this and other works calls for reform in the treatment of groups marginalized due to sex, race and social class, utilizing the trope of the animal to identify modes of othering. Paola Capriolo’s collection of short stories, La grande Eulalia (1988), is heavily populated with central female characters, and problematizes the objectification of women, by contrasting the injurious outcomes of female characters’ submission to the male gaze, and their subsequent domination, with the favourable results that ensue upon resistance to such control. Though the discussions implicit within the bodily representations take issue with misogyny, Capriolo negates her association with feminist objectives, revealing the genre’s potential as a covert means by which to transmute standardized attitudes and prejudices, whether intentionally or not. This research aims to expand recognition of the fantasy genre’s potential influence and reach in how it communicates ideals and perspectives through subtle yet powerful symbolism, and to substantiate scholarly attention to and interest in the genre’s scope in this regard. An increased understanding of the poetics utilized to shape such identities and standards can, at the very least, inform an approach that questions the validity and appropriateness of literary instruction on social behaviours, and its influence in shaping the status quo. This exploration may, however, also raise active awareness of the little-acknowledged contribution effectuated by the modern Italian fantasy genre in the formation, or re-formation, of social norms and regulations on the body, gender and sexuality.
Il femminicidio raccontato: il discorso narrativo sulla violenza letale di genere tra giornalismo e letteratura
(University College Cork, 2018) Mandolini, Nicoletta; Ross, Silvia; Irish Research Council
Spostandosi dalla stretta nicchia dell’attivismo femminista al vasto panorama mediatico mainstream, la discussione italiana sulla violenza letale di genere alle donne (femminicidio) ha recentemente assunto i connotati di evento discorsivo nazionale. Considerando la vasta produzione di rappresentazioni giornalistiche e letterarie pubblicate sul tema a partire dal 2012, la presente tesi di dottorato indaga le modalità attraverso cui il settore discorsivo narrativo cronachistico e creativo contribuisce a diffondere e/o ad arricchire il dibattito teorico sul femminicidio. Tramite il supporto di teorie femministe di area psicanalitica (Benjamin) e socio-antropologica (Bourdieu), di ricerche narratologiche (Iser, Jauss, Carroll, Eco) e di metodologie mutuate dalla Foucauldian Critical Discourse Analysis (Jäger e Maier), lo studio si sofferma ad analizzare la rappresentazione cronachistica di due casi di femminicidio (quello di Stefania Noce [2011] e quello di Sara Di Pietrantonio [2016]), testi di giornalismo d’inchiesta (Il sangue delle donne [2014] di Alvaro Fiorucci; Se questi sono gli uomini [2012] di Riccardo Iacona; Quello che resta [2013] di Serena Maiorana) e opere letterarie (Fiore... come me [2013] di Giuliana Covella; Nessuna più [2013] antologia curata da Marilù Oliva; La scuola cattolica [2016] di Edoardo Albinati; Padreterno [2015] di Caterina Serra; Cosa resta di noi [2015] di Giampaolo Simi; Le spose sepolte [2018] di Marilù Oliva; Rosa sangue [2016], raccolta di racconti curata da Donato Altomare e Loredana Pietrafesa). Le conclusioni della ricerca mettono in luce la presenza di una stretta correlazione tra settore discorsivo teorico e narrativo, la quale risulta particolarmente proficua in corrispondenza di rappresentazioni caratterizzate da una struttura narrativa aperta capace di stimolare l’identificazione del ricevente e la problematizzazione della questione femminicidiaria. Femminicidio Narratives. The Italian Narrative Discourse on Lethal Gender Violence between Journalism and Literature. After moving from the small niche of feminist activism to the broad mainstream media sphere, the Italian discussion on lethal gender violence against women (femminicidio) has recently become a national discursive event. Considering the wide production of journalistic and literary representations published on the topic since 2012, this thesis investigates how the narrative discursive sector contributes, both with journalistic and creative texts, to popularising and/or to enriching the theoretical debate on feminicide. The study analyses newspaper coverage of two cases of feminicide (that of Stefania Noce [2011] and that of Sara Di Pietrantonio [2016]), journalistic inquiries (Il sangue delle donne [2014] by Alvaro Fiorucci; Se questi sono gli uomini [2012] by Riccardo Iacona; Quello che resta [2013] by Serena Maiorana) and literary works (Fiore... come me [2013] by Giuliana Covella; Nessuna più [2013] an antology edited by Marilù Oliva; La scuola cattolica [2016] by Edoardo Albinati; Padreterno [2015] by Caterina Serra; Cosa resta di noi [2015] by Giampaolo Simi; Le spose sepolte [2018] by Marilù Oliva; Rosa sangue [2016] a collection of short stories edited by Donato Altomare and Loredana Pietrafesa) using psychoanalytic (Benjamin) and socio-anthropological (Bourdieu) feminist theories, insights from narratology (Iser, Jauss, Carroll, Eco) as well as a methodological approach borrowed from Foucauldian Critical Discourse Analysis (Jäger and Maier). The research results highlight the presence of a close connection between theoretical and narrative discursive sectors, which is particularly fruitful in the case of works with an open narrative structure that allows the identification of the reader with the theme narrativised by the texs and a problematisation of the issue of feminicide.

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