University of Connecticut

Department of Modern and Classical Languages

Second Annual Robert Dombroski Italian Conference

CALL FOR PAPERS

Shifting Souths:

New Perspectives in Italian Cultures

September 17-18, 2005

University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut

In the era of globalization, the concepts of South and Southerness have undergone fundamental changes, thereby begging the reassessment of old, often vexing questions. The negotiation of local, regional identities alongside the creation of supranational and transnational communities and organizations (i.e. the European Union, the Global Market, the Internet) forces us to rethink the many ontologies of the South inherited from a rich Italian literary, historiographic and cinematic tradition: from the scuola siciliana and Boccaccio to Vico, Cuoco, Croce, Verga, Pirandello, Lussu, Gentile, Gramsci, Carlo Levi, Sciascia, Consolo, Lina Wertmüller, Amelio, Salvatores and many others.

The purpose of this conference will be to investigate the evolution and the repositioning of concepts of South and Southerness in Italian culture as articulated throughout the centuries. Comparative and interdisciplinary approaches pertinent to Italian Studies are welcome and may encompass art history, history, film studies, philosophy, music, political science, religion, gender studies and any other relevant discipline.

Possible Topics:

* Revisiting the Stereotypical South (Cultural Prejudices, Neo-Orientalism, Clientelism, Racism, Criminality) * The Relevance of Social and Anthropological Elements (Folklore, Mystery and Magic in the South, Linguistic Differences, Emigration and Immigration, Insularity) *Historical and Political Facets (La Cassa del Mezzogiorno, the Dynamics of Conflict and Control, Perceptions of the State in the South, the Rhetoric of Nation and Region)