Corsi di Studio del Dipartimento di Lingue e Letterature straniere e Culture moderne

The project focuses on the complex and ever changing concept of identity in Iberian context, integrated by constantly evolving elements. This is indeed a rather dynamic notion, experiencing nonstop development. That is why the project studies the circumstances determining the (re)definition of the identity profile –i.e., the process of its construction, deconstruction and reconstruction–. Such circumstances can be identified with: the historical and socio-political roots (e.g. history and extreme events); the redefinition of the identity during the phase of resumption (e.g. after a period of crisis), which has different connotations in each area; the existence of a socio-cultural and political context facilitating the process of identity reconstruction; the propitious conditions that promote cultural renaissance and play a decisive role in this process, developed through the assumption, re-elaboration and re-expression of significant elements and events in the history and culture of a community; the overcoming of the idealistic vision of the 19th century romantic nationalism when rebuilding identity, replaced by realism, pragmatism and concreteness, based on a critical analysis of history; and the constant evolution determined by the actual dymanic between local and global tendencies, which generates a 'glocal' dimension.

All this becomes even more complex considering the dialectic between ‘centre’ and ‘periphery’, two concepts that refer not only to geographical position but also involve ideological dynamics, socio-political and economic balances, cultural codes that are constantly defined through the tension between the immobility supported by the hegemony of dominant groups (thus, defined ‘majority’) and the dynamism promoted by subordinate groups (identified as ‘minority’). The notion of ‘peripheral’ (that is, a minority group) can be synthesised taking advantage of three aspects: the existence and manifestation of collective consciousness; the elaboration of socio-political questions and concerns; the dialectic between its own system (peripheral or minority) and the other system (central or majority), which according to historical contexts can be or can become collaborative, extraneous, tense, conflictive. These relationships are characterised by constant mobility: both concepts of ‘peripheral’ and ‘minority’ indicate a role that can be temporary, depending on the transitory conditions of a group that is excluded from the majority group, regardless of its number, or it is included in a subordinate relationship regarding the mechanism that determines the hegemonic group. Hence, it is a fluid mechanism that is subject to constant variation, influences the system and can modify it.

Therefore, the (re)construction of identity is also defined by cultural production. That is why it is necessary to study the context that generates it and the intertext that holds it. Especially in the dialectic between national identities and global trends, it needs to be stressed that the elements involved (e.g., cultural peculiarity and universal openness) are complementary factors and they are not opposed or antithetical, as they renew intercultural dialogue and consolidate the distinctive identity elements that participate in the process of universalisation.This mechanism feeds both forces, which are correlative and interdependent and not alien or contrasting. Thus, culture, in all its manifestations, reflects these mechanisms and their complexity, whose analysis is essential for the deepening of the topic. The project studies the identity factors which characterize the cultural expressions in the contemporary Iberian context from some fundamental interrelated perspectives. The analysis of the nature and phenomenology of the identity expression permits to identify its articulation on complementary plans, in order to delineate an identity profile deeply rooted in the communities of reference. In the plural Iberic area this means taking into consideration all different linguistic and cultural components that integrate it, which moreover constantly hybridise and evolve themselves.

PHASE 1: Contemporary Catalan Classics – Contemporary Catalans and Classics. Conventionally, we identify the biginning of the Renaixença with the publication of Carles Aribau’s Oda a la Pàtria (1833). Ideally, this ode could represent the beginning of the recovery of Catalan literature –after a long parenthesis during the 16th-18th c.–, which will lead to the rich growth of the successive production, until the contemporary age. In less than two centuries, the spread and diffusion of an impressive artistic-literary development will allow once again the Catalan area to play a prominent role in the international culture. Particularly, during the 20th c. we observe the appearance of outstanding tendencies, artists and masterpieces which can be considered “Contemporary Catalan Classics”, a very ascending parabola with a constant progression, lasting until today. This phase of the project studies some peculiar key figures and innovative tendencies of this process, taking into consideration the specific features which characterize them, according to the most recent and experimental trends.

PARTICIPANTS: Veronica Orazi (Università di Torino), Isabel Turull (Università "La Sapienza", Roma), Alessandro Scarsella (Università "Ca' Foscari", Venezia), Gabriella Gavagnin (Universitat de Barcelona), Martina Cabanas (collettivo teatrale Els Joglars), Enric Bou (Università "Ca' Foscari", Venezia).

PHASE 2: Representing Identity: Intersemioticy and Transmediality in Contemporary Hispanic Cultures. The approach to studying the nature and phenomenology of the identity expression permits the realisation of its analysis articulating it on complementary plans, in order to delineate the iridescent identity profile deeply rooted in the community of reference. In the plural Hispanic field this means taking into consideration the different linguistic and cultural components that integrate it, namely the Castilian, Catalan, Galician and Basque. Some strategic aspects have been favoured for the framing of the representation of identity from an  intersemiotic and transmedial perspective: the fictionalisation of historical memory as a reflection of identity components; cinema and photography as instruments of transversal identity expression; cultural heritage and social representations of identity identification; the dramatization of identity factors; and the role of the historical-literary icons as a synthesis of identity.

PARTICIPANTS: Veronica Orazi (Università di Torino), Jaume Martí Olivella (University of New Hempshire, USA), Núria F. Rius (Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Silvia Grassi (Università di Torino), Barbara Greco (Università di Torino), Luz C. Souto (Universidad de Valencia), Elizabete Manterola (Universidad del País Vasco), Rexina Rodríguez Vega (Universidade de Vigo), M. del Pilar Jiménez-Aleixandre & Ramón López-Facal (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela).

PHASE 3: Nation, Language and Literature in the Pluricultural Castilian-Catalan-Galician-Basque Area. The nature and phenomenology of the national profile and its manifestations articulate on complementary plans. In the plural Hispanic area they deal with the different historical, linguistic and cultural components that integrate it (Castilian, Catalan, Galician and Basque). Some key features have been chosen for the framing of the representation of the concept of Nation in this area: the idea of Nation and its evolution, the existence of objective elements of local identity and the lack of correspondence with a widely felt nationalist political identification; the different political languages spoken, their conceptual formation and the narratives to which they correspond. The evolution of nationalism from federalism and autonomism to an independence movement. The role of bilingualism, translation and self-translation as well as of heterolingualism within Translation Studies, supratranslation, self-translation or indirect translation; the future of RMLanguages as a whole. The fictionalization of individual, collective and historical memory through literarization and dramatization; the representation of the armed conflicts, their narrative and their reception; finally, how the experience of exile can influence the creativity of an author.

PARTICIPANTS: Veronica Orazi (Università di Torino), Barbara Greco (Università di Torino), Ramón López-Facal (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela), Manuel Montero (Universidad del País Vasco), Pelai Pagès (Universitat de Barcelona), Ana Luna (Universidade de Vigo), Elizabete Manterola (Universidad del País Vasco), Miguel Àngel Pradilla (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Carlos-Caetano Biscainho-Fernandes (Universidade da Coruña), Mari Jose Olaziregi (Universidad del País Vasco).

PHASE 4: Identity and Cultural Hybridization: The Paniberian Context. The aim of this phase of the project is to identify and outline a particular type of cultural hybridization, defined through the dialectic with previous theoretical studies on the subject. Indeed, cultural hybridization and its multiple expressions deserve to be further investigated, to deepen its richness and complexity, through the analysis of the mechanisms of its resemantization and resymbolization, starting by the mediation –concrete and symbolic– between tradition and modernity; different dimensions, genres and art forms; individual and collective body in its social and artistic reality; up to the transmedial re-elaborations of identity elements and features. Each aspect of this polymorphic device that are glocalized societies offers an extremely suggestive and functional starting point when approaching the subject through case studies: in particular, hybridizations of text and image or action or music will be analysed; as well as the feminist and queer body in literature and the arts; the literary canon and its transmedial representations; ecoliterature and trans-generic works, which are difficult to classify within the framework of a (pre-)defined genre; or even dance and its transfer/representation in the cinema.

PARTICIPANTS: Veronica Orazi (Università di Torino), Barbara Greco (Università di Torino), Diana Cullell (University of Liverpool), Jone M. Hernández García (Universidad del País Vasco), Iratxe Esparza (Universidad del País Vasco), Meri Torras (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Iolanda Ogando (Universidad de Extremadura), Anna Boccuti (Università di Torino), M. Eulalia Agrelo Costas (Universidade de Vigo).

PHASE 5: Historical Memory and Postmemory in the Pluricultural Peninsular Hispanic Context. In the Hispanic peninsular context, the fratricidal conflict of 1936-1939, the dictatorial regime (1939-1975), the Pacto del olvido with the Ley de amnistía of 1977 and the Transition (1975-1982) outline a historical, socio-political and cultural framework that makes concrete another unicum in the global panorama of Memory and Postmemory. In this area, abundant socio-cultural manifestations deal with such theme in order to give voice to direct witnesses (victims, victimizers or those who populated the zona gris), indirect witnesses (their beloved ones) or those who were at the same time direct and indirect witnesses (such as the children stolen from Franco's regime), embodied in real and fictional figures. Among the Memory or Postmemory agents, external observers (creators, researchers, etc.) must also be included. The visions of these different categories are complementary and contribute to the recomposition of a complex reality that is difficult to reconstruct, express and transmit.

PARTICIPANTS: Veronica Orazi (Università di Torino), Barbara Greco (Università di Torino), Carme Gregori Soldevila (Universitat de València), M. Voctoria Martins Rodríguez, (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Jon Kortazar (Universidad del País Vasco), Isabel Cuñado (Bucknell University, USA), Joaquim Espinós (Universitat d'Alacant), Diego Rivadulla Costa (Universidad de Deusto), Mari Jose Olaziregi (Universidad del País Vasco), Isabel Marcillas (Universitat d'Alacant), M. Isabella Mininni (Università di Torino), Nagore Sedano (University of Puget Sound, USA), Iván Cáceres Sánchez (Universitat Politècnica de València), Enrique-Javier Díez-Gutiérrez (Universidad de León, España), Manuel Montero (Universidad del País Vasco).

PHASE 6: History, Art, Literature in/and Higher Education in Times of COVID-19 in the Paniberian Context. The global spread of the SARS-Cov-2 virus had a major impact on the world's population and transformed its existence. The fallout from this event, the quarantine, the measures to counter it and the ways in which every activity has been rethought are well known. In the field of artistic-literary creation, a rich production has flourished linked to this impactful experience, often conveyed through the web. The project will investigate the literarisation of past pandemics/epidemics and the artistic-literary manifestations inspired by the current situation that have appeared since March 2020, from the perspective of the different fields of reference: literature, language, art, history, pedagogy.

PARTICIPANTS: Veronica Orazi (Università di Torino), Barbara Greco (Università di Torino), Rosabel Roig Vila (Universitat d'Alacant), Anna Boccuti (Unito), M. Isabella Mininni (Unito), Úrsula Vacalebri Lloret (Unito-Universitat d'Alacant), Anna Ciotta (Unito), Katiuscia Darici (Università di Torino).

PHASE 7: Women and Identity. Literary and Artistic Representations in Contemporary Plural and Multicultural Hispanic Context. This Phase of the project explores a variety of iconic female literary and artistic representations of women identity within the context studied, through different methodologies. Transgeneric, cross-cultural and transnational analyses, therefore, are used to stress the peculiar ways in which characterisation of women identity is produced in this specific area and time. The results achieved demonostrate the constant re-definition of the identity profile of contemporary women, by studying artists and works from the perspective of the different scientific fields involved, which allow us to define the complex articulation of the phenomenon in this specific area. They offer an evocative overview, permitting such a diversified panorama to be reconstructed, according to chronological and geographical specificities.

PARTICIPANTS: Veronica Orazi (Unito), Amelia Benito del Valle Eskauriza (UPV),M. Isabella Mininni (Unito), Esther Gimeno Ugalde (Universität Wien), Asunción Bernárdez Rodal & Ignacio Moreno Segarra (UCM), Montserrat Palau Vergés (Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Itxaro González Guridi (UPV), Ánxela Lema París (Universidade da Coruña), Mari Jose Olaziregi Alustiza (UPV), Katiuscia Darici (Unito), Claudia De Medio (Unito), María Teresa Navarrete Navarrete (Uppsala Universitet), Adriana Nicolau Jiménez (UB), Barbara Greco (Unito), Carmen Blanco (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela), Laura Pache Carballo (UAB/Unito), Andrea Venerina (Unito), Anna Ciotta (Unito).

PHASE 8: ‘TEbeoRAPIA’. Comic and Graphic Novel in the Perspective of the SDG3 Good Health and Well-Being and SDG17 Partnerships for the Goals. Research on Comic and Graphic Novel use, aimed at strengthening the capacity to adapt and self-manage social, physical and emotional challenges (WHO 2011), according to the role of the arts in welfare (WHO 2019) and in view of SDGs 3 and 17. Comic and Graphic Novel can create/consolidate the ability to manage personal/collective experience, in order to achieve/maintain the state of well-being and the strengthening of resilience. The project will develop an interdisciplinary research in the humanistic, socio-cultural and health fields, with the application of the results in scalable workshops also in the perspective of professional upskilling (Lifelong Learning). It is the result of the cross-fertilisation of 3 Unito Departments from different scientific areas and was designed with a strong international projection, involving UNITA Alliance Partners (UPPA and Universidad de Zaragoza) as well as Universitat de València, Brock University of Toronto, Graphic Medicine Italia and Graphic Medicine International Collective.

PARTICIPANTS: Veronica Orazi (Unito), Álvaro Pons (Universitat de València), Julie Gallego (UPPA), Elena Masarah (Universidad Europea de Madrid), Laura Pache Carballo (UAB), Claudia De Medio (Unito), M. Isabella Mininni (Unito), Anna Ciotta (Unito), Blanca Mayor Serrano (Universitat de València), Gloria Olaso & Carlos Romá-Mateo (Universitat de València), Alice Scavarda (Unito), Ebru Ustundag (Brock University, Canada), Luca Ostacoli (Unito), Francesca Malandrone (Unito).