The power exercised by the mother on the son in Mediterranean cultures has been amply studied. Italy is a special case in the Modern Era and the phenomenon of Mammismo italiano is indeed well known. Scholars have traced this obsession with the mother figure to the Catholic cult of the Virgin Mary, but in fact, it is more ancient. What has not been adequately addressed however, is how Mammismo italiano has been manifested in complex ways in various modern artistic forms. Portrait of the Artist and His Mother in Twentieth-Century Italian Culture focuses on case studies of five prominent creative personalities, representing different, sometimes overlapping artistic genres (Luigi Pirandello, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Dino Buzzati, Carlo Levi, Federico Fellini). The author examines how the mother-son relationship not only affected, but actually shaped their work. Although the analysis uses mainly a psychological and psychoanalytical critical approach, the belief of the author, substantiated by historians, anthropologists and sociologists, is that historical and cultural conditions contributed to and reinforced the Italian character. This book concludes with an analysis of some examples of Italian film comedies, such as Fellini's and Monicelli's where mammismo/vitellonismo is treated with a lighter tone and a pointed self irony.
With sensitive commentary on the letters, Daniela Bini reads the plays the old maestro wrote for the young actress as the sublimation of an erotic impulse he denied throughout his life. From Diana and Tuda to The Mountain Giants, Bini maintains, Pirandello makes love to Marta in the only way he could, the mystical union of the creator and his muse.
Noted as a ‘civil poet’ by Alberto Moravia, Pier Paolo Pasolini was a creative and philosophical genius whose works challenged generations of Western Europeans and Americans to reconsider not only issues regarding the self, but also various social concerns. Pasolini’s works touched and continues to inspire students, scholars, and intellectuals alike to question the status quo. This collection of thirteen articles and two interviews evidences the on-going discourse around Pasolini’s lasting impressions on the new generation. Pasolini’s Lasting Impressions: Death, Eros and Literary Enterprise in the Opus of Pier Paolo Pasolini thus explores the civic poet’s oeuvre in four parts: poetry, theatre, film, and culture. Although the collection does not include every genre in which Pasolini wrote, it addresses many, some which often receive little or no attention, particularly in Italian Studies of North America. The underlining theme of the book, ‘death, eros and literary enterprise’ intertwines these genres in a rather unique way, allowing for inter-disciplinary interpretations to Pasolini’s rich opus. The edited volume concludes with two artists, Dacia Maraini and Ominio71’s reflections on Pasolini in the 21st century. In fact, the cover represents a recent work on Ominio71 underscoring Pasolini’s visual presence still within the Roman walls. In conclusion, this collection demonstrates how his works still influence contemporary Italian society and motivate intellectual dialogue through new theoretical outlooks on Pasolini’s oeuvre.
This is a work of recuperation, but it is also a work of real resonance in the context of today's postmodern philosophical and literary preoccupations. Bini has made a relatively unknown but no less significant figure of early twentieth-century Mitteleuropean culture live again in a rigorous, impassioned, and, in its own way, courageous piece of work."--Rebecca West, University of Chicago At the turn of the century, Carlo Michelstaedter (1887-1910) flashed through the night sky of Mitteleuropa. In this first book-length study in English of the Italian cultural figure, Daniela Bini compares her subject to a meteor, a shooting star who dazzled the world briefly with his philosophy, poetry, and painting, then shot himself at the age of twenty-three. Michelstaedter was born to a cultured Jewish family in the city of Gorizia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire where Italian was spoken. After completing high school he moved to Florence to study art and there met and tutored the Russian divorcée Nadia Baraden. Her suicide in 1907 marked the onset of the severe depression that plagued him the last three years of his life. During that time, however, he produced a body of work that anticipates existentialism in philosophy and expressionism in art; his analysis and criticism of language establish him as a forerunner of Blanchot, Bataille, and Derrida. In the frenetic intellectual and artistic activity of those years, Michelstaedter repudiated the compartmentalization of all knowledge from philosophy to science. He completed his dissertation, a powerful piece of rhetoric arguing against rhetoric, on the day he committed suicide. Bini traces the trail of Michelstaedter's star, claiming that he sheds light on the twentieth century precisely because he found philosophical discourse inadequate. Based on close readings of his papers, poetry, and letters, and on a detailed analysis of his pencil and chalk drawings, she portrays him as the emblematic figure of the turn of the century, tragically frustrated in his attempts to grasp the essence of life and a mode to express it. Daniela Bini is assistant professor of Italian at the University of Texas in Austin. She is the coauthor of Italiano in diretta: An Introductory Course and Vivere all'italiana: An Italian Reader, and the author of Fragrance from the Desert: Poetry and Philosophy in Giacomo Leopardi.
Italiano In Diretta is an introductory four-skills text, appropriate for use in a course meeting three days a week, or classes meeting four or five days a week in which significant class time is devoted to interactive work. The text features a communicative language approach, streamlined, "synthetic" grammar presentations, and a strong cultural focus. Student participation is encouraged through short dramatized dialogues and interactive activities. Authentic materials appear in every chapter, bringing present-day Italian culture directly into the classroom. A lively introduction to language and culture, combined with strong emphasis on the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, make Italiano In Diretta a solid beginning text with a contemporary flair.
The power exercised by the mother on the son in Mediterranean cultures has been amply studied. Italy is a special case in the Modern Era and the phenomenon of Mammismo italiano is indeed well known. Scholars have traced this obsession with the mother figure to the Catholic cult of the Virgin Mary, but in fact, it is more ancient. What has not been adequately addressed however, is how Mammismo italiano has been manifested in complex ways in various modern artistic forms. Portrait of the Artist and His Mother in Twentieth-Century Italian Culture focuses on case studies of five prominent creative personalities, representing different, sometimes overlapping artistic genres (Luigi Pirandello, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Dino Buzzati, Carlo Levi, Federico Fellini). The author examines how the mother-son relationship not only affected, but actually shaped their work. Although the analysis uses mainly a psychological and psychoanalytical critical approach, the belief of the author, substantiated by historians, anthropologists and sociologists, is that historical and cultural conditions contributed to and reinforced the Italian character. This book concludes with an analysis of some examples of Italian film comedies, such as Fellini's and Monicelli's where mammismo/vitellonismo is treated with a lighter tone and a pointed self irony.
Coping with Biological Growth on Stone Heritage Objects: Methods, Products, Applications, and Perspectives offers hands-on guidance for addressing the specific challenges involved in conserving historical monuments, sculptures, archaeological sites, and caves that have been attacked and colonized by micro- and macroorganisms. The volume provides many case studies of removal of biological growth with practical advice for making the right choices. It presents detailed and updated information related to biocides and to alternative substances, features that will be valuable to dealing with these challenges. The author’s goal is to provide access to information and offer the conceptual framework needed to understand complex issues, so that the reader can comprehend the nature of conservation problems and formulate her/his own views. From bacteria to plants, biological agents pose serious risks to the preservation of cultural heritage. In an effort to save heritage objects, buildings, and sites, conservators’ activities aim to arrest, mitigate, and prevent the damages caused by bacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, plants, and birds. Although much has been learned about these problems, information is scattered across meeting proceedings and assorted journals that often are not available to restorers and conservators. This book fills the gap by providing a comprehensive selection and examination of international papers published in the last fifteen years, focusing on the appropriate methods, techniques, and products that are useful for the prevention and removal of micro- and macroorganisms that grow on artificial and natural stone works of art, including wall paintings. Results on new substances with antimicrobic properties and alternative methods for the control of biological growth are presented as well. The book also emphasize issues on bioreceptivity of stones and the factors influencing biological growth and includes an outline of the various organisms able to develop on stones, a discussion on the bioprotection of stones by biofilms and lichens, a review of the main analytical techniques, and a section on bioremediation. This volume will be a valuable reference for cultural heritage conservators and restorers, scientists, and heritage-site staff involved in conservation and maintenance of buildings, archaeological sites, parks, and caves.
This book investigates the struggles for hegemony, and a possible ‘crisis of crisis management’ at the core of Italy’s political economy. With a specific focus on the conflict over the 2012 labour market reform, the book also explores the country’s trajectory in the area of economic and social reproduction. It presents a framework for critical policy analysis that draws on cultural political economy and explores its potential synergies with complementary approaches such as historical materialist policy analysis and critical discourse analysis. Readers will gain an understanding of crisis dynamics in the aftermath of 2008, and insights into related political reactions. The book will also help them develop the analytical tools needed to make sense of these puzzling phenomena.
Proverbs constitute a rich archive of historical, cultural, and linguistic significance that affect genres and linguistics codes. They circulate through writers, texts, and communities in a process that ultimately results in modifications in their structure and meanings. Hence, context plays a crucial role in defining proverbs as well as in determining their interpretation. Vincenzo Brusantino’s Le cento novella (1554), John Florio’s Firste Fruites (1578) and Second Frutes (1591), and Pompeo Sarnelli’s Posilecheata (1684) offer clear representations of how traditional wisdom and communal knowledge reflect the authors’ personal perspectives on society, culture, and literature. The analysis of the three authors’ proverbs through comparisons with classical, medieval, and early modern collections of maxims and sententiae provides insights on the fluidity of such expressions, and illustrates the tight relationship between proverbs and sociocultural factors. Brusantino’s proverbs introduce ethical interpretations to the one hundred novellas of Boccaccio’s The Decameron, which he rewrites in octaves of hendecasyllables. His text appeals to Counter-Reformation society and its demand for a comprehensible and immediately applicable morality. In Florio’s two bilingual manuals, proverbs fulfill a need for language education in Elizabethan England through authentic and communicative instruction. Florio manipulates the proverbs’ vocabulary and syntax to fit the context of his dialogues, best demonstrating the value of learning Italian in a foreign country. Sarnelli’s proverbs exemplify the inherent creative and expressive potentialities of the Neapolitan dialect vis-à-vis languages with a more robust literary tradition. As moral maxims, ironic assessments, or witty insertions, these proverbs characterize the Neapolitan community in which the fables take place.
Italiano In Diretta is an introductory four-skills text, appropriate for use in a course meeting three days a week, or classes meeting four or five days a week in which significant class time is devoted to interactive work. The text features a communicative language approach, streamlined, "synthetic" grammar presentations, and a strong cultural focus. Student participation is encouraged through short dramatized dialogues and interactive activities. Authentic materials appear in every chapter, bringing present-day Italian culture directly into the classroom. A lively introduction to language and culture, combined with strong emphasis on the four basic skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, make Italiano In Diretta a solid beginning text with a contemporary flair.
McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages
Published Date
ISBN 10
0070492670
ISBN 13
9780070492677
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