Ottobre 2025

Michele Stanco, Shakespeare: uomo di teatro, uomo di lettere, Roma, Carocci, 2025, 194 pp.

Gli studi shakespeariani sono in costante trasformazione. Metodologie di ricerca nuove, quali l’informatica umanistica, e la maggiore facilità di accesso a corpora testuali sempre più ampi hanno profondamente ridisegnato la nostra conoscenza dell’autore. Di qui la necessità di fornire uno strumento di studio aggiornato, che tenga conto delle più recenti acquisizioni relative alla ricostruzione dei testi, alla formazione del canone (con l’annessa questione dei collaborative plays), alla cronologia delle opere. Nel proporre una guida generale, il volume non rinuncia, tuttavia, a confrontarsi con una serie di problemi di carattere più specialistico. Un’ampia sezione ridiscute la vexata quaestio dei generi drammatici, analizzando il “comico” e il “tragico” alla luce delle diverse visioni del mondo ivi sottese. La sezione sulla poesia, a sua volta, rivisita le questioni relative alla cronologia dei Sonnets, e ai legami tra l’opera drammatica e l’opera poetica. Ad arricchire il quadro, il capitolo finale (attraverso un caso di studio su Edward III) riesamina il rapporto dell’autore con la pagina scritta, suggerendo che, oltre che per gli spettatori dell’epoca, Shakespeare scriveva anche per un pubblico di lettori sia presenti che futuri, rivelandosi, al contempo, uomo di teatro e uomo di lettere. Il risultato è un volume completo, di agile consultazione, che non si limita a fornire il necessario materiale informativo, ma offre altresì gli strumenti metodologici utili a cogliere, dall’interno, i fenomeni di volta in volta esplorati. Michele Stanco, Shakespeare: uomo di teatro, uomo di lettere, Roma, Carocci, 2025, 194 pp. Gli studi shakespeariani sono in costante trasformazione. Metodologie di ricerca nuove, quali l’informatica umanistica, e la maggiore facilità di accesso a corpora testuali sempre più ampi hanno profondamente ridisegnato la nostra conoscenza dell’autore. Di qui la necessità di fornire uno strumento di studio aggiornato, che tenga conto delle più recenti acquisizioni relative alla ricostruzione dei testi, alla formazione del canone (con l’annessa questione dei collaborative plays), alla cronologia delle opere. Nel proporre una guida generale, il volume non rinuncia, tuttavia, a confrontarsi con una serie di problemi di carattere più specialistico. Un’ampia sezione ridiscute la vexata quaestio dei generi drammatici, analizzando il “comico” e il “tragico” alla luce delle diverse visioni del mondo ivi sottese. La sezione sulla poesia, a sua volta, rivisita le questioni relative alla cronologia dei Sonnets, e ai legami tra l’opera drammatica e l’opera poetica. Ad arricchire il quadro, il capitolo finale (attraverso un caso di studio su Edward III) riesamina il rapporto dell’autore con la pagina scritta, suggerendo che, oltre che per gli spettatori dell’epoca, Shakespeare scriveva anche per un pubblico di lettori sia presenti che futuri, rivelandosi, al contempo, uomo di teatro e uomo di lettere. Il risultato è un volume completo, di agile consultazione, che non si limita a fornire il necessario materiale informativo, ma offre altresì gli strumenti metodologici utili a cogliere, dall’interno, i fenomeni di volta in volta esplorati.

Michele Stanco, Shakespeare: uomo di teatro, uomo di lettere, Roma, Carocci, 2025, 194 pp. Read More »

AIA BOOK and PHD Prize 2025 – Premi e Commissioni

AIA BOOK PRIZE 2025: Camilla Caporicci, The Song of Songs and Its Tradition in Renaissance Love Lyric, Oxford University Press, 2024 AIA JUNIOR BOOK PRIZE 2025: Marta Fossati, The South African Short Story in English, 1920–2010, When Aesthetics Meets Ethics, Oxford University Press, 2024 AIA PHD PRIZE 2025: Lellida Vittoria Marinelli, Being a Contemporary Woman Writer. Il saggio sulla scrittura: Deborah Levy, Jeanette Winterson e Zadie Smith, Università di Napoli ‘L’Orientale’, 2025 (relatrice: Anna Maria Cimitile) Commissione AIA BOOK e AIA JUNIOR BOOK PRIZE 2025 Diego Saglia (Università di Parma) Presidente Emma Sdegno (Università di Venezia) Serenella Zanotti (Università di Roma Tre) Supplente: Pietro Luigi Iaia (Università del Salento) Commissione AIA PHD PRIZE 2025 Maddalena Pennacchia (Università di Roma Tre) Presidente Mirko Casagranda (Università della Calabria) Fernando Cioni (Università di Firenze) Supplente: Patrizia Anesa (Università di Bergamo)

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Call for Seminar Papers Disinformation in and out: Qualitative Linguistic Analyses of Digital Disinformation Texts 18th ESSE Conference 31st August-4th September 2026 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Convenors:Dominika Beneš Kováčová (University of Ostrava, Czech Republic)dominika.kovacova@osu.czMassimiliano Demata (University of Catania, Italy) massimiliano.demata@unict.itJiří Lukl (University of Ostrava, Czech Republic) jiri.lukl@osu.cz With the challenges and crises of recent years, digital disinformation texts (in popular – though not always precise – usage also referred to as ‘fake news’) have become increasingly popular and seem to have gained ground among various groups of internet users. Defined as “false information [that] is knowingly shared to cause harm” (Wardle & Derakhshan, 2017), disinformation is essentially the result of one’s text production – shaped by the author’s intentions that manifest themselves in the text’s intentionality (cf. Haugh & Jaszczolt, 2012) – and its spread is contingent on the readers’perception and further interaction with it. While previous (primarily quantitative) studies of disinformation texts have mainly focused on disinformation detection by identifying recurrent grammatical patterns and stylistic features (e.g., Grieve & Woodfield, 2023), this seminar seeks to bring together contributions that expand this research and underline the relevance and potential of qualitative analyses of disinformation discourse currently on the rise (e.g., Maci et al., 2024). Acknowledging the methodological and ethical challenges this kind of research faces, the seminar takes into account the diversity of the topics disinformation texts are devoted to (e.g., immigration, conflicts, climate change, conspiracy theories) as well as the variety of their discursive structures and formats (e.g., anti-establishment websites, social media posts, online broadcasts). Given the impact disinformation texts are likely to exert both online and outside the digital environment, the seminar also aims to emphasize that adding a critical dimension to the analysis may be necessary in certain contexts. Considering the above, we invite contributions exploring disinformation texts from a qualitative linguistic perspective that address (but are not restricted to) the following areas: – recurrent linguistic and multimodal strategies– adopted argumentative strategies– linguistic differences between mainstream news and disinformation texts (e.g., information-structural, lexical and other features)– uptake and audience reactions to disinformation texts– cross-linguistic differences between disinformation texts References:Grieve, J., & Woodfield, H. (2023). The Language of Fake News. Cambridge University Press.Haugh, M., & Jaszczolt, K. M. (2012). Speaker Intentions and Intentionality. In K. Allan and K. M. Jaszczolt (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Pragmatics (pp. 87-122). Cambridge University Press.Maci, S. M., Demata, M., McGlashan, M., & Seargeant, P. (Eds.). (2024). The Routledge Handbook of Discourse and Disinformation. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003224495Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information Disorder: Toward an Interdisciplinary Framework for Research and Policy Making. Council of Europe. https://edoc.coe.int/en/media/7495-information-disorder-toward-an-interdisciplinary-framework-for-research-and-policy-making.html Deadline for the submission of proposals for seminar papers (300 words excl.bibliographical references) to seminar convenors: 31 January 2026For further information, see the conference website: www.esse2026.com

Call for Seminar Papers Disinformation in and out: Qualitative Linguistic Analyses of Digital Disinformation Texts 18th ESSE Conference 31st August-4th September 2026 Santiago de Compostela, Spain Read More »

Giornata di studi interdipartimentale – 7 novembre 2025 Dalla Didattica dell’inglese all’Educazione Plurilingue: ricerca, innovazione e formazione per il primo ciclo di istruzione Dipartimento di Lingue, Letterature e Culture straniere – Dipartimento di Scienze Umane e Sociali – Università di Bergamo

Aula Castoldi, Sede di S. Agostino – Bergamo  Comitato scientifico-organizzativoCoordinamento: Roberta Grassi, Valentina Adami, Ilaria Borro Membri: Patrizia Anesa, Martina Bellinzona, Chiara Brambilla, Paola Gandolfi, Silvia Minardi, Michele Sala Presentazione La Giornata intende riunire prospettive innovative sulla didattica e la formazione dei docenti di Inglese. In dialogo con le istanze di equità, diversità e inclusione del dibattito internazionale, viene proposta una declinazione plurilingue della didattica dell’inglese, che trasformi quella che è di solito la prima lingua straniera incontrata in una porta per lo sviluppo della Competenza Plurilingue e Interculturale (QCER, 2001). I contributi uniranno ricerca accademica e condivisione di esperienze didattiche e laboratoriali con futuri insegnanti, per favorire lo scambio di dati, riflessioni ed esempi di innovazione metodologica, in linea con i principi del Consiglio d’Europa (Recommendation CM/Rec(2022)1 on The importance of Plurilingual and Intercultural Education, Council of Europe). La Tavola Rotonda finale, con docenti universitari, insegnanti in formazione e in servizio, offrirà un’occasione di dialogo tra ricerca e pratica didattica, promuovendo collaborazione e arricchimento reciproco. La Giornata adotta una politica linguistica inclusiva e plurilingue: le lingue principali saranno italiano e inglese, con aperture a lingue romanze e dialetti d’Italia, valorizzando pratiche discorsive e testuali fluide e multimodali.

Giornata di studi interdipartimentale – 7 novembre 2025 Dalla Didattica dell’inglese all’Educazione Plurilingue: ricerca, innovazione e formazione per il primo ciclo di istruzione Dipartimento di Lingue, Letterature e Culture straniere – Dipartimento di Scienze Umane e Sociali – Università di Bergamo Read More »

CALL FOR PAPERS International Conference Regional Perspectives, Planetary Reach. Themes, Genres, Forms of Narration in Contemporary Irish and Scottish Fiction University of Naples “L’Orientale” (Conference Hall, Du Mesnil Palace) 28-29 May 2026

Regional Perspectives, Planetary Reach. Themes, Genres, Forms of Narration in Contemporary Irish and Scottish FictionUniversity of Naples “L’Orientale” (Conference Hall, Du Mesnil Palace)28-29 May 2026 Since the turn of the millennium, the European Anglophone literary scene has seen a growing prominence of Scottish and Irish fiction. This is evidenced by the numerous awards given to writers of Scottish and Irish origin and/or residence over the last two decades. What is particularly remarkable about this productivity is the ability of these writers to combine an interest in identities that can be significantly characterised as local/regional or migrant, with the ability to represent, on the global stage of the West, all the thematic and genre trends closely connected to the most pressing current events and the urgencies of contemporaneity. Climate change and eco-anxieties, the disintegration of democracy and civil coexistence, the culture of hate and apocalyptic imaginings of the future, identity politics and, in particular, the question of identities and gender relations are promptly and appropriately articulated in a stylistic-expressive variety that ranges from particularly effective and original forms of realism to speculative and dystopian tendencies intertwined with all possible narrative subgenres. Authors such as Ali Smith or Paul Lynch, to name just a couple among many others, have shown the ability to renew contemporary literary canons by combining stylistic innovation and formal experimentation with a firm grasp on contemporary reality, problematising its observation and narration. Both from the perspective of the stories and themes they address and from the formal perspective of linguistic and expressive research, these two literary scenes are therefore extremely interesting and capable of intersecting critical perspectives informed by the most recent theories in the fields of the post-humanities and metamodernism. Call for SubmissionsThe Conference organisers invite scholars and researchers interested in this area and its latest trends in fiction, poetry, drama, cinema, TV series, digital media, and critical theory to submitproposals for 20-minute presentations.Possible topics include but are not limited to:● Identity and Place: The dynamics of cultural identity. Local, traditional, diasporic, global, and ‘glocal’.● Ecocriticism and the Anthropocene: Ecological and environmental affect in eco-gothic, eco-catastrophic, and narratives of the climate crisis.● Politics and Speculation: Dystopian and speculative fiction as responses to contemporary socio-political scenarios, neoliberalism, and late capitalism.● Intersectionality and Embodiment: Representations of race, class, gender, and sexuality; queer identities and feminist perspectives.● The Post-Human Condition: Perspectives on transhumanism, post-humanism, affect theory, and embodiment.● Theories of the Contemporary: Post-postmodernism, metamodernism, off-modernism, and deep realism.● Form and Genre: Narrative techniques, genre hybridisation, autofiction, and autotheory.● Linguistic Experimentation: The aesthetics and politics of dialect, multilingualism, and experimental language.● Myth and Memory: Folklore-inspired narratives and mythic retellings within or beyond the Celtic sphere.● Media Convergence: Critical approaches to adaptations, TV series, films, and digital storytelling.● The Literary Marketplace: The impact of literary prizes on circulation, canonisation, and promotion; Translation and reception studies. Please submit the following documents in a single Word (.docx) or PDF file:– An abstract of 250-300 words.– A short, selective bibliography.– A brief biographical note (maximum 150 words), including affiliation and contact information. Proposals should be submitted to: IRSConference2026@gmail.com. Key DatesSubmission Deadline: 10 January 2026Notifications of acceptance and further details, including information about the conference fee, will be communicated by the end of January 2026. Internet sitehttps://sites.google.com/view/irsconference/home-pageShort URLhttps://shorturl.at/gGrsX Scientific/Organising CommitteeRossella Ciocca, Marta Cariello, Giuseppe De Riso, Daniela Vitolo, Luca Sarti, Gaia Zaccaro. 1 (2)(1) 2 (2)(1) 3 (2)(1)

CALL FOR PAPERS International Conference Regional Perspectives, Planetary Reach. Themes, Genres, Forms of Narration in Contemporary Irish and Scottish Fiction University of Naples “L’Orientale” (Conference Hall, Du Mesnil Palace) 28-29 May 2026 Read More »

CALL FOR PAPERS Post-truth and populism in politics, communication and discourse (Status Quaestionis, December 2026)

Edited by Massimiliano Demata and Donatella Montini This issue of Status Quaestionis seeks to investigate contemporary political communication from a sociolinguistic perspective, with particular attention to the phenomena of post-truth and populist discourse. In recent years, the relationship between language, politics, and society has been profoundly reshaped by the impact of social media, the spread of polarizing narratives, and the erosion of the traditional link between factual truth and public credibility. In this context, where “fake news”, “alternative facts”, and algorithmically driven amplification circulate at scale, the stakes for democratic debate are increasingly high. This issue of SQ aims to provide a critical contribution to the understanding of ongoing transformations in political communication, while reflecting on the risks and opportunities for democratic debate in a context increasingly marked by fragmentation, disinformation, and discursive oversimplification. It welcomes analyses that foreground how discursive practices shape public credibility, the mobilization of identities, and the production of simplified oppositions between “the people” and “the elites.” We will publish original papers drawing on textual corpora from public speeches, electoral campaigns, and digital interactions, examining how rhetorical strategies and linguistic choices contribute to redefining discursive authority, influencing not only electoral dynamics but also the collective perception of reality (including, crucially, social reality). Approaches may include or combine insights from discourse analysis, pragmatics, and critical sociolinguistics, with the goal of identifying recurring patterns in populist political language and assessing how these contribute to the construction of a simplified, oppositional, and identity-based imaginary. In view of the publication of this issue, we invite scholars to submit a 250-word proposal for an article. Contributions may address one or more of the following areas, or propose alternative topics closely related to them:Discursive constructions of truth, authority, and legitimacy in the post-truth eraPopulist rhetoric: linguistic, pragmatic, and stylistic strategiesPolitical discourse, polarization, and identity-buildingLanguage, emotions, and the mobilization of publicsThe role of metaphors, narratives, and frames in populist communicationDigital discourse, social media dynamics, and disinformationCritical Discourse Analysis, corpus-based studies, and computational approaches to political languageComparative perspectives on populist discourse in national and international contextsInterdisciplinary intersections: sociolinguistics, political science, media studies, and philosophy of languageWe further welcome contributions that explore:Platform-mediated dynamics (algorithmic visibility, virality, and influencer ecologies) and their effects on discursive authority and credibility;Conspiracy and post-truth formations as pragmatic and interactional practices (e.g., social validation through repetition).Abstracts (250 words), together with a short bio, should be sent to Massimiliano Demata (massimiliano.demata@unict.itD and Donatella Montini (donatella.montini@uniroma1.it).Final manuscripts should average 6,500 words (approximately 40,000 characters, including spaces).Deadline for abstract submission: 15 November.Deadline for final papers: 15 April.Expected publication date: December 2026ReferencesBergmann, Eirikur (2018). Conspiracy & Populism: The Politics of Misinformation. London: Palgrave.Bouvier, Gwen, & Machin, David (2020). Critical Discourse Analysis and the Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media. London: Routledge.Charteris-Black, Jonathan (2005). Politicians and Rhetoric. The Persuasive Power of Metaphor. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.Charteris-Black, Jonathan (2014). Analysing Political Speeches. Rhetoric, Discourse, Metaphor. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Demata, Massimiliano (2018). ““I think that maybe I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Twitter”. Donald Trump’s Populist Style on Twitter.” Textus 31, 1, pp. 67-90.Di Martino, Elena, Blaxill, Luke. (eds.) (2018). Aspects of Political Language in the Age of “Post-Democracy” and Beyond. Textus 31, 1.Edelman, Murray (1964). The Symbolic Uses of Politics. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.Edelman, Murray (1988). Constructing the Political Spectacle. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Fairclough, Norman (1989). Language and Power. London: Longman.Foucault, Michel (2002) (1969). The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Routledge.Foucault, Michel (1976). Sorvegliare e punire. Torino: Einaudi.Judis, John B. (2016). The Populist Explosion. How the Great Recession Transformed American and European Politics. New York: Columbia Global Reports.Khosravinik, Majid (2018). “Social Media Techno-Discursive Design, Affective Communication and Contemporary Politics.” Fudan J. Hum. Soc. Sci. 11, 427–442.Khosravinik, Majid (ed.) (2020). Social Media Critical Discourse Studies. London, Routledge.Levitsky Steven & Ziblatt, Daniel (2018). How Democracies Die. What History Reveals About Our Future. New York: Penguin.Mazzoleni, Gianpietro (1998). La comunicazione politica. Bologna: Il Mulino.Moffitt, Benjamin (2016). The Global Rise of Populism. Performance, Political Style, and Representation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.Montini, Donatella (2019). “Hockey Moms and Pitbulls: Populist Discourse and Female Leaders”. Costellazioni 8, 89-108.Mudde Cas, Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristòbal (2015). “Vox Populi or Vox Masculini? Populism and Gender in Northern Europe and South America.” Patterns of Prejudice 49 (1-2), 16-36.Mudde Cas, Rovira Kaltwasser, Cristòbal (2017). Populism. A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Taggart, Paul (2000). Populism. Buckingham: Open University Press.van Dijk, Teun (1997). Discourse as Structure and Process. London: Sage.Wodak, Ruth (2020). The Politics of Fear. The Shameless Normalization of Far-Right Discourse. Second edition. London: Sage.

CALL FOR PAPERS Post-truth and populism in politics, communication and discourse (Status Quaestionis, December 2026) Read More »

CALL FOR PAPERS: ContactZone “Unruly Bodies and Astral Corporealities in Science Fiction Cinema and Television Series”, edited by G. Balirano and O. Palusci

We are pleased to share the Call for Papers for a special issue of ContactZone (ISSN: 2723-8881), titled “Unruly Bodies and Astral Corporealities in Science Fiction Cinema and Television Series”, edited by Giuseppe Balirano (University of Naples L’Orientale) and Oriana Palusci. This special issue explores how science fiction films and television series stage non-normative embodiments – both terrestrial and astral – to challenge conventional narratives about gender, sexuality, ability, and monstrosity. Contributions are invited on the ways in which sci-fi narratives construct, critique, and celebrate bodies that resist classification, disturb comfort zones, and gesture toward new forms of being in the universe. Key Dates:– Abstracts (300 words) and bio-note (100 words) due: 30 October 2025– Notification of acceptance: 10 November 2025– Full papers due: 20 January 2026– Publication: May 2026 Full details are available in the attached Call for Papers. Please feel free to circulate this Call for Papers among colleagues and networks who might be interested.

CALL FOR PAPERS: ContactZone “Unruly Bodies and Astral Corporealities in Science Fiction Cinema and Television Series”, edited by G. Balirano and O. Palusci Read More »

CALL FOR PAPERS: LEA (Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente) Special Issue on “Transimperial Encounters: Networks of Cultural and Literary Exchange Between India and Europe, 1870-1947”

LEA (Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente) is pleased to invite submissions for its forthcoming special issue: “Transimperial Encounters: Networks of Cultural and Literary Exchange Between India and Europe, 1870-1947”Edited by Prof. Ujjwal Jana (University of Delhi, India) and Prof. Greta Perletti (University of Trento, Italy) Articles intended for publication (6,000-7,000 words in length), accompanied by an abstract (see stylesheet), should be submitted to the Guest Editors – Prof. Ujjwal Jana (ujana@english.du.ac.in) and Prof. Greta Perletti (greta.perletti@unitn.it) – by 8 June 2026. The complete Call for Papers is available here:https://journals.fupress.net/call-for-paper/transimperial-encounters-networks-of-cultural-and-literary-exchange-between-india-and-europe-1870-1947/

CALL FOR PAPERS: LEA (Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente) Special Issue on “Transimperial Encounters: Networks of Cultural and Literary Exchange Between India and Europe, 1870-1947” Read More »

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