Books by Pierpaolo Antonello
This book explores the relationship between literature and science in 20th century Italian writin... more This book explores the relationship between literature and science in 20th century Italian writing, with particular reference to Italo Calvino, Primo Levi, Carlo Emilio Gadda and Leonardo Sinisgalli.
René Girard is one of the most divisive and striking intellectuals of the 20th century. Over the ... more René Girard is one of the most divisive and striking intellectuals of the 20th century. Over the past forty years, his work has continued to exert an influence across literary theory, philosophy and the social sciences. Echoing the format of his early works, Evolution and Conversion brings Girard into dialogue with two sympathetic interviewers and allows him to speak candidly about the major tenets of his life and thought. Hailed by Michel Serres as "the Charles Darwin" of human sciences, Girard is in fact one of the few thinkers who has given full consideration to an evolutionary perspective to explain the emergence of culture and institutions. Evolution and Conversion draws out not only this aspect of his thought but also emphasises the centrality of religion to his work. Girard's reflection on the relationship between violence and religion is both original and persuasive and, given the urgency of this issue in our contemporary world, in need of a reappraisal.
... Los orígenes de la cultura: conversaciones con Pierpaolo Antonello y João Cezar de Castro Roc... more ... Los orígenes de la cultura: conversaciones con Pierpaolo Antonello y João Cezar de Castro Rocha. Información General. Autores: René Girard, Pierpaolo Antonello, João Cezar de Castro Rocha; Editores: Madrid : Trotta, 2006; Año de publicación: 2006; País: España; ...
Edited Books by Pierpaolo Antonello
Configurations, Jan 1, 2000
Forum for Modern Language Studies, 2012
No other European country experienced the disruption of political and everyday life suffered by I... more No other European country experienced the disruption of political and everyday life suffered by Italy in the so-called 'years of lead' (1969-c.1983), when there were more than 12,000 incidents of terrorist violence. This experience affected all aspects of Italian cultural life, shaping political, judicial and everyday language as well as artistic representation of every kind. In this innovative and broad-ranging study, experts from the fields of philosophy, history, media, law, cinema, theatre and literary studies trace how the experience and legacies of terrorism have determined the form and content of Italian cultural production and shaped the country's way of thinking about such events.
"The debate over the place of religion in secular, democratic societies dominates philosophical a... more "The debate over the place of religion in secular, democratic societies dominates philosophical and intellectual discourse. These arguments often polarize around simplistic reductions, making efforts at reconciliation impossible. Yet more rational stances do exist, positions that broker a peace between relativism and religion in people's public, private, and ethical lives.
Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith advances just such a dialogue, featuring the collaboration of two major philosophers known for their progressive approach to this issue. Seeking unity over difference, Gianni Vattimo and René Girard turn to Max Weber, Eric Auerbach, and Marcel Gauchet, among others, in their exploration of truth and liberty, relativism and faith, and the tensions of a world filled with new forms of religiously inspired violence.
Vattimo and Girard ultimately conclude that secularism and the involvement (or lack thereof) of religion in governance are, in essence, produced by Christianity. In other words, Christianity is "the religion of the exit from religion," and democracy, civil rights, the free market, and individual freedoms are all facilitated by Christian culture. Through an exchange that is both intimate and enlightening, Vattimo and Girard share their unparalleled insight into the relationships among religion, modernity, and the role of Christianity, especially as it exists in our multicultural world."
The links between literature and science have been the subject of increasing interest in recent y... more The links between literature and science have been the subject of increasing interest in recent years, as writers and scientists have tried to bridge the gap between 'the two cultures'. In this volume dedicated to the work of Pat Boyde, the distinguished British Dantist, leading scholars from Britain, North America and Italy explore this interdisciplinary movement in Italian literature. The twelve chapters encompass four broad periods - Medieval, Renaissance, Enlightenment to Positivism, and the Twentieth Century - and examine new connections between the discourses of literature and science in the works of Italy's greatest writers, from Dante to Calvino.
Proceedings of a conference held in Falconara, Italy in 2006. It is a systematic appraisal of the... more Proceedings of a conference held in Falconara, Italy in 2006. It is a systematic appraisal of the explanatory power of the René Girard's interpretative framework as put forward in Mensonge romantique et verité romanesque, specifically in relation to one of the key European literary tradition. The book aims to show how many classic authors of Italian literature can be illuminated by Girard's mimetic theory. Contributions on Dante, Ariosto, Tasso, Manzoni, Svevo, Pasolini, Sciascia, Morante.
The representation of violence in contemporary cinema analyzed through René Girard's theory of sa... more The representation of violence in contemporary cinema analyzed through René Girard's theory of sacrifice and scapegoating. It includes essays by René Girard (The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson), Andrew McKenna (Federico Fellini), Diana Culbertson (Au revoir les enfants, Louis Malle), Edmund Arens (Dead man walking, Tim Robbins), Pierpaolo Antonello (Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino), Maria Stella Barberi (The Funeral, Abel Ferrara), Giuseppe Fornari (Eyes wide shut, Stanley Kubrik), Andrea Mubi Brighenti and Alessandro Castelli (Lars Von Trier), Marco Rovelli (Dogville, Lars Von Trier), Olivier Maurel (Zelig, Woody Allen)
"This book challenges widespread and largely negative assumptions about Italian postmodernism and... more "This book challenges widespread and largely negative assumptions about Italian postmodernism and postmodernism in general. It considers contemporary Italian culture as a particularly interesting testing-ground for pluriform struggles of an ethical or political kind, struggles which build upon, whilst rejecting the essentialist assumptions behind, conventional notions of artistic commitment, or impegno.
Drawing on a variety of cultural fields and artistic media - from cinema to the literary genres of autobiography, romance and the giallo; from feminism to pensiero debole; from theatrical performance to shared practices of cultural memory - the volume charts instances of ethical commitment and emancipatory social and political intervention in Italian culture within a post-ideological and post-hegemonic framework, siding with a more constructive and less 'apocalyptic' analysis of the cultural climate of the past two decades in Italy. This balancing act is described by the contributors as 'postmodern impegno'. The authors, artists and thinkers discussed in the essays include, among others, Eraldo Affinati, Adriana Cavarero, Marco Tullio Giordana, Carlo Lucarelli, Nanni Moretti, Marco Paolini, Roberto Saviano, Gianni Vattimo and Antonio Tabucchi."
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Books by Pierpaolo Antonello
Edited Books by Pierpaolo Antonello
Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith advances just such a dialogue, featuring the collaboration of two major philosophers known for their progressive approach to this issue. Seeking unity over difference, Gianni Vattimo and René Girard turn to Max Weber, Eric Auerbach, and Marcel Gauchet, among others, in their exploration of truth and liberty, relativism and faith, and the tensions of a world filled with new forms of religiously inspired violence.
Vattimo and Girard ultimately conclude that secularism and the involvement (or lack thereof) of religion in governance are, in essence, produced by Christianity. In other words, Christianity is "the religion of the exit from religion," and democracy, civil rights, the free market, and individual freedoms are all facilitated by Christian culture. Through an exchange that is both intimate and enlightening, Vattimo and Girard share their unparalleled insight into the relationships among religion, modernity, and the role of Christianity, especially as it exists in our multicultural world."
Drawing on a variety of cultural fields and artistic media - from cinema to the literary genres of autobiography, romance and the giallo; from feminism to pensiero debole; from theatrical performance to shared practices of cultural memory - the volume charts instances of ethical commitment and emancipatory social and political intervention in Italian culture within a post-ideological and post-hegemonic framework, siding with a more constructive and less 'apocalyptic' analysis of the cultural climate of the past two decades in Italy. This balancing act is described by the contributors as 'postmodern impegno'. The authors, artists and thinkers discussed in the essays include, among others, Eraldo Affinati, Adriana Cavarero, Marco Tullio Giordana, Carlo Lucarelli, Nanni Moretti, Marco Paolini, Roberto Saviano, Gianni Vattimo and Antonio Tabucchi."
Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith advances just such a dialogue, featuring the collaboration of two major philosophers known for their progressive approach to this issue. Seeking unity over difference, Gianni Vattimo and René Girard turn to Max Weber, Eric Auerbach, and Marcel Gauchet, among others, in their exploration of truth and liberty, relativism and faith, and the tensions of a world filled with new forms of religiously inspired violence.
Vattimo and Girard ultimately conclude that secularism and the involvement (or lack thereof) of religion in governance are, in essence, produced by Christianity. In other words, Christianity is "the religion of the exit from religion," and democracy, civil rights, the free market, and individual freedoms are all facilitated by Christian culture. Through an exchange that is both intimate and enlightening, Vattimo and Girard share their unparalleled insight into the relationships among religion, modernity, and the role of Christianity, especially as it exists in our multicultural world."
Drawing on a variety of cultural fields and artistic media - from cinema to the literary genres of autobiography, romance and the giallo; from feminism to pensiero debole; from theatrical performance to shared practices of cultural memory - the volume charts instances of ethical commitment and emancipatory social and political intervention in Italian culture within a post-ideological and post-hegemonic framework, siding with a more constructive and less 'apocalyptic' analysis of the cultural climate of the past two decades in Italy. This balancing act is described by the contributors as 'postmodern impegno'. The authors, artists and thinkers discussed in the essays include, among others, Eraldo Affinati, Adriana Cavarero, Marco Tullio Giordana, Carlo Lucarelli, Nanni Moretti, Marco Paolini, Roberto Saviano, Gianni Vattimo and Antonio Tabucchi."
Through a variety of inputs from experts in philosophy, literary studies, law, history, media, cinema and theatre, this study outlines how left- and right-wing Italian terrorism has been portrayed
in the arts. As stated by the editors, its main focal point is the re-meditation of the so-called ‘Anni di piombo’ (c. 1969–83), a period in Italy’s recent past that has been described as a ‘minor civil war’. The parallel between the historical situation and its representation is constantly guaranteed by an effective, punctual contextualization largely based on original documents such as news transcripts, excerpts from the victims’ notes or interviews, and passages of terrorists’ confessions. Although the critical and exegetical bibliography on Italian terrorism and its literary and cinematographic transpositions is substantial, this broad-ranging collection of fourteen essays is innovative in offering an extremely rich and multi-faceted portrait of this complex topic. Thanks to the juxtaposition of very different perspectives and interests, the study makes a real contribution to show how terrorist brutality was expressed, encoded and schematized by the people involved in these dramatic events even before the violent actions became the object of rhetorical analysis, and the subject of different kinds of fiction. By considering some of the most emblematic moments of this period alongside peripheral episodes, this research aims also to demonstrate how the wide spectrum of fictional re-thinking of such a traumatic past has become an important means of working through this national trauma.
Venue: University of London, Room 234, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
EVENT OVERVIEW
While Primo Levi is mainly known for his painstaking and harsh books about his imprisonment in Auschwitz, he also wrote two collections of short stories that can be labelled as science fiction: 'Storie naturali' (1966) and 'Vizio di forma' (1971). A chemist by training, Levi wrote these stories at a time when science fiction was still perceived as unworthy of attention by Italian intellectuals—to the extent that 'Storie naturali' was initially published under a pseudonym. In both books, Levi uses science fiction to investigate the ethical implications of technological progress and probe its hidden and inherent flaws while adopting a tone that was only apparently light. The eerie effect reached by many of these short stories is due to a strong clash: the literary genre was considered superficial and disengaged by the vast majority of Levi’s contemporaries, and yet the writer addresses crucial existential questions in his narrations of clones, intelligent technologies, mutant animals.
By drawing attention to Levi’s contributions in science fiction, this one-day conference aims to contribute to reshaping the scholarly reputation of this genre within Italian Studies and to question Levi’s perception vis-à-vis his position within the hierarchy of genres. This event brings together some of the most renowned scholars who have explored the intersections between his work and science fiction. The speakers will dialogue with early-career researchers and established Levi scholars to foster the debate on this new area of research and explore it from an interdisciplinary perspective.