Telling Italy Abroad: National Narratives and the Transnational Adaptation of Italian Literature on TV

Deadline for abstract proposals (500 WORDS): August 31, 2025

As noted by scholars such as Luca Barra, Cristina Formenti, Mariapaola Pierini, and Francesco Pitassio in Italian Contemporary Screen Performers, contemporary film and television on streaming platforms often seek to convey a “universal” message, one that tends to erase or oversimplify the cultural specificity of source materials. Italian characters are frequently portrayed by non-Italians who do not speak the language, and the same is likely true for many of the writers and producers adapting literary texts from the Italian literary canon. 

This project aims to explore and illustrate how the original sources were approached by an Anglophone pool of producers and how they were received in non-Italian contexts, in a research focused on the transnational and transmedial aspects. Were the sources read, and if so, were they were read in the original language? What are some relevant differences possibly brought by the streaming platforms in narrating those stories so intertwined with Italian culture? We are particularly interested in why these texts are selected for adaptation, what aspects resonate with international audiences, and what gets lost in translation—literally and figuratively. Some recent examples of literary adaptations on streaming platforms are The Decameron (Netflix) and The Leopard (Netflix), and our research will specifically examine how female characters from these works are modified or contemporaneizzate to align with current trends and platform guidelines. We also want to investigate whether these adaptations promote Italian culture outside Italy within a transnational framework: do they result in renewed interest in Italian literature? Do they stimulate new translations or generate creative opportunities such as screenings at U.S. film festivals, compelling award seasons and new collaborations between Italian talents and American producers?

In this collected volume, we are seeking contributions analyzing the impact and/or transposition on screen of Italian literary texts, to address the following questions:

1.  How does the Anglophone world interpret literary figures from Italy? 

2.  What remains of the gender, religious, and class critiques embedded in these works when their characters are smoothed out, decontextualized, and presented without their roots? 

Contributions should cover one of the  following areas: 

1) Media and Screen Studies (TV series, RAI fiction, screen adaptations)

2) Renaissance Studies

3) Comparative Literature

4) Global Early Modern Studies

5) Italian Studies

6) Gender Studies

Timeline

• Deadline for abstract proposals: August 31, 2025

• Response to proposals: September 30, 2025

• Completed articles due: February 1, 2026

The abstract should be sent to the editors’ email addresses:  ccaputi@gradcenter.cuny.edu  and cramazzotti@gradcenter.cuny.edu