Dear colleagues,

please consider submitting an abstract to the panel: "Considerate la vostra semenza": Dante's influences on second-generation Italian authors" for the PAMLA 2023 Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon - October 26-29, 2023.

Due date for paper proposals: May 31, 2023

How to submit your proposals: All submissions must be sent on https://pamla.ballastacademic.com/User/SessionManage/18803 and via email in a single Word document entitled “Last Name PAMLA 2023” to ccaputi@gradcenter.cuny.edu and ldibattista@gradcenter.cuny.edu and must contain the following items: an abstract (maximum 200 characters), a short bio, full name, email address, and affiliation. Please use “PAMLA 2023” in the subject line.

 Abstract

In her “Revolutionary Letters”, Diane di Prima states that: “The revolutionary letters are dedicated to (…) my grandfather, Domenico Mallozzi (…) who read me Dante at the age of four”. Several second-generation Italian authors of the late modern and contemporary period claimed the importance of Dante’s influence on the artistic development of their works as well as their identity.

We are interested in exploring the reception and influence of Dante on those writers and poets born and raised abroad sharing a common Italian heritage in the style and contents of their literary works. We aim to analyze the way in which Dante’s poem have shaped a form of “italianità” in those communities outside Italy and in border areas as well as the relationship between their Italian heritage and the culture they belonged to. Is there a contrast between these two aspects? How do they influence one another?

DescriptionThe present panel aims to have a better understanding of the cultural conflict experienced by second-generation Italian authors (specifically poets) born outside Italy or in border areas through their literary works. In particular, this panel is intended to sound out how they engage with the influence and the reception of Dante Alighieri, the author who is well-known as the “father” of the Italian language and one of the pillars of Italian literary culture (alongside with Boccaccio and Petrarch). We aim to explore the style and contents of their works that underline the coexistence of a double literary culture and how these literary cultures engage with one another. We are particularly interested in detecting whether a form of “italianità” exists in those authors, and how it is related to Dante specifically as a carrier of Italian heritage. Even though the scholarship about Dante’s reception among Italian immigrants is wide, in our opinion, the specific issue of the cultural conflict experienced by second-generation and how this has been represented in their literary works is an interesting approach that will give a compelling perspective on this well-established field. Sincerely,Chiara Caputi