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Le autobiografie dei semicolti: scrittura e lettura nelle memorie di due contadini tra XIX e XX secolo
No full textThe essay compares two autobiographies produced in rural contexts between the 19th and 20th C., in order to investigate how writing functions as a means of individual emancipation and identity construction. At the heart of the analysis are the memoirs of Raffaele Codino (1836–1912), from Liguria, and Vincenzo Rabito (1899–1981),from Sicily. While Rabito’s posthumously published autobiography (Terra matta, 2007) has already attracted substantial scholarly attention, nothing was previously known about two works by Raffaele Codino, recently discovered by Marco Francalanci. Francalanci edited these texts, accompanied by a rich introductory essay, in a new edition published by Ronzani (2024). The two works include a fictional narrative, Il trasporto del pensiero, and an autobiographical account entitled Autobiografia della storia della disastrosa vita di Codino Raffaele, both self-published in Savona in 1905 and 1906, respectively. Codino’s autobiography recounts a life marked by paternal abandonment, poverty, and various social and cultural barriers that hindered his access to formal education. Nonetheless, the text also conveys a persistent determination to achieve self-emancipation through writing – rendered in an uncertain Italian, heavily influenced by orality, and characteristic of so-called “semi-literate” authors. Il trasporto del pensiero, by contrast, is a fictional work shaped by Codino’s exposure to popular science and early science fiction literature, which he reinterprets according to his own worldview and sensibilities. A comparison with Rabito’s memoir – written in an oral register imbued with “Sicilianisms” – highlights fundamental differences: while Codino strives to imitate bookish writing, Rabito, a “narrator of pure instinct,” draws expressive power from oral storytelling. His narrative acquires a collective dimension, particularly in the passages recounting his involvement in World War I alongside the “ragazzi del ’99.” For Rabito, writing becomes a tool for personal and generational redemption – a way of making sense of a life “mistreated and much troubled.”Il saggio mette a confronto due autobiografie nate in contesti rurali tra XIX e XX secolo, per indagare come la scrittura diventi strumento di emancipazione individuale e di costruzione dell’identità. Al centro dell’analisi vi sono le memorie del ligure Raffaele Codino (1836-1912) e quelle del siciliano Vincenzo Rabito (1899-1981). Se sull’autobiografia di Rabito, pubblicata postuma (Terra matta, 2007) esistono numerosi studi, nulla si sapeva finora su due opere di Raffaele Codino, scoperte da Marco Francalanci, che ne ha curato un’edizione con un ricco saggio introduttivo presso l’editore Ronzani (2024). Si tratta di un testo di finzione, Il trasporto del pensiero e di un’Autobiografia della storia della disastrosa vita di Codino Raffaele, pubblicati a sue spese a Savona rispettivamente nel 1905 e nel 1906. L’autobiografia di Codino ripercorre una vita segnata dall’abbandono paterno, dalla povertà e da ostacoli sociali e culturali che gli resero arduo l’accesso all’istruzione. Tuttavia, il testo mostra anche una determinazione costante a emanciparsi attraverso la scrittura, affidata a un italiano incerto e mescolato all’oralità, secondo modalità tipiche dei semicolti. Il trasporto del pensiero, invece, si presenta come un testo di finzione, influenzato da letture di divulgazione scientifica e proto-fantascientifica, che Codino rielabora secondo la propria sensibilità e visione del mondo. Il confronto con l’autobiografia di Rabito, scritta in una lingua orale impastata di “sicilianismi”, mette in luce differenze sostanziali: mentre Codino fa ogni sforzo per imitare la scrittura libresca, Rabito, un “narratore di puro istinto”, trae forza espressiva dall’affabulazione orale. Il suo racconto si carica di una valenza corale nelle pagine in cui ricorda la sua partecipazione, insieme ai “ragazzi del ‘99”, alla prima guerra mondiale. La scrittura diventa per Rabito uno strumento di riscatto personale e generazionale, un modo per dare senso a una vita “maletratata e molto travagliata”
Taxonomic and phylogenetic study of the genus Lecaimmeria (Lecideaceae, Ascomycota) reveals two new species from Pakistan
No full textTwo new species, Lecaimmeria pallidobrunnea sp. nov. and L. sultanii sp. nov. from Gilgit-Baltistan (Pakistan) are described here. A comparative morpho-anatomical, chemical and molecular based analyses confirmed the positions of both species within the genus Lecaimmeria. For molecular analyses ribosomal ITS and LSU regions were sequenced. Lecaimmeria pallidobrunnea differs from its closely related species, L. asiatica, by having hyaline conidiophores, pale brown to blackish brown or gray upper surface, grayish black to brownish black prothallus and growing on calcareous rocks in cold, semi-arid environment. Lecaimmeria sultanii differs from its closely related species, L. crispula, by having brownish gray to light black or dark gray upper surface, visible grayish black prothallus between areoles, apothecia 1–3 per areole, grayish brown to reddish brown apothecial disc, smaller epihymenium 10–20 µm, smaller hypothecium 50–90 µm, smaller ascospores 13–23 × 10–15 µm and growing on calcareous rocks
“Honorable men”: Robert E. Lee, Erwin Rommel, and the Memory and Forgetting of Defeat and Guilt
No full textIn October 2017, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly criticized those who wanted to bring down statues of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, defending him as “an honorable man.” Geraldo Rivera also took part in the heated debate about Confederate monuments: “#RobertELee is a lot like #ErwinRommel a glorious yet failed warrior, untarnished by the sins of his brothers.” With his tweet the Fox News commentator and former talk show host responded to a Twitter post by the economist and columnist Paul Krugman who had asked: “On statues of Robert E. Lee: what would we think if German towns put up statues of Erwin Rommel, also a good general serving a vile cause?” This article looks at the larger debate about the Lost Cause and the history and memory of slavery and the Civil War in a case study focusing on Robert E. Lee, trying to raise some larger questions of memory and forgetting through a comparison with Erwin Rommel. The article analyzes the special places Southern General Robert E. Lee and Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel have occupied in the memories of the American Civil War and World War II, respectively. It will argue that to find something honorable in all the evil of lost wars that were fought for the wrong ends can be regarded as an individual and collective way to deal with pain, guilt, and defeat. Part of this is honoring the soldiers and their sacrifices, focus on famous battles, and celebrate distinguished generals while ignoring and “forgetting” what the real goals of these wars had been. Today, both Rommel and Lee have been pushed off their pedestals, in the case of Lee statues even literally. But the fact that Lee and Rommel have been glorified as honorable, loyal, and patriotic military men also by those who were their opponents/enemies makes this comparison even more interesting, because it cannot be explained by a collective amnesia in order to suppress and forget guilt and crimes. In connection with remembering, the author argues, it is also important to take a closer look at the different functions of “forgetting” that have been described by Aleida Assmann and other scholars, especially at what Assmann calls “complicit” and “constructive” forms of forgetting. Both examples show that these types of forgetting protected perpetrators, helped shape a selective historical narrative, and were also important in new beginnings and reconstruction after a catastrophic defeat
My Life as Historian of Public Memories: Performative Power of Pageants, Exhibits, and Monuments in the Public Space
No full textThis reflective essay traces Alessandra Lorini’s forty-year journey as a public historian, focusing on how conflicts of race, class, and gender have been performed and contested in U.S. public spaces through monuments and commemorative practices. Drawing on interdisciplinary research and personal experience, Lorini explores the symbolic power of monuments—including those in New York, Havana, and Montgomery—from the 19th century to the present, situating them within the long durée of the “culture wars” debates
Archeologie spettromediali. Riportare all’ascolto e alla visione gli spettri del passato nella trilogia Spectre di Para One
No full textThe essay investigates the emergence of a new research trend in contemporary auteur cinema, which we will define as spectromedial archaeology. Through a materialist and intermedial perspective, spectromedial archaeology establishes itself as an analytical-theoretical tool capable of deconstructing the technical and aesthetic multi-stratifications of cinematic mediality. Central to this inquiry is the analysis of auteur works that engage in metalinguistic reflection on the evolution of the cinematic apparatus, reactivating genealogical traces of residual languages and obsolete film technologies. Alongside a theoretical framing of the concept and a mapping of crucial historiographical nodes, the study unfolds in three sections: an introductory overview of contemporary auteur cinema (Víctor Erice, Steven Spielberg, Mendonça Filho, etc.), an in-depth exploration of Chris Marker’s pioneering work, and a focused investigation of Para One’s Spectre trilogy, presented as a paradigmatic case. These analyses aim to validate the applicative potential of spectromedial archaeology by identifying the operative physicality of the medial spectrum. While critics have predominantly discussed this spectrum as a sociocultural symbol or narrative archetype, the essay repositions it as an audiovisual energy that surfaces in the present through formal anomalies (temporal contaminations, sound disturbances, and technical hybridizations)
«Beltà, poi che t’assenti»: Milva, from Madrigals to Ghosts, in Gesualdo – Death for Five Voices by Werner Herzog
No full textThis article explores the interrelation between music, image, and narrative in Werner Herzog’s cinema through the conceptual metaphor of spectrality. Herzog’s films construct an “acoustic vision,” where music does not merely accompany images but unlocks their latent meanings, creating a tension between the visible and the audible. From his early linguistic experiments in Last Words (1967) and Precautions Against Fanatics (1968) to later works such as Signs of Life (1968), Fitzcarraldo (1982), La Soufrière (1977), and Lessons of Darkness (1992), Herzog’s cinema reveals a complex interplay between sound, image, and narrative structure. The study examines how music transforms language into sonic substance and how it shapes visionary, dreamlike, and ecstatic film forms. Special focus is given to Gesualdo – Death for Five Voices (1995), where Herzog’s investigation of Carlo Gesualdo’s avant-garde music and tormented biography exemplifies his ecstatic method. In this experimental documentary, spectrality emerges both through the depiction of Gesualdo’s haunted existence and the transmedial performance of Maria D’Avalos’ ghost. This spectral figure is embodied by the Italian artist Milva, whose performance transcends simple dramatization: Milva becomes a liminal presence, weaving together historical memory, mythic resonance, and musical interpretation. Through her voice and body, the lost figure of Maria D’Avalos is not only evoked but reanimated within the film’s hybrid space between documentary and fiction, thus highlighting the intermedial nature of Herzog’s project. The analysis shows how Herzog’s use of musical and visual counterpoints generates a dense intermedial texture, blending history, myth, and performance. Ultimately, Herzog’s cinema reveals a haunted, visionary poetics rooted in the dynamic synergy of sound and image, where the auditory and the visual are entwined along the same sensory continuum
Sul concetto di Street Photography. Lorenzo Marmo, Street Photography. La modernità, New York, il cinema, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2024
No full textEco-Printing: Embodying Botanical Aesthetics and Sustainable Innovation in Textile Design
No full textIf each era develops movements and sensibilities in response to the needs of its time, a century apart, Art Nouveau and sustainable fashion establish a dialogue between affinities and divergences. Although born in different contexts, both express an aesthetic quest that opposes the standardization imposed by industrial production. In the face of new climate emergencies, new sensibilities arise, not only aesthetic but also environmental. In this context, eco-printing stands out as a technique that not only offers a concrete alternative to industrial dyeing methods, contributing to the reduction of water pollution, but also restores to fashion an aesthetic inspired by nature, with its imperfections and uniqueness, which make each piece unique. Through the use of leaves and flowers, this practice allows for unrepeatable patterns without resorting to harmful chemicals. Small businesses such as Rosso di Robbia, which specializes in natural dyes, and Lazzaro vintage shop promote this eco-conscious approach, challenging linear production processes and proposing a more mindful model of consumption. Their work shows how it is possible to combine aesthetics and environmental responsibility, offering a concrete alternative to disposable fashion and encouraging a cultural change in the textile sector
Apprendere l'uso della punteggiatura: analisi di un corpus di grammatiche per la scuola secondaria di primo grado
No full textThe present study offers a reflection on how punctuation is addressed in grammar textbooks used in schools. First of all, it emphasizes the importance of punctuation, and it describes its main functions. Secondly, it summarizes the most appropriate theories and methods for learning how to use punctuation, with particular attention to its textual function. Finally, it presents an analysis of a corpus of nine grammar textbooks for lower secondary school, comparing how each textbook defines punctuation, where and how extensively it is addressed, which punctuation marks are covered, the types of exercises proposed, and how the use of the comma is explainedIl contributo propone una riflessione su come viene trattata la punteggiatura nei libri di grammatica destinati alle scuole. In primo luogo, sottolinea l’importanza dell’interpunzione e ne descrive le sue funzioni principali. In secondo luogo, sintetizza le teorie e i metodi più adatti ad apprenderne gli usi, con particolare attenzione alla dimensione testuale. Infine, riporta l’analisi di un corpus di nove grammatiche per la scuola secondaria di primo grado, confrontando le definizioni che i diversi libri di testo danno della punteggiatura, la collocazione e lo spazio dedicato, i segni di interpunzione affrontati, il tipo di esercizi proposti e le modalità con cui è spiegato l’uso della virgola