Transcultural Studies – Interdisciplinary Literature and Humanities for Sustainable Societies – serie

Questa antologia internazionale focalizza l’opera letteraria di Giovanni Verga puntando sul suo potenziale «caleidoscopico» e transculturale. Le innovazioni del grande Verista siciliano, il respiro europeo del suo pensiero, le numerose sinergie estetiche e la sensibilità della sua denuncia sociale rivelano un autore pronto a dialogare attraverso la sua arte con i più squisiti scrittori della «letteratura mondo».This international collection focuses on the literary work of Giovanni Verga pinpointing its «kaleidoscopic» and transcultural potential. The innovations of the leading Sicilian «verista», the European drive of his thought, the many aesthetic synergies and the sensitivity of his social denunciation show an author ready to interact through his art with top writers in World Literature.Award: Premio Antonello da Messina 2022 | Antonello da Messina Award 2022 (University of Messina, November 2022)

Visual images and imagery, optical metaphors and iconic quotations are common features in the literary work of Antonio Tabucchi, along with references to the world of painting, photography, and cinema. This book explores the «iconic temptation» of the Italian author, pointing out his visual strategies of representation and poetic thought. By focusing on the visual intertextuality of his fiction, it discusses questions of style and content whilst also emphasizing the role of images as a privileged means of narrative knowledge and philosophical insight. Drawing on the visual studies and on postmodernist theory and criticism, this study offers a comprehensive inquiry into the visual poetics of one of Europe’s most innovative writers.

In Zeiten zunehmender Bedrohungen für das aktuell gelebte Europa stellt dieser Band mit Beiträgen internationaler Forscher(Innen) aus multidisziplinärer Perspektive literarische Konzepte für eine europäische Idee vor. Kontinuitätslinien und Brüche zwischen stark divergierenden Ansätzen, die sich zu einem Selbstverständnis Europas ergänzen, werden darin anhand literarischer und publizistischer Werke untersucht, da diese auch gewagte Experimente durchzuführen und im Einsatz zu zeigen vermögen. Dabei werden auch aktuellste Themen berührt, die demonstrieren, dass Europa sich selbst ständig neu erfindet, um sich an neue Bedingungen anzupassen, was den europäischen Raum zu einem deutlich größeren Gebilde als die Summe seiner Teile macht.

Les principales caractérisations de la littérature mondiale supposent, implicite-ment ou explicitement, le dessin de centres et de périphéries littéraires. Loin de tenir un tel dessin pour figé, les essais ici regroupés l’appréhendent comme une construction relative, qui autorise bien des variations. Ils proposent des modèles alternatifs qui recomposent ou dépassent les répartitions usuelles entre centres et périphéries de la littérature mondiale. Ils explorent également les dynamiques et les poétiques à travers lesquelles une série de littératures ou d’auteurs dits périphériques construisent leur mondialité en mobilisant et en figurant consciem-ment leur interdépendance avec tous les autres espaces littéraires.

This volume is the result of transdisciplinary studies conducted by professors and researchers of the Department of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. It cross-applies neuro-scientific, aesthetic, linguistic and rhetorical methods to focus on the concept of argumentation, much studied during the 20th century and then forsaken. The common thread that links the essays is the concept of figurative language intended as an argumentative tool, while throughout the 20th century it was believed that in every field of human knowledge formal approaches should prevail: only the form, it was thought, constitutes the purest essence, the “net weight” of things. In contrast to this, “Forms and Uses of Argument” intend to demonstrate that the figurative language - and first of all the metaphors – are in fact rather an archetypal “propellant” for the most widespread argumentative logics.

What happens in our brain when we create a story? Based on neuro-cognitivism, the study of narratives – ranging from novels to “life-stories”, which relate to interstitial topics – has become more rigorous. In fact, an unparalleled panorama of constants, cemented since the Upper Palaeolithic, has been added to an unprecedented awareness of how each cultural habitat shapes the narratives of its inhabitants. This occured according to a particular neuro-cognitive style, thus limiting the so-called “authorial” freedom. Narratives – whether they originate from the Muses or from the voice of a completely illiterate individual – are like compressors that can zip together all the most crucial elements in our existence: time, space, intentions, purposes, agents and instrumental actions. For this reason, they represent an inexhaustible object of research.

This study makes "other voices" the point of departure, aiming to find common ground amidst polarized assumptions about the relationship between Italian Americans and African Americans. Through the contemporary literary works of three authors – Kym Ragusa’s memoir The Skin Between Us, Mari Bucci Bush’s novel Sweet Hope, and Louisa Calio’s poetry collection Journey to the Heart Waters – the Italian-African American micro-history of these ethnic minorities, is revisited and analyzed. Thus, transcultural shades and cross-over synergies emerge, shedding light on a literary mixture all too often overlooked in mainstream historical accounts so far.By transcending the conventional boundaries associated with Italian American literature and African backgrounds, Ragusa, Bucci Bush, and Calio delve into multifaceted themes such as race, belonging, gender, and class. Their exploration not only challenges and reshapes the hybrid discourse that surrounds Italian-African American identity but also enriches it, fostering a deeper understanding that reflects the inherent diversity of American society and the intricacies of multicultural coexistence. The book’s comparative approach offers distinctive perspectives on the Italian American diaspora and the assimilation process in the United States. It demonstrates how American literature, particularly women’s literature, is expanding its horizons beyond its own community, embracing African and Italian culture, thereby crafting a new narrative of the multiethnic experience in America between and beyond literary genres.

In times of rapid change, social pressure, and instability in both physical and digital realms, the need for transcultural approaches to managing stress and achieving a harmonious work-life balance has never been more vital. This book explores how mindfulness and creativity can transform individual and collective trauma into growth, blending step-by-step mindful practices, creative expression, and the timeless narrative of the "hero’s journey".Through personal storytelling, practical exercises, and reflections on coping, this book offers tools for self-discovery and resilience. QR codes provide access to meditations and exercises, enhancing the reader’s journey towards deeper transformation. Art therapists will find innovative methods to incorporate into their practice, embracing the art of feeling at home within oneself and fostering a renewed sense of inner peace and belonging. «The Art of Feeling at Home is a uniquely exciting manuscript inspired by the personal journey of the author that also weaves in the old wisdom of mindfulness and compassion with current psychological practices and creative expression. The book offers valuable tools for practitioners, particularly art therapists seeking to integrate mindfulness and creativity in their work. I thoroughly enjoyed it and happily recommend it to anyone struggling with everyday life’s ebbs and flows.» Dr. Rony Berger, Educational Director, Center for Compassionate Mindful Education, Tel Aviv University

The volume is based on the assumption that, as demonstrated by the British psychologist Keith Oatley and the Portuguese neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, emotions are involuntary responses to sensory triggers and give rise to real action programs. Generated by the limbic brain and capable of releasing chemical molecules such as dopamine or cortisol, the triggering of emotional responses is involuntarily and relies on images for activation since they have the power to capture emotions, as argued by Aby Warburg. This means that, although emotions are genetically embedded in our behavioral repertoire, they are controlled and managed according to the social group and culture to which individuals belong. As a matter of fact, all individuals share the same repertoire of emotional responses, but it is culture that governs how this repertoire is expressed.Desire and lust, care and nourishment, attachment and love, joy, anger, contempt, panic, compassion, admiration, fear, envy, and jealousy find their activation space in the social context. So, for Damasio, emotions represent a toolkit essential to relational life, and this volume primarily addresses the relationship between emotions and historical-cultural contexts.