italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies
CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
CONFERENCE: New Authors/Auteurs: into the New Millennium
Organised by Dr Gillian Ania and Dr William Hope
University of Salford, UK. June 27-29 2008
The aim of this conference is to shed light on new developments and working practices in Italian Narrative and Film from the 1990s to the present.
To what extent has the turn of the millennium and its concomitant socio-economic and cultural climate conditioned the work of writers and directors? Has there been a visible evolution in the perspectives, themes, and aesthetics of the work that has emerged from the 1990s to today?
Narrative:
Writing is largely a solitary activity (one mind, one pen - or keyboard), with inspiration stemming from private or public, artistic and/or socio-political concerns. Yet in today's predominantly visual and interactive culture, are authors being led away from the individual (in both senses)? To what extent are novelists being influenced by technological advancements, by the book-film-book publishing culture, or by media-related concerns, and is such influence discernible in their work in terms of content, form, process, or something else? At the turn of the millennium, what factors (or irritants) are compelling authors to write, and who are they writing for? Is there, in a climate in which market forces strive increasingly to prevail, a tendency to 'play safe' with tried-and-tested formulas or to follow fashionable trends? Or can writers disregard the 'market', experiment and stretch creativity to new limits, simply write the novel that is 'within'?
Film:
Unlike literary works, film projects are intrinsically collective in their elaboration, and their form and content are more susceptible to market forces which can shape films, from their genesis - financial backing may only materialize with strings attached - to their launch, which may be deferred after test screenings. While the term auteur originally served to raise the status of directors to that of novelists and playwrights, is the term applicable to directors working in the historico-economic context of contemporary Italian cinema? To what extent is the work of today's directors influenced by other formats such as television drama, music videos, and commercials, and do directors still possess the creativity and autonomy to shape the central themes and aesthetics of films into coherent, personal world-views? From a modern perspective, is the term auteur deleterious and obsolescent, obscuring the public's awareness of the artistic input of other individuals in a film's development? Is a named director now just a 'brand' to market the 'product' more effectively?
Papers related to other aspects of the role of the director/auteur, or of the contemporary novel and its influences, are also welcome. All papers should focus on authors and directors who have been active in writing and film-making since the turn of the millennium, and who rose to (inter)national prominence within the socio-cultural, economic, and political context of the 1990s to the present day. More established authors and directors who derived a new career momentum and direction during this period may also be appropriate subjects for discussion. Papers should be 20 minutes in length.
Abstracts in Italian or English of approximately 200 words should be sent to Dr Gillian Ania for narrative or Dr William Hope for cinema, to arrive no later than 30th November 2007. For further information, please also contact:
Narrative: [log in to unmask] Cinema: [log in to unmask]
Dr Gillian Ania
Senior Lecturer in Italian
School of Languages
University of Salford
Salford M5 4WT
**********************************************************************
To join the list, send the message: join italian-studies YOUR NAME
to: [log in to unmask]
To send a message to the list, address it to:
[log in to unmask]
To leave the list, send the message: leave italian-studies
to: [log in to unmask]
In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to:
[log in to unmask]
For further information, visit our web site:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/italian-studies.html
|