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italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies Call for Papers AAIS 2014 Annual Conference May 23-25, 2014, Zurich Feminism, Post-feminism and Gender in Contemporary Gialli Starting with the 1970s, detective fiction – a genre traditionally perceived as a male-dominated one – has been increasingly used by feminist/gender critics and women writers in order to investigate female identities and gender issues. Writing about Anglophone crime novels, Sally R. Munt, for instance, refers to narratives focused on male heroes where ‘women, if appearing at all, do not act, they react to primary characters – men’ (1994:4). This persuasive assertion leads to the question of whether, today, in Italian detective fiction, female figures are still reactive or, ultimately, active subjects: whether, in other words, they are more independent – as in the case of the relatively new character of the professional woman detective – and saved from outdated stereotyped allegories or if they still have unresolved identity/symbolic issues. * With these considerations in mind, ‘provocative’ questions addressed in this panel include, but are not limited to: * Do female characters become destabilising narrative elements in contemporary Italian detective novels? * Do female crime fiction writers engage with issues related to gender politics? Do they disrupt prescriptive gender roles and models? * How does female symbolic representation change, if it changes, in recent gialli? * To what extent, if at all, does detective fiction written by women differ from that written by men? Do women writers import new languages into the genre or re-propose male expressions? * Is there a problem of ghettizzazione, for example in terms of book marketing visibility, in relation to female Italian crime fiction writers? Proposals addressing the above ideas and questions are welcome from all disciplines in the field of Italian Studies. If interested in presenting a paper, please send 250-300 word abstracts to Alessia Risi ([log in to unmask]) by by Friday, January 10th, 2014. The abstract should include a title, name and affiliation of the speaker, and a contact email address. Feel free to submit abstracts presenting work in progress as well as completed projects. Papers of 20 minutes, can be delivered in Italian or English. Dr Alessia Risi Department of Italian School of Languages, Literatures and Cultures University College Cork Cork, Ireland [log in to unmask] Tel +353 21 490 2335/3169 Fax +353 21 490 3263 ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: subscribe 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: unsubscribe 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/italian-studies