News from Annali d'Italianistica (AdI)
Annali d'Italianistica is a monographic journal published every year at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA. The editors solicit contributions to each
year's monographic issue and invites scholars to review books in their area of
expertise.
1. AdI 1999 on Film, edited by Gaetana Marrone, has appeared. The volume's table of
contents, introduction by Gaetana Marrone, and all book reviews are available on the
journal's website: http://metalab.unc.edu/annali/
2. An updated list of books received (Jan. 2000) has also been posted on the journal's
web site: http://metalab.unc.edu/annali/. Colleagues are encouraged to choose or also
propose additional books to review by contacting the Editor: [log in to unmask]
3. Here follows the description for the issue for the year 2001:
AdI 2001
Literature, Criticism, and Ethics
Scholars of the history of criticism are all too aware that ethics has always played a
constant and fundamental role in all critical endeavors. In this regard Wayne C. Booth
writes: "Of all the possible critical responses to poetry [i.e., "fiction and drama"],
the one with the most sustained written tradition is the question, 'Will the
experience of knowing this poem be good for me or my society?'" ("Ethics and
Criticism," The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics 384). While
undergoing revisions and attacks from Plato to modern times, ethical criticism,
nevertheless, all but disappeared in scholarly literature from turn-of-the-century
Positivist movement until recently. Then, a few decades ago, the ethical debate
suddenly re-emerged, perhaps in connection with the rise of feminist and ethnic
studies, the investigations into the role of the literary canon, and/or the renewed
interest in moral concerns and issues.
In nearly a score of scholarly publishing, AdI has investigated many of the topics
pertaining to ethical concerns in literature, from feminist studies and mystical
writings by women to autobiography, anthropological approaches to literature, and
cultural criticism. By devoting its 2001 issue specifically to this topic, AdI intends
to focus directly on the role of ethics in the writing and reading of literature: in
brief, the function of ethical hermeneutics.
Steeped on the Judeo-Christian and ancient classical traditions throughout its
historical development, Italy's literary culture may be viewed as a continuous debate
on the dignity of human beings, their duty in society, and their lives' ultimate
purpose. One only needs to recall, at the beginning of Italy's cultural history, St.
Francis' Cantico delle creature and, very recently, Roberto Benigni's reflection on
life's beauty and tragedy in La vita č bella. It is a well-known fact that for Dante
Alighieri, relying on St. Thomas and Aristotle, ethics played a preeminent role in all
speculative as well as practical endeavors (Convivio 2:14). Nonetheless, the ethical
concerns underlying most, if not the whole, of Italy's literary culture came under
attack during Italy's fairly recent history, likely because of Croce's idealism as
well as other, more difficult to determine, –isms.
More recently, the writings of some contemporary theoreticians, such as Levinas,
Ricoeur, Derrida, Foucault, etc., have unquestionably offered some impetus to the
resurgence of contemporary ethical investigations. In the January 1999 issue of PMLA
on literature and ethics, for instance, those authors offered most of the theoretical
framework for the contributors' essays. At the same time, one finds it difficult to
accept the notion that no other thinker in the western world's history but those
mentioned above, can provide a valid ground for current inquiries into ethical
concerns. One cannot but hope, therefore, that Italy's literary culture, with its
strong attachment to its pluri-millenary tradition, may offer an appropriate and
balanced ground for inquiries into the role of ethical hermeneutics.
Faithful to the journal's longstanding tradition of open-mindedness, the Editors do
not intend to impose any specific perspective on the journal's contributors. At the
same time, they would like to propose three areas of investigation:
1) The theoretical sphere: Theoretical inquiries focusing on the position of ethics
vis-ŕ-vis the artistic and the aesthetic; the relevancy of ethics in writing,
publishing, and interpreting; the moral and social responsibilities of literature and
hence of criticism; the historical development of ethical criticism; the ethical
dimensions of specific theoretical approaches;
2) The applied sphere: Ethical hermeneutics applied to the analysis of literary texts,
covering the entire spectrum of Italy's literary culture;
3) The practical sphere: The ethical obligations of the scholar, the teacher, the
publisher.
At the threshold of the third millennium, every one is, more than ever before,
confronted by rapidly evolving technological advancements, the ongoing changes on the
world's political map, and the profound transformation of individuals' and society's
life as it was known until very recently. One must, therefore, all the more rely on
every individual's ability to evaluate and question contemporary society's myriad
choices, alternatives, and possibilities in the public and private sphere. Hence
derives the essentiality, even the primacy of ethics: namely, the ability for each
individual to discern, and act upon, what is most appropriate for one's and society's
physical, intellectual, and spiritual welfare within the context of the ever expanding
global community and a temporal frame of reference that goes beyond the ephemeral and
therefore cannot but be teleological.
Prospective contributors are invited to contact the journal's Editor, either by mail
(141 Dey Hall, UNC-CH, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3170) or e-mail (<[log in to unmask]>
). All contributions, either in English or Italian, should be submitted by spring 2001
in diskette and print. The issue on "Literature, Criticism, and Ethics" will be
published in the fall of 2001.
-- Begin original message --
> From: "George FERZOCO" <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 13:18:53 +0100 (BST)
> Subject: ADMIN Mailbase and Year 2000
> To: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
> Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> the good people at Mailbase have provided this notice, that I am sharing with you.
>
> George
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> * * * * * * * * *
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> Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 09:35:37 +0000 (GMT)
> Reply-to: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Mailbase and Year 2000
> From: Mailbase Helpline <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Mailbase and the Millennium
> ------------------------------
> Mailbase is ready for the Year 2000, and we do not foresee any
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> We will be extending the queue timeout length to 14 days instead of the
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