Between

Representations of Work in Literature and Visual Culture

Raul Calzoni, Valentina Serra — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The issue Representations of Work in Literature and Visual Culture is part of the studies on the material and immaterial imagery of the world of professions and its representation from a diachronic perspective and in different disciplinary fields. The articles focus on twentieth-century Italian, German and French culture and deal with aspects related to theories and methods of representation of the working world, enterprise and craftsmanship from different points of view without avoiding the development of methodological and aesthetic approaches that come from different schools of Western thought relating to work. What emerges from the articles as a whole is a treatment of work in its various meanings – including that of the writer and the artist – which has taken place over the last hundred years in the context of Freudian, Marxist and Weberian theories, which are among those discussed by the contributions collected in this issue of «Between».

The "cosification" of man in Parise's Il padrone. Corporate work between neo-feudal dynamics and liturgical rituals

Niccolò Amelii — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Il padrone (1965) is the novel with which Goffredo Parise enters in a new phase of his artistic parable, leaving behind the previous decade. At the beginning of the sixties, Parise embraced a neo-Darwinian vision of individual and collective existence, which reverberated strongly in the poetic motifs of his texts. The primary objective of the essay is to analyze the original authorial posture with which Parise decides to interrogate narratively the process of “cosification” set in motion in the advanced stage of the neo-capitalist system and, at the same time, the expressive instances and the thematic nuclei through which the novel represents the transition from “the natural man” to the “artificial man.”

A portrait of the artist as a worker. Aesthetic postures in La carte et le territoire

Aldo Baratta — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

According to Lipovetsky and Serroy, beauty has risen to a new ontological requirement: the aesthetic phenomenon has expanded beyond its traditional boundaries, influencing reality and, above all, the economic dimension. The result has been an art market in which the aesthetic work responds to unprecedented hierarchies of value, and the author finds himself assuming professional postures fueled by innovative deontologies. This contribution investigates the transformations the aesthetic job undergoes in the late capitalist and post-Fordist logic through a close reading of Michel Houellebecq’s La carte et le territoire. In the novel, it is possible to observe the professional attitudes of three different artists: the photographer and painter Jed Martin, the fictional writer Michel Houellebecq and – through a metanarrative refraction – the narrator Michel Houellebecq. All three face the professionalization of the artistic activity oscillating between the poles of a dialectic that is difficult to resolve between artisanal and industrial work, creativity and methodicalness.

Mobility and rhythm: the representation of work and landscape in Vinci's Strada Provinciale tre

Irene Cecchini — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This article analyses the representation of labour in Simona Vinci’ Strada Provinciale Tre (2007), considering its deep relationship with environmental issues and ecological awareness. Thanks to an ecopoetic analysis of this novel, my research aims to contribute to the literary-critical debate around labour by focusing on different aspects which aren’t usually considered; on the one hand, I will look at the interrelation between the act of working and the environmental transformations, on the other, I will explore the expressive possibilities of ecological images that are linked with labour. The former will be shown by observing the different effects which Capitalism has on the working-body and on the Earth-body. The latter will be examined through three different narrative processes that distinguish Vinci’s novel: immersive walking, natural and anthropic rhythms, social and spatial aspects of mobile practices. The theoretical framework will combine the thematic analysis of labour with Mobilities studies and Ecopoetic.

On the Silence of the Smith in Martine Sonnet’s Atelier 62

Raissa Furlanetto Cardoso — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Martine Sonnet’s Atelier 62 is built on the silence of the author’s father, a proletarianized artisan who never talked about his experience as a smith at Renault in Billancourt. This study aims to present possible interpretations of the silence of the smith by analysing how work is represented in the text and its impact on human life. First, it will demonstrate that the different kinds of work are articulated in the text on two opposite symbolic poles, one linked to silence, to the non-transmitted; and the other linked to speech, to the sharing of experience, to transmission. Then, it will discuss what would be underlying this opposition, by suggesting that the silence of the smith can be explained, on the one hand, by the physical and psychological traumas suffered in his process of proletarianization; and, on the other hand, by his separation from the sphere of social (re)production, imposed by this same process. The interpretation of the social phenomena portrayed in the text will be supported by the contributions of Marxist, eco-feminist, and care ethic theorists who all converge in the criticism of the capitalist logic and its search for economic growth despite human life.

All the world’s a mega construction site: Rimini Protokoll’s Gesellschaftsmodell Großbaustelle

Alessandra Goggio — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Theatre and work not only show many similarities but also have influenced one another for a long time. The following paper investigates how contemporary German theatre – specifically the work of the theatre collective Rimini Protokoll – deals with the representation of work in performative and interactive plays. Focusing first on the general approach of the group on this subject and then on the performance Gesellschaftsmodell Großbaustelle it will be shown how, by exploiting affinities between work and theatre and also ironically recurring to different theatre traditions, Rimini Protokoll’s theatre aims to counteract the alienation and de-personalization brought about by the mechanisms that regulate post-capitalist labor in order both to rehabilitate work – also theatrical work – as an indeed productive dimension of humankind and to urge a reflection on condition of the (post)modern homo laborans.

On the Epic of the Collective: Erik Reger's Union der festen Hand (1931)

Francesca Goll — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The present contribution intends to investigate Erik Reger’s positions on the relationship between culture, literature, and the industry – including its technological advancements and its influence on workers as individuals – by scrutinizing several different sources. Reger, a journalist and later editor and director of the Berlin-based newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, has written numerous articles on the subject, and his archive is kept at the Akademie der Künste (AdK) in Berlin. By drawing on reviews, archival materials, and writings, this article will highlight Reger’s specific position and relate it to Sergey Tretyakov’s pamphlet “The Biography of the Object” (1929).

The Italian adaptation of Undercover Boss and the Rai's public service remit

Matteo Macaluso — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This article concerns the Italian adaptation of the multi-national reality television series Undercover Boss (Boss in incognito in Italian translation). The show (2014 – present) is aired in primetime on the Italian public service broadcaster, Radiotelevisione Italiana (Rai), and comprises one of the rare examples of labor thematization in mainstream television. As such, it constitutes an iconic title that makes important contributions to the socio-cultural role of screen storytelling. This essay approaches the TV series as a source and explores how Boss in incognito, like the original format, can provide Italian viewers with a popular narrative not free from ideological implications. Furthermore, it hypothesizes that the broadcasting does not fully correspond to Rai’s public service obligations.

Kafka’s Der Verschollene and the issue of labour

Mauro Nervi — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The issue of labour relations plays a central and often underestimated role in Kafka’s fiction. In this paper, possible reasons for this lack of critical attention are considered, especially in Marxist-oriented criticism: thereafter, the main occurrences of this theme are analysed, firstly in Kafka’s texts in general, and then in the novel that mainly deals with it, The Man Who Disappeared, written in 1912-1913. A distinction is also attempted between “ordinary work” and “extraordinary work” within Kafka’s idea of work.

Toward a Freudian theory of the representation of labour in the novel: Some tentative hypotheses

Nicole Siri — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This article seeks to explore, from a theoretical perspective, the issue of the representation of labour in the novel. The first paragraph discusses «the plainness and iterativeness of work», which are the two aspects that, according to James Agee, make it such a peculiarly complicated narrative theme. The problem is thus theorized in terms of how the theme of iterative work can be effectively expressed in novels.

The second paragraph is functional to the argument developed in the third and last paragraph and deals with a non-literary problem. Through a meta-psychological reading of Weber’s Protestant Ethic, it offers an interpretation of capitalist ethics from a psychoanalytic conceptual framework.

The third and last paragraph discusses Francesco Orlando’s Freudian theory of literature, Orlando’s take on the notion of «return of the repressed», and his theorization of the representation of obsolete objects. Finally, I argue that it might be possible to recognize, in literary language, mechanisms that express the instances of the Super-ego.

Where Ego Was, “We” Shall Be. A Conversation with Alberto Prunetti on Working-Class Literature

Nicole Siri — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This interview with Alberto Prunetti focuses on his work both as a writer (Amianto, 108 metri, Nel girone dei bestemmiatori), and as the editor of Alegre’s “Working-class” series and one of the organisers of the Working-Class Literature Festival (Campi Bisenzio, March 31st — April 2nd 2023). One of the most relevant voice’s in Italy today on the topic of working-class literature, Prunetti explores here some questions on literature, class struggle, and trying to find one’s own voice.

Peer review and open science in the humanities: comparing experiences

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

What is open peer review? Could we use it in the humanities, in one form or another? More generally, how can the principles of open science interact with research assessment practices in the humanities? These issues were discussed in a round table that was held at the University of Milan on October 25, 2023. The notes included in this section present some of the reflections that were shared on that occasion.

Gloria Scarfone, Il pensiero monologico. Personaggio e vita psichica in Volponi, Morante e Pasolini

Beatrice Basile — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 13:40:37 +0100

Review of Gloria Scarfone's Il pensiero monologico. Personaggio e vita psichica in Volponi, Morante e Pasolini.

Silvia Baroni, L’immagine alla lettera. La letteratura illustrata e il caso Balzac

Veronica Bonanni — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 13:23:27 +0100

Review of Silvia Baroni's L’immagine alla lettera. La letteratura illustrata e il caso Balzac.

Giuliana Benvenuti (ed.), La letteratura oggi. Romanzo, editoria, transmedialità

Claudia Cao — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 12:58:42 +0100

Review of La letteratura oggi. Romanzo, editoria, transmedialità edited by Giuliana Benvenuti.

Jo Ann Cavallo, The Sicilian Puppet Theater of Agrippino Manteo (1884-1947): The Paladins of France in America

Corrado Confalonieri — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 12:47:32 +0100

Review of Jo Ann Cavallo's The Sicilian Puppet Theater of Agrippino Manteo (1884-1947): The Paladins of France in America.

Mattia Petricola, I mondi dell’oltremondo. Dante e la Commedia dal fantasy alla fan fiction

Gian Vito Distefano — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 12:49:05 +0100

Review of Mattia Petricola's I mondi dell’oltremondo. Dante e la Commedia dal fantasy alla fan fiction.

Stefano Gualeni, Riccardo Fassone, Fictional Games. A Philosophy of Worldbuilding and Imaginary Play

Cristina Di Maio — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 12:53:37 +0100

Review of Stefano Gualeni and Riccardo Fassone's, Fictional Games. A Philosophy of Worldbuilding and Imaginary Play.

Catalina Iliescu Gheorghiu, Relevancia y traducción. Una retrospectiva con lentes actualizantes

Irene Fuentes-Pérez — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Review of Catalina Iliescu Gheorghiu's Relevancia y traducción. Una retrospectiva con lentes actualizantes.

Helena Sanson (ed.), Women and Translation in the Italian Tradition

Marina Guglielmi — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Review of Women and Translation in the Italian Tradition edited by Helena Sanson.

Alessandro Raveggi, Il Romanzo di Babele. La svolta multilingue in letteratura

Enrico Mariani — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 13:13:21 +0100

Review of Alessandro Raveggi's Il Romanzo di Babele. La svolta multilingue in letteratura.

Valentina Romanzi, American Nightmares. Dystopia in Twenty-First-Century US Fiction

Mattia Petricola — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 13:18:16 +0100

Review of Valentina Romanzi's American Nightmares. Dystopia in Twenty-First-Century US Fiction.

Nicola Di Nino (ed.). «Con lievi mani». Sulle traduzioni di Cristina Campo nel centenario della nascita

Simone Rebora — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Review of «Con lievi mani». Sulle traduzioni di Cristina Campo nel centenario della nascita edited by Nicola Di Nino.