Medea

Giuseppe Betussi and the Translation of De Mulieribus Claris

Anna Pisano — 2025-02-11

In 1545, the Venetian polygraph Giuseppe Betussi published a vernacular translation of Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris. A comparison between the Latin work and its vernacular adaptation reveals a singular case: the presence in Betussi's text of a biography dedicated to the Frankish queen Brunichilde, which is not included in the original work. This study proposes a philological-textual investigation aimed at reconstructing the journey that led to this integration of the Boccaccian text over the course of two centuries.

«Iron hands pull me to the grave». Daniil Kharms and the 1937 Pushkin Jubilee

Lidia Sedda — 2025-02-12

Daniil Kharms’s response towards the 1937 Pushkin jubilee was a vibrant protest against the transformation of the nineteenth-century poet into an emblem of the new Soviet man. Kharms’s poetry, prose and anecdotes are a well meaning desecration of Stalinist vulgate: a work that transcends its time to speak to anyone living in oppression, fear and need.

History of a ‘Burattino senza fili’.

Alessia Farci — 2025-02-11

In 1977 the italian songwriter Edoardo Bennato released Burattino senza fili, his fifth album with the Ricordi label. According to the hit parade, it was the best-selling album in Italy for that year, leaving even Battisti's Io tu noi tutti in second place. Through a concept album consisting of nine tracks, Bennato stages his version of perhaps the most famous and beloved story in the Italian literary tradition: Le avventure di Pinocchio. The purpose of this contribution is to investigate the complexity of this rewriting in the light of three questions. The first has an introductory nature and concerns the motivations that led Bennato to use, throughout his career, the characters and narrative techniques typical of the fairy tale; the second question, of a more specific order, concerns the choice of the fairy tale of Pinocchio and aims to reveal the allegorical meanings enclosed in the tracks that make up the album; the third and final question concerns the structure of the work, which can be seen as being both an adaptation and a sequel to Collodi's novel.

The performative dimension in Claudio Costa's work

Andrea Daffra — 2025-02-11

This contribution proposes an in-depth and unprecedented investigation of the performative dimension present in Claudio Costa's work, analyzing its fundamental stages through documented and unpublished case studies. The research is divided into two sections developed chronologically: the first traces and frames the origin of this component; the second offers a historical-critical overview of the most significant works, from which derives a reflection on the relationship between artist, body and performative language.

Diego Durán and the (Ethnographic?) Study of the Náhuatl World. Notes for an Ongoing Research

Lorenzo Casarotto — 2025-02-12

As a direct consequence of the discovery of America, Western culture had to deal with that of local people. This article aims at exploring the definition of Otherness and Other from the internal perspective. An unprecedented proposal will be offered by Diego Durán, a chronicler of the time who will try to give back a more defined image of the inhabitants of the New World through his constant exegetical effort in building an asymptotic relationship between Christian history and that of the natives.

The Pure and the Impure: Anthropological Approaches for the Study of the Ancient World

Tatiana Cossu — 2024-12-30

The article explores how the categories of pure and impure have been introduced and utilized in the studies of cultural and social anthropology, and how the debate surrounding the themes of purity and impurity has evolved over time, providing analytical perspectives and approaches useful for the study of the ancient world. It also reflects on the connection of this topic with the notions of identity, liminality, and boundary, within processual and dynamic, constructivist, and anthropo-poietic perspectives. Finally, it highlights the political implications of the notions of purity and contamination in today’s society.

Tano D'Amico in Sardinia.

Chiara Atzori — 2025-05-09

Tano D'Amico, Italian photojournalist and activist, arrived in Sardinia in 1972 and returned twice more during a decade. His work, kept in Nuoro in the Ilisso editor's photographic archive, was first submitted for analysis and review in February 2019. Defined by an interested gaze at a socio-anthropological process characteristic of the place, the collection is a visual history of a ʹsubalternʹ people and their attempt at liberation from the ruling class.

I libri-scultura di Wanda Nazzari

Rita Pamela Ladogana — 2025-03-11

The essay is dedicated to the book-sculptures made by artist Wanda Nazzari since the 1990s. Within the vast production of the artist from Cagliari, the genre is configured as central in the research characterized by a prevalent attention to manual and artisanal work. The text dwells mainly on the materials used by the artist and the peculiarities of engraved writing, referring both to individual sculptural pieces and to installations designed for museums or places related to the sacred