Research projects, centres and networks in Italian Studies. Image Research excellenceIn the latest Research Excellence Framework - REF 2021 - our research in Italian Studies was submitted in Modern Languages and Linguistics (Panel D - Arts and Humanities; Unit of Assessment 26).The results reaffirm Edinburgh’s position as one of the UK’s leading research universities - third in the UK.As published in Times Higher Education's REF power ratings, this result is based on the quality and breadth of our research in Modern Languages and Linguistics. Read more about our School's performance in REF 2021 Browse Edinburgh Research Explorer for staff profiles, research outputs and activitiesExpand allCollapse allSelected research centres and networksResearch centres and networks range from formal collaborations to informal groups of researchers working together on a theme or challenge.A number are based in - or are affiliated with - Italian Studies; others are based elsewhere in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC), the University of Edinburgh, or the wider academic community, but involve our staff and students.The groups provide opportunities for researchers at all career stages to work together with partners and stakeholders in organising events, workshopping publications, engaging audiences outside the academy, and exploring ideas for future projects and funding bids.Centre for Medieval & Renaissance StudiesSpanning a range of disciplines in European, Islamic, American and Asian studies, including medieval literatures and cultures, the Centre brings together around 70 researchers across the University of Edinburgh.Take me to the Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies websiteFilm and the Other Arts: Intermediality, Medium Specificity, CreativityInitially funded by an AHRC Research Network Grant (2015-2017), this collaborative network led by Professor Marion Schmid brings together an international team of researchers and artists from France, Belgium, Austria, Romania, and the UK to forge new directions in the study of cinematic intermediality. Its particular focus is the ways in which the moving image is shaped and revitalised by artistic cross-fertilisation.Take me to the Film and the Other Arts websiteSelected research projects HTML David Rizzio At The Scottish Court David Rizzio (1533-1566), musician and courtier, is a highly romanticised historical figure. He has long been represented in the Scottish arts for his close relationship with Mary Queen of Scots, his murder at the hands of her husband and other Protestant lords, and his association with the religious conflicts that marked the Scottish Reformation. Despite his fame, neither his political and cultural role nor his artistic influence have been studied in any scholarly detail. Through a series of workshops, Dr Emanuela Patti is aiming to fill this gap, providing the first comprehensive account of Rizzio’s life, career and impact. The project brings together experts from multiple disciplines, including History, Divinity, History of Art, Italian, Scottish Literature, and Music. As well as uncovering the political role Rizzio played in religious conflict, it looks at his personal relationships with Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley and how they affected the dynamics of the 16th century Scottish Court. It also looks at Rizzio's artistic contribution to Scottish literature and music, including how he has been appropriated and fictionalised in literature, cinema, music and theatre. Working with schools, libraries and museums, the project asks what this legacy tells us about the cultural interpretation of Scottish history across time. Browse the workshop details on the project's webpage Funded by a Royal Society of Edinburgh Workshop Award: November 2022 to November 2023 LLC team: Dr Emanuela Patti (Principal Investigator) HTML Fatherland as Motherland: Unstable gender and nation in Italian Great War literature Italian Great War literature is an extraordinarily diverse corpus in terms of genres, agents, and ideological backgrounds. Fatherland as Motherland was one of the first research projects to explore the conflict’s gendered nature, especially the interplay between nationalism and gender. The project combined methodologies from literary studies, political history, and gender and cultural studies to examine both fiction and non-fiction, including diaries, letters and memoirs. It excavated the layered site of invention of Italian Great War literature, interpreting between the lines of its various conflicting masculine discourses and representations. Fatherland as Motherland studied the female icon of the motherland in Italian Great War literature by analysing its unstable symbolic contents and rhetorical features and comparing them with nationalist propaganda. It proposed a new interpretation of the exploitation of the literature in fascist nationalist culture by analysing edited collections of war writings published in the 1920s and 30s. Overall, the project marked the centenary of World War I by fostering a better understanding of the gendered character of modern nationalism and its cultural roots against the backdrop of European integration. Findings were published in the 2020 book 'Mobilizing Cultural Identities in the First World War: History, Representations and Memory', and shared in various papers and talks. Watch or listen to Cristina Savettieri describe the project on vimeo Funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship: September 2015 to August 2017 LLC team: Dr Cristina Savettieri (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow), Professor Federica Pedriali (Supervisor) HTML Pasolini and the Classics │Pasolini 100 Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) was an Italian film director, poet, writer, political commentator and public intellectual, particularly known for his socially critical, stylistically unorthodox films from the 1960s and early 1970s. To mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, Italian Studies at University of Edinburgh and the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh held a programme of research-led events on Pasolini and the Classics, supported by the Society for Italian Studies. The Pasolini 100 series focused on the intensive and extensive relations Pasolini had with other cultural figures, offering a unique entry point to his oeuvre. "The Classics" ranged from authors of the world literary tradition, to cultural icons of cinema, the visual and performative arts. Each event cast light on how these relations originated and have been articulated across Pasolini’s work and beyond. With this approach, the series encouraged a reflection on forms of cultural reception, appropriation, and dialogue between Pasolini and the classics, as well as an analysis of the transmedia and transnational processes generated in these interplays. Browse the Pasolini 100 programme and watch selected lectures Funded by the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh, Society for Italian Studies, and LLC Impact Fund LLC team: Dr Emanuela Patti (Principal Investigator) Postgraduate research and supervisionDoctorate-level study is an opportunity to make an original, positive contribution to research in Italian Studies.Join our interdisciplinary community and undertake your PhD under the guidance of our experienced and well-published supervisors. We also offer a one year Masters by Research degree, which is a good stepping stone between undergraduate and doctoral study.Italian has been studied at the University of Edinburgh since the eighteenth century. The first lectureship in the subject was established in 1919 and, today, it is a broad area of study involving a sizeable community of teaching and research staff, language tutors, and PhD students. To mark our centenary, we hosted the Biennial Conference of the Society for Italian Studies.Find out more about postgraduate research in ItalianRead our pre-application guidance on writing a PhD research proposalBeyond the booksBeyond the Books is a podcast that gives you a behind-the-scenes look at research in the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures and the people who make it happen. In Series 2 - Episode 8 host Emma Aviet talked to Dr Emanuela Patti about research at the intersection of literary, media, and cultural studies. The conversation had a particular focus on Emanuela's work on the late Pier Paolo Pasolini and, latterly, on electronic literature.Listen to Series 2 - Episode 8 of Beyond the Books on MediaHopperBrowse all episodes of Beyond the Books This article was published on 2024-08-13
HTML David Rizzio At The Scottish Court David Rizzio (1533-1566), musician and courtier, is a highly romanticised historical figure. He has long been represented in the Scottish arts for his close relationship with Mary Queen of Scots, his murder at the hands of her husband and other Protestant lords, and his association with the religious conflicts that marked the Scottish Reformation. Despite his fame, neither his political and cultural role nor his artistic influence have been studied in any scholarly detail. Through a series of workshops, Dr Emanuela Patti is aiming to fill this gap, providing the first comprehensive account of Rizzio’s life, career and impact. The project brings together experts from multiple disciplines, including History, Divinity, History of Art, Italian, Scottish Literature, and Music. As well as uncovering the political role Rizzio played in religious conflict, it looks at his personal relationships with Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley and how they affected the dynamics of the 16th century Scottish Court. It also looks at Rizzio's artistic contribution to Scottish literature and music, including how he has been appropriated and fictionalised in literature, cinema, music and theatre. Working with schools, libraries and museums, the project asks what this legacy tells us about the cultural interpretation of Scottish history across time. Browse the workshop details on the project's webpage Funded by a Royal Society of Edinburgh Workshop Award: November 2022 to November 2023 LLC team: Dr Emanuela Patti (Principal Investigator)
HTML Fatherland as Motherland: Unstable gender and nation in Italian Great War literature Italian Great War literature is an extraordinarily diverse corpus in terms of genres, agents, and ideological backgrounds. Fatherland as Motherland was one of the first research projects to explore the conflict’s gendered nature, especially the interplay between nationalism and gender. The project combined methodologies from literary studies, political history, and gender and cultural studies to examine both fiction and non-fiction, including diaries, letters and memoirs. It excavated the layered site of invention of Italian Great War literature, interpreting between the lines of its various conflicting masculine discourses and representations. Fatherland as Motherland studied the female icon of the motherland in Italian Great War literature by analysing its unstable symbolic contents and rhetorical features and comparing them with nationalist propaganda. It proposed a new interpretation of the exploitation of the literature in fascist nationalist culture by analysing edited collections of war writings published in the 1920s and 30s. Overall, the project marked the centenary of World War I by fostering a better understanding of the gendered character of modern nationalism and its cultural roots against the backdrop of European integration. Findings were published in the 2020 book 'Mobilizing Cultural Identities in the First World War: History, Representations and Memory', and shared in various papers and talks. Watch or listen to Cristina Savettieri describe the project on vimeo Funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship: September 2015 to August 2017 LLC team: Dr Cristina Savettieri (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow), Professor Federica Pedriali (Supervisor)
HTML Pasolini and the Classics │Pasolini 100 Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) was an Italian film director, poet, writer, political commentator and public intellectual, particularly known for his socially critical, stylistically unorthodox films from the 1960s and early 1970s. To mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, Italian Studies at University of Edinburgh and the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh held a programme of research-led events on Pasolini and the Classics, supported by the Society for Italian Studies. The Pasolini 100 series focused on the intensive and extensive relations Pasolini had with other cultural figures, offering a unique entry point to his oeuvre. "The Classics" ranged from authors of the world literary tradition, to cultural icons of cinema, the visual and performative arts. Each event cast light on how these relations originated and have been articulated across Pasolini’s work and beyond. With this approach, the series encouraged a reflection on forms of cultural reception, appropriation, and dialogue between Pasolini and the classics, as well as an analysis of the transmedia and transnational processes generated in these interplays. Browse the Pasolini 100 programme and watch selected lectures Funded by the Italian Institute of Culture in Edinburgh, Society for Italian Studies, and LLC Impact Fund LLC team: Dr Emanuela Patti (Principal Investigator)
