Dear all,
next week Marco Maggi (Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano) joins us on zoom to
give a presentation. I hope to see many of you there in Dacke!
Captioned landscapes: from iconology to the ecomedial turn
Marco Maggi
Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
marco.maggi(a)usi.ch
Abstract:
The presence of writing in natural environments is perhaps as ancient as literature
itself. Traditionally, these “captioned landscapes” have been studied from an iconological
or reception-aesthetic perspective; in all cases, the approach adopted is
“correlationalist”, in the sense indicated by Richard Grusin of considering nature as an
object opposed to the human subject.
Examining “captioned landscapes” in light of the latest advances in the field of
intermedial ecocriticism allows us to overcome this one-sidedness, enabling us to grasp
the intertwining of human and non-human mediality that characterises them.
Bio:
Marco Maggi is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory and
Director of the Master's programme in Italian Language, Literature and Civilisation at
the Università della Svizzera italiana, Lugano, Switzerland.
His studies focus on the intermedial relations of literature, particularly with the
visual, from a theoretical, historical and critical perspective. His most recent
publication is the proceedings of the national conference of the Swiss Association of
General and Comparative Literature entitled On the Edge of the Visible: Comparative
Literature and Visuality.
He is currently engaged in a project on the Italian genealogies of inter-arts studies
funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (20th Century Italian Studies of
Literature and Arts). Another recent aspect of his work concerns intermedial ecocriticism;
a multi-author work in two volumes entitled Captioned Landscapes: Intermedial Combinations
Beyond the Human, edited by him, is due to be
We meet in Dacke 10.15-12 or in Zoom on the link below:
https://lnu-se.zoom.us/j/8060837779
Meeting ID: 806 083 7779
Passcode: 2547
Best wishes,
Erik