Exploring Time and Consciousness in Homeric Epics: The Strange Encounter of Odysseus and Herakles in the Nekyia

While the Homeric epics primarily focus on the Greek and Trojan heroes battling outside Troy’s walls, they also hark back to earlier heroic eras. Among past heroes, Herakles is the most frequently mentioned. The Iliad often references Herakles’ exploits, but the Odyssey only briefly evokes him in a few verses. The most extended mention occurs in the nekyia (Od. 11. 601-627), a passage presenting oddities that have been widely debated and interpreted. This paper considers the passage focusing on the diffuse confusion of temporal levels that it presents in the light of frameworks related to mind and consciousness. Inspired by the seminal works of Snell and Dodds and the controversial yet increasingly validated theories of Jaynes, supported by neuroscientific insights and Damasio’s endorsement, it explores recent research on consciousness in perceiving and describing time. It investigates whether this Homeric passage may reflect a transitional phase from one stage of development of the human cognitive system to a subsequent one characterised by different functional traits

Review of Renata Gambino & Grazia Pulvirenti, Mind the Text! Neurohermeneutics for Suspicious Readers (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024)

Review of Renata Gambino & Grazia Pulvirenti, Mind the Text! Neurohermeneutics for Suspicious Readers. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024

Moments, Rhythms, and Ambivalences in Gaston Bachelard’s Theory of Literary Imagination

This contribution aims to analyze Bachelard’s theory of moment and rhythm from a literary theory perspective. Firstly, we will examine the fundamental principles of Bachelardian reflection on temporality in La dialectique de la durée (1936). Secondly, we will analyze the Bachelardian essay “Instant poétique et instant métaphisique” (1939). Subsequently, we will observe the relevance of certain aspects of the French philosopher’s theory of moment and rhythm for his theory of literary imagination in the 1940s. In the conclusion, we will draw a comparison between Bachelard’s theory of poetic moment and rhythm and formalist, structuralist and post-structuralist thought.This contribution aims to analyze Bachelard’s theory of moment and rhythm from a literary theory perspective. Firstly, we will examine the fundamental principles of Bachelardian reflection on temporality in La dialectique de la durée (1936). Secondly, we will analyze the Bachelardian essay “Instant poétique et instant métaphisique” (1939). Subsequently, we will observe the relevance of certain aspects of the French philosopher’s theory of moment and rhythm for his theory of literary imagination in the 1940s. In the conclusion, we will draw a comparison between Bachelard’s theory of poetic moment and rhythm and formalist, structuralist and post-structuralist thought

Review of Giovanni Bottiroli, Jacques Lacan. Oltre la scolastica lacaniana (Ombre Corte, 2023)

Recensione di Giovanni Bottiroli, Jacques Lacan. Oltre la scolastica lacaniana. Ombre Corte, 2023.Review of Giovanni Bottiroli, Jacques Lacan. Oltre la scolastica lacaniana. Ombre Corte, 2023

Review of Pierluigi Pellini, Tre grandi critici. Luigi Blasucci, Remo Ceserani, Francesco Orlando (Siké, 2023)

Review of Pierliugi Pellini, Tre grandi critici. Luigi Blasucci, Remo Ceserani, Francesco Orlando. Siké, 2023.Rencesione di Pierliugi Pellini, Tre grandi critici. Luigi Blasucci, Remo Ceserani, Francesco Orlando. Siké, 2023

Energy Spent in Orientation: Yuri Tynianov’s Motor-Forces Approach to Rhythm

This article presents some synthetic reflections on the notion of rhythm developed in Yuri Tynianov’s The Problem of Verse Language (1924), with particular attention to the relationship between the conception of the work unity and its peculiar space-time configuration, the status of flow and energy, the role of reception, and the copresence of the motoric and the phenomenological approaches.This article presents some synthetic reflections on the notion of rhythm developed in Yuri Tynianov’s The Problem of Verse Language (1924), with particular attention to the relationship between the conception of the work unity and its peculiar space-time configuration, the status of flow and energy, the role of reception, and the copresence of the motoric and the phenomenological approaches

Cars in Theatre, Theatre in Cars. A Case Study: Mobile Thriller

This essay aims to provide insights into the relationship between theatre and the automobile through the lens of Mobility Studies and Performance Studies. While cars are commonly featured in visual media, they are rarely seen in theatre due to the inherent limitations of theatrical space. However, some artists have recently embraced this challenge, offering creative solutions both on stage and on the road in site-specific performances. Mobile Thriller, a monologue set in a car traveling on the Milan ring road, was initially performed in traditional theatre venues in Milan and Glasgow. It was later adapted for a performance inside a real car at the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. This essay discusses the differences between two versions of the play, highlighting how theatrical dramaturgy is always structured around the concept of space. &nbsp

Free Indirect Discourse. German and Russian Literature

The paper first gives a definition of free indirect discourse (FID) and then characterizes the two main directions of its research. The more traditional one, is based on the application of the three modes of speech representation to the representation of characters\u27 minds (direct, indirect, and free indirect discourse). The text interference model is an alternative to the tripartite approach. It goes back to Mixail Baxtin\u27s description of FID as a "hybrid construction" that "contains mixed within it two utterances, two speech manners, two styles, two \u27languages\u27, two semantic and axiological belief systems". The following essay examines the development of free indirect discourse (FID) in German and Russian literature.The paper first gives a definition of free indirect discourse (FID) and then characterizes the two main directions of its research. The more traditional one, is based on the application of the three modes of speech representation to the representation of characters\u27 minds (direct, indirect, and free indirect discourse). The text interference model is an alternative to the tripartite approach. It goes back to Mixail Baxtin\u27s description of FID as a "hybrid construction" that "contains mixed within it two utterances, two speech manners, two styles, two \u27languages\u27, two semantic and axiological belief systems". The following essay examines the development of free indirect discourse (FID) in German and Russian literature

Gestures and Professional Reading: A Reading Aloud Teaching Practice Based on a Multimodal Approach

In the diamesic continuum from spontaneous speech to written language, many speech forms lack the unwilling responses and the reflex actions of face-to-face interaction. For instance, beyond reading aloud speech, the peculiarity typically regards formal public speech and acted speech. In fact, while in the spontaneous language performance, the ideational process is synchronous to the locutionary process, and speech goes on together with the flow of thought, in the reading, instead, the content is figured out completely only afterward, and also, for this reason, the performance frequently lacks communicative efficiency. The paper offers an overview of an innovative reading-aloud teaching practice based on an empiric multimodal approach in which visuospatial sensorimotor dynamic instructions exploit the capability of gestures and body movements to trigger a meaningful, effective text interpretation.In the diamesic continuum from spontaneous speech to written language, many speech forms lack the unwilling responses and the reflex actions of face-to-face interaction. For instance, beyond reading aloud speech, the peculiarity typically regards formal public speech and acted speech. In fact, while in the spontaneous language performance, the ideational process is synchronous to the locutionary process, and speech goes on together with the flow of thought, in the reading, instead, the content is figured out completely only afterward, and also, for this reason, the performance frequently lacks communicative efficiency. The paper offers an overview of an innovative reading-aloud teaching practice based on an empiric multimodal approach in which visuospatial sensorimotor dynamic instructions exploit the capability of gestures and body movements to trigger a meaningful, effective text interpretation

The Spatiotemporal Cyclicality of the Circular Narrative of The Good Place

The paper aims to pay attention to the cyclicity of space and time representation of the afterlife in The Good Place. Here the protagonists are stuck in an infernal loop and every time they discover they are in a particularly elaborate infernal circle, their memory is erased and the narration restart. When the story starts over, the demonic narrative is always slightly different from the previous one. The cyclical nature of the narration at a space-time level would seem to perfect the storytelling: through the alteration of the narrative structure, traditional expectations relating to the afterlife are demolished and a dystopian afterlife is narrated