Focalization as Transmedial Category

In the last decades formalistic and structuralist narratology has been intensively recovered and reinterpreted in a cognitive perspective, and with a new focus on transmedial dissemination. The goal is, as Marie-Laure Ryan and Jean-Nöel Thon state, a media-conscious narratology. In particular focalization appears to be a crucial category to define the various narrative techniques through different media. The paper will deal first with the theoretical debate on focalization, analyzing the shift from Genette’s canonical triadic pattern to the more fluid scale proposed by cognitive narratology (for example by Manfred Jahn), and the coexistence between different meanings and applications (basically: perceptual, emotional, informational). The second part will be devoted to some significant examples: the iconographic motif of the character (usually a woman) at the window; Alfonso Cuaron’s recent movie Roma, as a vivid example of central focus in cinema; focalization in videogames; and the 360° multifocalization practiced by new media, which radically change the notion of point of view itself. In the last decades formalistic and structuralist narratology has been intensively recovered and reinterpreted in a cognitive perspective, and with a new focus on transmedial dissemination. The goal is, as Marie-Laure Ryan and Jean-Nöel Thon state, a media-conscious narratology. In particular focalization appears to be a crucial category to define the various narrative techniques through different media. The paper will deal first with the theoretical debate on focalization, analyzing the shift from Genette’s canonical triadic pattern to the more fluid scale proposed by cognitive narratology (for example by Manfred Jahn), and the coexistence between different meanings and applications (basically: perceptual, emotional, informational). The second part will be devoted to some significant examples: the iconographic motif of the character (usually a woman) at the window; Alfonso Cuaron’s recent movie Roma, as a vivid example of central focus in cinema; focalization in videogames; and the 360° multifocalization practiced by new media, which radically change the notion of point of view itself

Into the Video-Inferno: Vertical Television, Experimental Seriality and the Moving Collage in A TV Dante

This paper focuses on one of the most unique experiments in the history of television: A TV Dante, a fourteen-episode mini-series aired between 1990 and 1991, partly directed by Tom Phillips and Peter Greenaway, partly directed by Raoul Ruiz. We will analyse A TV Dante as an early attempt to explore the aesthetic potential of television seriality adopting an avant-garde approach towards a fundamental work of the Western canon. More specifically, we will compare Phillips-Greenaway and Ruiz’s approaches to the Inferno in order to highlight the formal, aesthetic and conceptual strategies that guide their respective works. Drawing on Phillips’ previous illustrations for the Inferno, the British duo creates an abstract video-otherworld through the use of collage and a rich visual symbology. On the other hand, Ruiz chooses a thoroughly contemporary re-reading of the cantica by setting the action in Santiago de Chile and moving between political commentary and surreal, hauntingly mysterious scenes

Paola Bono - Bia Sarrasini (eds.), Epiche. Altre imprese, altre narrazioni

Review of Epiche. Altre imprese, altre narrazioni edited by Paola Bono and Bia Sarrasini.Negli spazi affascinanti dell’Hangar Bicocca di Milano, accanto alle sublimi torri di Anselm Kiefer, è in corso in questi mesi un’ampia mostra, Light Time Tales, della famosa videoartista e performer americana Joan Jonas, da sempre affascinata dalla rilettura di saghe e testi epici, e tesa verso una ridefinizione continua della soggettività femminile. Nell’unica immensa sala buia, costellata da numerosi video e da alcune installazioni, il fruitore può costruirsi un proprio percorso più o meno labirintico, recependo in simultaneità frammenti di varie opere. Una prova di cosa possa significare oggi riproporre l’antichissimo genere dell’epica, nella nostra epoca intermediale, dominata dal multitasking

Sublime isterico, estremismo tragico, posthuman, massimalismo: su alcune declinazioni contemporanee

Starting from a discussion of the controversial notion of postmodern sublime, the paper deals with some contemporary declinations and transformations of this thorny category: the camp sublime, which can be compared with Jameson’s hysterical sublime or with Žižek's trash sublime; the total work of art as utopian fusion of artistic genres and existential experiences, especially in its posthuman development; the tragic extremism, which questions the limits of representation; and finally the maximalism, which aims at gaining a totalizing epic fresco. The theoretical discussion of these movements is linked with a focus on some significant artists: Anselm Kiefer, Lars von Trier, Matthew Barney, Sarah Kane, Don DeLillo, David Forster Wallace.Starting from a discussion of the controversial notion of postmodern sublime, the paper deals with some contemporary declinations and transformations of this thorny category: the camp sublime, which can be compared with Jameson’s hysterical sublime or with Žižek's trash sublime; the total work of art as utopian fusion of artistic genres and existential experiences, especially in its posthuman development; the tragic extremism, which questions the limits of representation; and finally the maximalism, which aims at gaining a totalizing epic fresco. The theoretical discussion of these movements is linked with a focus on some significant artists: Anselm Kiefer, Lars von Trier, Matthew Barney, Sarah Kane, Don DeLillo, David Forster Wallace

Cinema e altre scritture. Intervista a Mario Martone

Transcript and reworking of the interview held on 30 January 2006 at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" during the lectures series organized by the Italian Department of Italian and Performing Arts and by the IRRE of Lazio, coordinated by Michela Costantino.Trascrizione e rielaborazione dell’intervista tenuta il 30 Gennaio 2006 all’Università di Roma “La Sapienza” nell’ambito del ciclo Cinema e scrittura organizzato dal Dipartimento di Italianistica e Spettacolo e dall’IRRE del Lazio, e coordinato da Michela Costantino.

Stefano Manferlotti (ed.), La malattia come metafora nelle letterature dell’occidente

Review of the book La malattia come metafora nelle letterature dell’occidente edited by Stefano ManferlottiL’«enciclopedia dei morti» descritta da Danilo Kiš nel racconto omonimo raccoglie le vite degli uomini che dopo la Rivoluzione francese non hanno lasciato traccia di sé, e condensa così l’idea dell’arte come memoria integrale e democratica, richiamando alla mente le struggenti installazioni fotografiche di Christian Boltanski e i suoi archivi utopistici

Su Dimenticare Pasolini di Pierpaolo Antonello

An overview on Dimenticare Pasolini by Pierpaolo Antonello.A più riprese, durante la lettura di Dimenticare Pasolini, ho avuto la piacevole sensazione di trovare stampato qualcosa che ho pensato e detto più volte. Antonello smonta sistematicamente alcuni stereotipi della vulgata culturale italiana, in particolare di un certo conformismo di sinistra: l’idea che la televisione sia all’origine di tutti i mali, il lamento apocalittico sul presente, la visione dei mass media e delle innovazioni tecnologiche come strumenti di pura conservazione. È un libro provocatorio fin dal titolo, quindi molto adatto ad aprire una discussione, ma per nulla ad effetto, anzi fin troppo serio e documentato

Cristina Grazioli – Pasquale Mari, Dire luce. Una riflessione a due voci sulla luce in scena

Review of Dire luce. Una riflessione a due voci sulla luce in scena by Cristina Grazioli and Pasquale Mari.Recensione del libro Dire luce. Una riflessione a due voci sulla luce in scena di Cristina Grazioli e Pasquale Mari.&nbsp

La diffrazione intermediale

La diffrazione intermedialeUna conversazione con Massimo Fusillodi Serena Guarracin

«Everything is intermedial». A Conversation with Lars Elleström

Lars Elleström needs no introduction to intermediality and comparative literature scholars. Massimo Fusillo and Mattia Petricola had a conversation with him just a few weeks before the publication of his new, major theoretical work. The conversation discusses the evolution of Elleström’s theory over the last decade, his formation and influences, Peirce’s semiotics, the history of intermediality, and the notion of media literacy