Authority, Sincerity, Commitment: A Comparative Case Study of Narrative Relationships in Italy in the Era of Digital Media

This paper explores some of the opportunities and hazards related to the circulation of texts in the context of facilitated communication promoted by contemporary technology with a particular focus on an increased public access to the figure of the author.By means of case studies of two contemporary Italian writers, Andrea Camilleri and Roberto Saviano, both known as much for their public personas and social interventions as for their literary texts, the reader-writer-text relationship in the age of digital communication and social media is considered from a narratological perspective.Contemporary narrative relationships and their impact on the idea of the book are shown to be reflective of the fluidity and immediacy of today’s communication networks

Emplaced and embodied encounters: methodological reflections on transcultural research in contexts of Italian migration

This article explores the practical, ethical, and epistemological issues which arise when carrying out and sharing research in contexts of Italian migration, highlighting how greater reflexivity on our own geographic and historical location as researchers can productively inform and shape our understanding of sites of contact, exchange and confrontation in relation to contemporary Italy. Specifically, we write as researchers informed by ethnographic theories and practices, and who through our research have engaged in emplaced and embodied cultural encounters in sites which are identifiable as both transcultural and Italian. Drawing on vignettes from research in Italy and the UK, the article highlights some of the particular contradictions, opportunities and responsibilities generated by our respective positions. We address how our positionings as white, English and female scholars located within nationally-defined Italian Studies structures have raised pertinent questions of power, privilege and voice, as we place our own biographies and bodies, themselves shaped by specific colonial, national and local histories, into critical dialogue with those on and with whom we research. Through a discussion of these ‘irresolvable tensions’ of our research, we seek to practically engage with the broader imperative of finding new ways of studying and writing culture

Putting the Accent on Authenticity: A Case Study of Celebrity Chef Gennaro ‘Gino’ D’Acampo

This article offers an analysis of one of the most recognised representations of ‘Italian-ness’ in the form of the positioning of television chef Gino D’Acampo, with a view to demonstrating the implications of the functions of the stereotype from a methodological perspective, and raising practical questions about the ideals, prejudices and anxieties of contemporary British society. The first part of the article illustrates the ways in which D’Acampo’s commercial and popular success is related to the projected image of his Italian identity. Providing a consideration of the limited and largely condescending treatment of his figure in Italian press, the essay suggests that he is literally ‘made in Britain’, and maps out the construction of his Italian-ness via a brief analysis of his media persona, output and relevant British press archive. The article explores the ‘performance/ivity’ of D’Acampo’s Italian-ness, illustrating the insights to be gained from focussing on use-value, particularly in generating alternative readings of gender, femininity and domesticity. D’Acampo’s negotiation of stereotyped images of the ‘Italian mother’ and ‘mammoni’ promotes recognition of how understandings of femininity are both class and nationality biased. The final part of the article returns to exchange-value, and the meaning of stereotypes as a reader-specific projection; a property of the subject-classifier, rather than object-classified. Tracing the prevalent associations of Italian-ness with notions of authenticity and nostalgia, the gaze is turned to contemporary British society and, in particular, to class-imbued anxieties in the elements of Italianità that are offered for consumption, and the ways in which they are presented to the consumer

FOCUS SULLA SENSIBILITÀ LINGUISTICA: LA TRADUZIONE COLLABORATIVA NELLA CLASSE DI LINGUA

Può la traduzione facilitare la didattica delle lingue moderne? Questo articolo illustra i primi risultati di un progetto di ricerca in corso presso l’Università di Warwick, Regno Unito, (in collaborazione con l’Università di Monash, Australia) che riguarda l’uso della traduzione collaborativa nell’insegnamento delle lingue a studenti universitari e a studenti Erasmus. Le autrici si sono concentrate sui vantaggi in termini di sensibilità linguistica e consapevolezza culturale derivanti da un particolare modello di traduzione collaborativa. Quando la proposta di “Collaborative Translation: A Model for Inclusion” si applica al particolare contesto della didattica delle lingue, infatti, l’insegnante e gli studenti esplorano insieme il processo di traduzione di un testo verso la lingua madre degli studenti. Il valore di questo approccio risiede nel privilegiare una messa in discussione della corrispondenza univoca tra due termini in due diverse lingue: l’insegnante è infatti un collaboratore della traduzione che agisce come facilitatore, chiedendo agli studenti-collaboratori di assumersi la responsabilità della traduzione. L’abilità linguistica in sé, di conseguenza, ha un ruolo secondario rispetto alla curiosità e alla riflessione linguistica nei confronti della propria lingua. I  workshop di inglese e di italiano sono stati rivolti rispettivamente a studenti principianti e a studenti avanzati.Focus on language sensitivity: collaborative translation in language classHow can translation facilitate language learning? Reporting on the preliminary findings of an ongoing research project into the use of translation in language learning at the University of Warwick, UK (in collaboration with the University of Monash, Australia), the authors investigate the advantages of a specific translation model in terms of linguistic sensitivity and cultural awareness. The ‘Collaborative Translation: A Model for Inclusion’ prototype is applied in language teaching for University and Erasmus exchange students, with the teacher and students embarking together on a practical exploration of the process of translation of a text in the students’ native language. The value of such an approach is identified in its privileging of an open-ended questioning of meaning and equivalence: the teacher acts as a ‘facilitator’, asking student-collaborators to determine solutions and assume responsibility for the translation. Linguistic ability consequently takes second place to a self-reflexive linguistic curiosity, indicated in the article as beneficial to the language-learning process for both beginner and intermediate-advanced level students

Looking not for Truth, but Meaning: An introduction to ethnography with Professor Marion Demossier and Dr Margaret Hills de Zárate

Margaret Hills de Zarate - ORCID 0000-0003-1040-0959 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1040-0959Addressing scholars new to ethnography in an interdisciplinary perspective, Prof. Marion Demossier and Dr. Margaret Hills de Zárate offer some reflections on the broader opportunities and implications of ethnographic approaches as a search not for truth, or rules, but for meaning in context. The authors discuss the opportunities and challenges of ethnography as opposed to other forms of data collection, reflexivity, the relationship between ethnography and text, and provide a range of further references.https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v5i2.2545pubpub

Bridge to the future: Important lessons from 20 years of ecosystem observations made by the OzFlux network

In 2020, the Australian and New Zealand flux research and monitoring network, OzFlux, celebrated its 20th anniversary by reflecting on the lessons learned through two decades of ecosystem studies on global change biology. OzFlux is a network not only for ecosystem researchers, but also for those ‘next users’ of the knowledge, information and data that such networks provide. Here, we focus on eight lessons across topics of climate change and variability, disturbance and resilience, drought and heat stress and synergies with remote sensing and modelling. In distilling the key lessons learned, we also identify where further research is needed to fill knowledge gaps and improve the utility and relevance of the outputs from OzFlux. Extreme climate variability across Australia and New Zealand (droughts and flooding rains) provides a natural laboratory for a global understanding of ecosystems in this time of accelerating climate change. As evidence of worsening global fire risk emerges, the natural ability of these ecosystems to recover from disturbances, such as fire and cyclones, provides lessons on adaptation and resilience to disturbance. Drought and heatwaves are common occurrences across large parts of the region and can tip an ecosystem\u27s carbon budget from a net CO2 sink to a net CO2 source. Despite such responses to stress, ecosystems at OzFlux sites show their resilience to climate variability by rapidly pivoting back to a strong carbon sink upon the return of favourable conditions. Located in under-represented areas, OzFlux data have the potential for reducing uncertainties in global remote sensing products, and these data provide several opportunities to develop new theories and improve our ecosystem models. The accumulated impacts of these lessons over the last 20 years highlights the value of long-term flux observations for natural and managed systems. A future vision for OzFlux includes ongoing and newly developed synergies with ecophysiologists, ecologists, geologists, remote sensors and modellers

Bridge to the future: Important lessons from 20 years of ecosystem observations made by the OzFlux network

In 2020, the Australian and New Zealand flux research and monitoring network, OzFlux, celebrated its 20th anniversary by reflecting on the lessons learned through two decades of ecosystem studies on global change biology. OzFlux is a network not only for ecosystem researchers, but also for those ‘next users’ of the knowledge, information and data that such networks provide. Here, we focus on eight lessons across topics of climate change and variability, disturbance and resilience, drought and heat stress and synergies with remote sensing and modelling. In distilling the key lessons learned, we also identify where further research is needed to fill knowledge gaps and improve the utility and relevance of the outputs from OzFlux. Extreme climate variability across Australia and New Zealand (droughts and flooding rains) provides a natural laboratory for a global understanding of ecosystems in this time of accelerating climate change. As evidence of worsening global fire risk emerges, the natural ability of these ecosystems to recover from disturbances, such as fire and cyclones, provides lessons on adaptation and resilience to disturbance. Drought and heatwaves are common occurrences across large parts of the region and can tip an ecosystem's carbon budget from a net CO2 sink to a net CO2 source. Despite such responses to stress, ecosystems at OzFlux sites show their resilience to climate variability by rapidly pivoting back to a strong carbon sink upon the return of favourable conditions. Located in under-represented areas, OzFlux data have the potential for reducing uncertainties in global remote sensing products, and these data provide several opportunities to develop new theories and improve our ecosystem models. The accumulated impacts of these lessons over the last 20 years highlights the value of long-term flux observations for natural and managed systems. A future vision for OzFlux includes ongoing and newly developed synergies with ecophysiologists, ecologists, geologists, remote sensors and modellers.</p