Pasolini, los narradores, Saviano: los testigos de la historia

La influencia de la obra de Pier Paolo Pasolini va más allá del peso específico de su obra fílmica y de textos como su Manifiesto para un nuevo teatro ("una bella anticipación del teatro de narración" en palabrs de Marco Baliani). Aspectos presentes en su obra, como la importancia de comunicar ls transformaciones del hombre a través de la experiencia, la tensión ética, la mostración de una mentalidad moderna (no lineal, sino a través de un punto de vista personal) o la exploración de los límites, formas y pluralidad del narrador, pueden rastrearse de hecho tanto en narardores como Roberto Saviano como en obras del teatro de narración. Se parte, en todo caso, de la noción de "antropología vivida", de la literatura como instrumento de acción civil y de la concepción de la posición del autor en cuanto testigo. En una sociedad marcada por la desaparición de la cultura popular, por la crisis de la representatividad política y por la pérdida de espacios de confrontación (aspectos predichos por Pasolini), debería cobrar especial relevancia la revalorización de la palabra y la asunción de responsabilidad del narrador

Intorno al monologo del portiere: fonti, contesti e livelli comunicativi del "Macbeth" realizzato da Shakepseare

Il Macbeth \ue8, al contempo, una tragedia notissima e compatta, una delle pi\uf9 concise ed essenziali del canone shakespeariano, e un\u2019opera sfuggente perch\ue9 attraversata da molteplici riferimenti e allusioni, che stabiliscono, fra mondo diegetico e realt\ue0 contemporanea, interferenze talmente articolate e interconnesse da includere, in tale dilatazione drammaturgica del dramma, un secondo livello di carattere sostanzialmente politico e dedicato ad argomenti immediatamente riconoscibili dagli spettatori contemporanei.Si tratta dell\u2019emblematico personaggio di Banquo, mitico progenitore degli Stuart e figura del fidente attendismo della religione riformata a fronte del sanguinario libero arbitrio di Macbeth; dell'ascesa al trono d\u2019Inghilterra (1603) di Giacomo I Stuart, fino ad allora re di Scozia col nome di Giacomo VI; della Congiura delle Polveri (novembre 1605), che, ordita da un gruppo di cattolici, per un soffio non cancell\uf2 dalla faccia della terra Camera Alta e Bassa, clero e famiglia reale; del carattere rigenerato della nuova monarchia, che, riuniti nelle mani di uno stesso sovrano i regni di Inghilterra e Scozia, realizzava un\u2019unit\ue0 sovranazionale che si incominci\uf2 a denominare Gran Bretagna

Discourses of Tension in a Rainbow Nation: Transcultural Identity Formations among Hakka Mauritians

Identity formation happens at a crossroads of that which people believe they are and are not. Acknowledgment, reification, or subversion of identity frictions form powerful communicative patterns that I call ‘discourses of tension’. I argue in this dissertation that discourses of tension are foundational to the formation of transcultural identities—positionalities that emerge between or beyond perceived cultural boundaries—because they enable people to identify and express cultural complexities and expectations. Based on ten months of ethnographic fieldwork and research in other relevant sites, this argument is supported by my analysis of how Hakka Chinese Mauritians express agency and identity within the affordances and constraints presented by historical relations, ideologies, policies, and sociopolitical developments in postcolonial Mauritius. This small Indian Ocean island state is lauded for its peaceful multicultural society while imposing restrictive ethnic classification into four groups (Hindu, Muslim, Chinese, and ‘General Population’) onto its citizens. Mauritian identity formation is anchored in raciolinguistic ideologies which view language and race as naturally linked. These ideologies produce expectations of people’s language use and identity expression, which often conflict with social realities in Mauritius. Within this field of tension, Hakka Mauritians often find themselves having to reassert their identities as ‘authentically’ Mauritian, Chinese, or Hakka. This is further complicated by the recent ‘rise’ of China, which promotes Mandarin language education (instead of Hakka) and affects local perceptions of what it means to be ‘Chinese’. I present three key contexts in which discourses of tension become salient for Hakka Mauritian expression: Mauritian discourses of nation-building and ethnolinguistic community formation Shifts from Hakka to Mandarin in Chinese Mauritian heritage language classrooms Ideologies of ‘Chineseness’ in the semiotic landscape of Mauritian Chinatown My research shows that Hakka Mauritians occupy constant ‘in-between’ spaces and engage in discourses of tension to (re-)examine their identities. My dissertation thus contributes to anthropology an account of individual agency in expressing fluidity and complexity in transcultural identities against the backdrop of discursive tensions

Sul ‘Nerone’ di Boito

The essay examines the role of Nerone in Arrigo Boito’s biography and the compositional process of this unfinished work. An atypical and experimental creative process, that did not proceed from selecting the theme to writing the libretto, composing the music and finally projecting the staging, because these steps continued to reshape themselves whilst interacting reciprocally. Boito worked on Nerone by combining three creative modalities: as dramaturg he drew from historical and literary research and from theoretical reflection projects and elements useful to the work of the man of letters Boito and of the composer Boito. On the other hand, the man of letters Boito and the composer Boito greatly widened the scope of the dramaturg Boito, who used to consider transitory and replaceable his intermediate results: both music and written scenes were frequently put aside in order to let the work’s inner logic find its way. The compositional process of Nerone produced an hypertext consisting of information blocks partly preserved and partly destroyed. They included written texts (dialogues, stage directions, quotations, short treatises on harmony and prosody), still images (scenery sketches and other figures), projects of images and figures in motion (plans, or colour and tonal combinations), sounds (the composed music). Nerone, at the same time an unfinished and an experimental work, puts Boito among the forerunners of the twentieth century avant-gardes

Subclinical Hypothyroidism: behavioral and psychophysiological characteristics.A pilot study

Background: Clinical hypothyroidism affects various aspects of cognitive and affective brain function. The most severe hypothyroidism may also mimic a picture of melancholic depression and dementia. Subclinical hypothyroidism (SHT) is characterized by elevated TSH levels despite normal thyroid hormone concentrations. The aim of this research is to verify the presence of a typical psychophysiological pattern in SHT patients. Methods: Since 1998 fifty patients who underwent surgeries at the Department of Endocrinology, University of Pisa, diagnosed with SHT, were subsequently recruited. Subjects underwent an inspection of the reported symptoms using the Crown & Crisp Experiential Index, and a psychophysiological assessment with a simultaneous recording of the parameters Skin Conductance Level/ Response (SCL/SCR), Surface Frontal Electromyogram (EMG), Peripheral Temperature (PT), Heart Rate (HR). As a control group, fifty subjects without endocrine disorders were subsequently recruited. Results: Data shows little difference in levels in hormonal assays except for TSH. There is also a significant elevation of some of the CCEI subscales: Anxiety, Depression, and Somatic Complaints. At the autonomic level, there is a general pattern of excessive arousal with significant differences in SCL/SCR, HR, and PT. Conclusions: A first data interpretation is that in sub-clinical hypothyroidism, the body tries to support and integrate the general lack of energy with an acceleration of the autonomic activity. This condition of initial arousal could be a useful indicator in order to monitor the treatment course and its effectiveness on the pathological evolution

A chemogenomic screening identifies CK2 as a target for pro-senescence therapy in PTEN-deficient tumours

Enhancement of cellular senescence in tumours triggers a stable cell growth arrest and activation of an antitumour immune response that can be exploited for cancer therapy. Currently, there are only a limited number of targeted therapies that act by increasing senescence in cancers, but the majority of them are not selective and also target healthy cells. Here we developed a chemogenomic screening to identify compounds that enhance senescence in PTEN-deficient cells without affecting normal cells. By using this approach, we identified casein kinase 2 (CK2) as a pro-senescent target. Mechanistically, we show that Pten loss increases CK2 levels by activating STAT3. CK2 upregulation in Pten null tumours affects the stability of Pml, an essential regulator of senescence. However, CK2 inhibition stabilizes Pml levels enhancing senescence in Pten null tumours. Taken together, our screening strategy has identified a novel STAT3-CK2-PML network that can be targeted for pro-senescence therapy for cancer

Frataxin participates to the hypoxia-induced response in tumors

Defective expression of frataxin is responsible for the degenerative disease Friedreich's ataxia. Frataxin is a protein required for cell survival since complete knockout is lethal. Frataxin protects tumor cells against oxidative stress and apoptosis but also acts as a tumor suppressor. The molecular bases of this apparent paradox are missing. We therefore sought to investigate the pathways through which frataxin enhances stress resistance in tumor cells. We found that frataxin expression is upregulated in several tumor cell lines in response to hypoxic stress, a condition often associated with tumor progression. Moreover, frataxin upregulation in response to hypoxia is dependent on hypoxia-inducible factors expression and modulates the activation of the tumor-suppressor p53. Importantly, we show for the first time that frataxin is in fact increased in human tumors in vivo. These results show that frataxin participates to the hypoxia-induced stress response in tumors, thus implying that modulation of its expression could have a critical role in tumor cell survival and/or progression