Memory, Identity and Migrant Generations: Articulating Italianità in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Northern England through the Case of Kingston upon Hull

Owing to its geographical location and the collapse of its fishing and shipping industries, the UK city of Kingston upon Hull post-WWII rapidly acquired a reputation as a declining outpost of the British nation with no real links to the rest of the world. Yet, historically, Hull has always been a multicultural city that welcomed different migrant communities. Links with Italy, for instance, date back to the 1500s, as the recent ‘Italian Connections’ exhibition, held in one of the local museums, has shown. This exhibition was then also the opportunity to rediscover and reaffirm the existence of an Italian community in the city. This article presents a selection of stories from members of this community, which emerged during and immediately after the exhibition, as a means of exploring the nature of Hull’s historic Italian community and to analyse the extent to which an ‘Anglo-Italian’ identity emerges in this case. It focuses in particular on two case studies: the Coletta and Bottery families. Hirsh’s notion of post-memory and Bedingfield’s idea of trans-memory are used to investigate how members of these families view their Italian background and construct their identities, how memories are transmitted and “translated” across generations, which external factors impacted on their identity construction, and which image of Italy emerges from their recollections. Being able to discuss their family history matters to this group of people: they see this opportunity both as a mechanism by which to reaffirm their personal histories and heritage and as a way to uncover a hidden aspect of Hull’s past which can impact positively on the city’s future

Re-writing complexity through fragments: mapping Milan in the twenty-first century

This article engages with the powerful nature of individual fragments in challenging the stereotypical images of the city, in particular those images that tie Milan almost exclusively to fashion, design, or events like Expo 2015. Using a series of diverse texts devoted to Milan during the last five years, this article argues that in order to understand Milan in the 21st century one needs to start at grassroots level, by giving voice to its inhabitants, letting them talk about their relationships with various parts of the city, about the changes undergone by certain neighbourhoods and how people adapted to them. Despite an attention to fragments, to the individual life, all the aforementioned publications stress the need to abandon excessively individualistic positions to rediscover a way of connecting, a sense of community, and the importance of promoting tolerance and multiculturalism. In this context, graffiti are particularly important as “writing” engages with the local space of the street but at the same time is a global phenomenon (Brighenti 2010, 317), thus raising interesting questions about identity and place-making in a globalised world. Milan is an ideal case study for this kind of reflection as in the late 1980s and 1990s graffiti were frequently associated with social centres and thus their subversive nature was inevitably emphasised

Memory, Identity and Migrant Generations: Articulating italianità in C20th and C21st Northern England through the Case of Kingston upon Hull.

Owing to its geographical location and the collapse of its fishing and shipping industries, the UK city of Kingston upon Hull post-WWII rapidly acquired a reputation as a declining outpost of the British nation with no real links to the rest of the world. Yet, historically, Hull has always been a multicultural city that welcomed different migrant communities. Links with Italy, for instance, date back to the 1500s, as the recent ‘Italian Connections’ exhibition, held in one of the local museums, has shown. This exhibition was then also the opportunity to rediscover and reaffirm the existence of an Italian community in the city. This article presents a selection of stories from members of this community, which emerged during and immediately after the exhibition, as a means of exploring the nature of Hull’s historic Italian community and to analyse the extent to which an ‘Anglo-Italian’ identity emerges in this case. It focuses in particular on two case studies: the Coletta and Bottery families. Hirsh’s notion of post-memory and Bedingfield’s idea of trans-memory are used to investigate how members of these families view their Italian background and construct their identities, how memories are transmitted and “translated” across generations, which external factors impacted on their identity construction, and which image of Italy emerges from their recollections. Being able to discuss their family history matters to this group of people: they see this opportunity both as a mechanism by which to reaffirm their personal histories and heritage and as a way to uncover a hidden aspect of Hull’s past which can impact positively on the city’s future

Desenvolvimento de betão auto-compactável com baixo teor de cimento aplicado a estruturas pré-esforçadas

Mestrado de dupla diplomação com a UTFPR - Universidade Tecnológica Federal do ParanáBetões auto-compactáveis devem apresentar simultaneamente fluidez e coesão, sem a presença de exsudação e segregação. Essas características necessárias ao estado estado fresco, geralmente, são possíveis somente mediante altos teores de finos e consequentemente, maior consumo de cimento. A consolidação desse tipo de betão em indústrias de pré-fabricados e em estruturas pré-esforçadas tem instigado a busca de soluções para reduzir o consumo de cimento e emissões de CO2, tendo em vista que a indústria cimenteira é responsável por 5% a 7% das emissões globais de gases de efeito estufa. Visando uma contribuição ao meio ambiente, esta pesquisa verificou a viabilidade técnica e econômica do betão auto-compactável com baixo consumo de cimento. Ensaios em pastas foram essenciais para determinação do teor de adição mineral e superplastificante empregados, para que posteriormente, fossem realizados ensaios no estado fresco e endurecido do betão, tais como espalhamento e resistência à compressão axial, respectivamente. Foram analisadas nove composições com o consumo de cimento reduzido, das quais apenas três apresentaram bons resultados no estado fresco. As relações água/cimento e agregados miúdo/grosso foram mantidas constantes, enquanto que o consumo de cimento variou entre 271,79 kg=m3 e 299,66 kg=m3, a relação sílica de fumo/cimento variou entre 5 e 15% e a relação superplastificante/cimento variou entre 0,1 e 0,5%. Os resultados apresentaram que o aumento do uso da sílica de fumo prejudica as propriedades no estado fresco, contribui com aquelas no estado endurecido e encarece o betão, devido principalmente ao fato de Portugal não possuir indústrias que produzam - como subproduto - a sílica. Já em relação ao consumo de cimento, os resultados foram bastante promissores, pois conclui-se que é viável a produção de betões auto-compactáveis com consumos inferiores a 300 kg=m3 com garantia da qualidade de suas propriedades mecânicas e reológicas, além de uma redução das emissão de CO2 em relação aos betões convencionais.Self-compacting concrete must have both fluidity and cohesion, without the presence of exudation and segregation. These necessary characteristics for the fresh state are generally only possible due to high levels of fines and, consequently, higher consumption of cement. The consolidation of this type of concrete in pre-fabricated industries and prestressed structures has instigated the search for solutions to reduce the consumption of cement and emissions of CO2, considering that the cement industry is responsible for 5% to 7% of global emissions of greenhouse gases. Aiming to contribute to the environment, this research verified the technical and economic viability of self-compacting concrete with low cement consumption. Paste tests were essential to determine the content of mineral addition and superplasticizer used so that later, tests could be carried out in the fresh and hardened state of the concrete, such as spreading and axial compression resistance, respectively. Nine compositions were analyzed with the consumption of cement reduced, of which only three showed good results in the fresh state. The water/cement ratio and fine/coarse aggregates were kept constant, while the cement consumption varied between 271,79 kg=m3 and 299,66 kg=m3, the silica fume/cement ratio varied between 5 and 15% and the superplasticizer/cement ratio varied between 0,1 and 0,5%. The results showed that the increase in silica fume harms properties in the fresh state, contributes to those in the hardened state and makes concrete more expensive, mainly since Portugal does not have industries that produce - as a by-product - silica fume. Regarding the consumption of cement, the results were very promising, as it is concluded that the production of self-compacting concrete with consumption less than 300 kg=m3 is feasible with guaranteed quality of its mechanical and rheological properties, in addition to a reduction of CO2 emissions compared to conventional concrete

Unmasking Motherhood: Journeys of Self-Discovery in Mary Melfi’s Italy Revisited: Conversations with My Mother and Genni Gunn’s Tracing Iris

This paper will explore how the quest for the mother (whether the missing one of Gunn’s novel or the living one of Melfi’s memoir) leads the protagonists of both books to rediscover their mother tongue, that is a language based on communication and community building (Parmod, 2008), or as Kate defines it in Tracing Iris, a body language. It is through this language that both characters are able to challenge the patriarchal concept of motherhood and, in particular, the stereotype of the good versus the bad mother. The quest for the mother in both texts can be defined as a journey through the protagonists’ past that leads them also to problematize the notion of motherland. Significantly, both texts emphasize the idea of resurrection (the resurrection of the self) and their structures seem to mirror the trajectory identified by Podnieks and O’Reilly (2010) as representing the transition from daughter-centric to matrifocal narratives. Such narratives are effective tools in unmasking motherhood not only because they enable mothers to have a voice but also because they represent a different kind of mothering, the mothering of writing (Nayar 2008, p. 140). According to Nayar, textual mothering, by giving birth to stories and narratives, allows motherhood to be reinterpreted as a situation of power and identity (Nayar 2008, p. 140)

L’iconicità di Caravaggio ieri e oggi. Alcune riflessioni sulle figure iconiche nella cultura contemporanea

This article analyses Caravaggio’s transnational omnipresence in popular culture through the lens of Stardom and Celebrity Studies in order to reflect on the role of iconic figures in our contemporary world. Understanding what makes a figure reach iconic status is essential in order to understand Caravaggio’s long-lasting popularity and influence beyond the sphere of high art. Through a series of case studies belonging mostly to fashion and street art, and through the use of work carried out by marketing and communications experts, the article explores those features that enable an artist’s impact to extend beyond his/her field, and what happens to the original meaning of that artist work when his/her image moves across different forms of cultural production. In order to address these questions, the case studies have been divided into three groups representing the key functions of iconic figures in today’s globalised culture: 1) cultural icons and branding 2) visual activism 3) populist voices.Quest’articolo analizza l’onnipresenza transnazionale di Caravaggio nella cultura popolare attraverso la lente degli Stardom e Celebrity Studies per riflettere sul ruolo delle figure iconiche nel mondo contemporaneo. Capire cosa serva per raggiungere lo status di icona culturale è essenziale per comprendere la duratura popolarità di Caravaggio e il suo influsso al di là della sfera canonica dell’arte. Attraverso una serie di casi di studio appartenenti soprattutto alla street art e alla moda, e grazie al lavoro di esperti di marketing e comunicazione, l’articolo esplora quegli aspetti che permettono a un artista di ampliare la propria sfera di influenza al di fuori del suo campo specifico, e cosa succeda al significato dell’opera di un artista quando la sua immagine passa attraverso diverse forme di produzione culturale. Per poter rispondere ai quesiti in questione, i casi di studio sono stati divisi in tre gruppi che rappresentano le principali funzioni delle figure iconiche nell’odierna cultura globalizzata: 1) icone culturali e ‘branding’ 2) attivismo visivo 3) voci populiste

Unmasking Motherhood: Journeys of Self-Discovery in Mary Melfi’s Italy Revisited: Conversations with My Mother and Genni Gunn’s Tracing Iris

This paper will explore how the quest for the mother (whether the missing one of Gunn’s novel or the living one of Melfi’s memoir) leads the protagonists of both books to rediscover their mother tongue, that is a language based on communication and community building (Parmod, 2008), or as Kate defines it in Tracing Iris, a body language. It is through this language that both characters are able to challenge the patriarchal concept of motherhood and, in particular, the stereotype of the good versus the bad mother. The quest for the mother in both texts can be defined as a journey through the protagonists’ past that leads them also to problematize the notion of motherland. Significantly, both texts emphasize the idea of resurrection (the resurrection of the self) and their structures seem to mirror the trajectory identified by Podnieks and O’Reilly (2010) as representing the transition from daughter-centric to matrifocal narratives. Such narratives are effective tools in unmasking motherhood not only because they enable mothers to have a voice but also because they represent a different kind of mothering, the mothering of writing (Nayar 2008, p. 140). According to Nayar, textual mothering, by giving birth to stories and narratives, allows motherhood to be reinterpreted as a situation of power and identity (Nayar 2008, p. 140)

Caravaggio in film and literature: Popular culture's appropriation of a Baroque genius

© Modern Humanities Research Association and Taylor and Francis 2014. All rights reserved. The idea of writing a book about fictional representations of Caravaggio came to me as far back as 2004 when I was writing a paper on art as inauguration in Pino Di Silvestro's novel La fuga, la sosta for the Romance Studies Colloquium on the theme of 'Celebration', which took place in Newark, New Jersey. Di Silvestro's book can be considered a 'celebration' of a fragment of Caravaggio's life, namely the few weeks the painter spent in Syracuse, between the beginning of October and the end of November 1608 when, after f leeing Malta, he landed in Sicily and painted his controversial The Burial of St Lucy.1 It was on that occasion that I discovered that Di Silvestro's interest in Caravaggio was part of a much larger worldwide phenomenon. It became very quickly apparent to me that although fictional responses to the painter's life and works have been a fairly regular feature over the centuries, during the second half of the twentieth century, but particularly since the 1980s and even more so during the 2000s, we see a real boom in the interest in Caravaggio outside the world of art history, a trend which is still very much alive today. Despite this wealth of material, it also became clear that there was a gap in the existing Caravaggio scholarship. To date, no real effort has been made to study the impact of the Baroque painter across various artistic genres and in different contexts. Whilst the inf luence of Caravaggio on contemporary painters and photographers is well documented thanks to the seminal work of Mieke Bal, studies of responses to Caravaggio's life and works in film or literature are rarer and usually tend to focus solely on an individual artist (e.g. Martin Scorsese, Derek Jarman, and Michel Ondaatje). This monograph addresses such a gap in the field of Caravaggio studies. Given this dearth of scholarship, a panoramic overview of the appropriation of Caravaggio by popular culture seemed most fitting. The true extent of the Caravaggio myth can be fully appreciated only by bringing together a series of case studies that include authors and directors from different countries (Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, and the United States) and literary and filmic texts belonging to different genres (e.g. fictional biographies/docudramas, crime fiction/ noirs, homoerotic literature/film and postcolonial literature)