Articles by Daniele Biffanti
Ticontre. Teoria Testo Traduzione , 2023
In this article I explore three aspects of Beppe Fenoglio’s La Paga del Sabato that are crucial f... more In this article I explore three aspects of Beppe Fenoglio’s La Paga del Sabato that are crucial for the understanding of the author’s immediate post-war treatment of the Resistenza. Through a close reading of selected passages and taking into consideration the early criticism posed by the editor of “I Gettoni” Elio Vittorini (and Fenoglio’s response to it), I investigate the cinematic writing style of the novel, the literary model offered by the Italian translation of Hemingway’s short story Soldier’s Home, and the author’s rejection of the official memorialization of the Resistance. I argue that in this text Fenoglio draws a self-representing portrayal of the “imperfect” partisan - a survivor who has not fulfilled the experience of war. The main character Ettore, suffering from PTSD, is incapable of reintegrating into civilian society after the existential rift of wartime. He and his fellow partisan Palmo are not given the honor of a valorous death in battle, and therefore never enter the realm of what Saccone called the “perfect” partisan, rather emerging as unique literary examples of partisan-veteran figures.
Forum Italicum, 2022
In this article I explore the representation of partisan fighters provided by Elio Vittorini and ... more In this article I explore the representation of partisan fighters provided by Elio Vittorini and Beppe Fenoglio in their novels Uomini e no (1945) and Una questione privata (1963), through the lens of Hannah Arendt’s reflection on totalitarianism’s exploitation of the weakened boundaries between public and private, and on partisans’ reappropriation of the public realm during the Resistance struggle. I argue that partisan characters Enne 2 and Milton display the psychological burden derived from their choice to engage in the public realm, and from the subsequent necessity to act and use violence in order to pursue the goal of Liberation from totalitarianism. Basing these literary figures on their own engagement in the Resistenza, Vittorini and Fenoglio offer a counterargument to Arendt’s claim that the private becomes a sad and opaque dimension for those who reappropriated the public – their paper partisans experience the unbearable weight deriving from public engagement, and struggle with a desire to find refuge, respectively, in their personal and interior dimensions.
Call for Papers by Daniele Biffanti
The Resistance against Nazi-Fascism has been the cornerstone on which the post-fascist Italian st... more The Resistance against Nazi-Fascism has been the cornerstone on which the post-fascist Italian state established its democratic values. The Resistance epic and its counter-narratives elicited cultural responses that interpreted the past, criticized the present, and envisioned the future of Italian democracy. Its complex storytelling influenced both public and private perceptions of the Resistance as a historical event, and the articulation of the term as a political act. This panel seeks to reconsider the evolution and/or devolution of the concept of "resistance", while also exploring how the understanding and narrative of the Resistenza has impacted such transformation throughout the last eight decades. What position does the concept of "resistance" occupy in present-day Italy? How do established historical narratives influence contemporary takes on "resistance" as a political practice? What is its legacy today, within and beyond Italy? We welcome contributions from fields such as critical theory, memory and cultural heritage, literature, art history, film, media, and performance studies, gender and queer studies, ecocriticism, postcolonial, decolonial, and race studies.
Please send a 150-200 word abstract (in English or Italian) and a 75-100 word bio to the session organizers by January 21 st , 2023.
At 11am on November 11, 1918, the armistice that effectively ended the First World War was signed... more At 11am on November 11, 1918, the armistice that effectively ended the First World War was signed. What came to be known as " The Great War " had a profound and lasting impact on the cultural fabric of the nations involved: as Paul Fussell wrote, " its dynamics and iconography proved crucial to the political, rhetorical, and artistic life of the years that followed; while relying on inherited myth, war was generating new myth. " Over the course of the 20th century, the concept of war evolved beyond historically traceable moments and events to include the consideration of war as site and influence shaping every aspect of lived experience. This conference seeks to examine ways in which literature and the arts have taken up and taken apart war and the myths surrounding it-grappling with it both as subject and context while also considering the ways in which the experience of war molded, mutilated, and morphed artistic forms. Though the word " centennial " often rings of monolithic celebration, it is equally an opportunity to highlight the attempts of writers and artists to contain, contend, or survive war and to question and problematize preconceptions and existing views of war by investigating their inherently bipolar nature. We welcome proposals from scholars working in a variety of disciplines including literature, film, art, history, philosophy, anthropology, and health humanities. Topics might include, but are not limited to:
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Articles by Daniele Biffanti
Call for Papers by Daniele Biffanti
Please send a 150-200 word abstract (in English or Italian) and a 75-100 word bio to the session organizers by January 21 st , 2023.
Please send a 150-200 word abstract (in English or Italian) and a 75-100 word bio to the session organizers by January 21 st , 2023.