A.P.I. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE XIV Italian Postcolonialisms: Past and Present, 10-11-12 August 2017 – Johannesburg

A.P.I. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE XIV

Italian Postcolonialisms: Past and Present

10-11-12 August 2017 – Johannesburg

Scientific committee: Anita Virga (University of the Witwatersrand), Christopher Fotheringham (University of the Witwatersrand), Norma Bouchard (San Diego State University), Itala Vivan (Università degli Studi di Milano), Graziella Parati (Dartmouth College), Brian Zuccala (Monash University)

Keynote speaker: Norma Bouchard (SDSU)

A.P.I. (the Association of Italianists in South Africa) in collaboration with the School of Literature Language and Media of the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) is inviting scholars to participate in a conference on the subject of Italian Postcolonialisms in August 2017 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Postcolonial theory, born and developed in the Anglophone sphere in the 1970s, has recently grown in prominence in the Italian academy where a focus on Italian Postcolonialism, referring mainly to studies on Italy’s former African colonies, has flourished. This conference intends to explore Postcolonialism as a fluid concept by conceiving of it as a model for research and criticism focused on a variety of colonial practices, both past and present, in the Italian context. For this reason the title of the conference is Italian Postcolonialisms in the plural and we invite contributions that explore a diverse range of matters to which Postcolonial theory and criticism could productively be applied: Italian colonisation of foreign territories, contemporary postcoloniality that characterises Italy, internal colonialism during unification, postcolonial dynamics in reference to immigration in Italy, the interaction between Italian Postcolonialism and other countries or cultural contexts, developments in Postcolonial theory specifically adapted to the Italian context, and postcolonial practices throughout the modern era independent of the formal colonial programme of the Italian state.

Papers may focus on literature, cinema, photography, and art and culture in general. Particularly welcome are contributions which make use of Postcolonialism as an interpretive framework for texts or which reflect theoretical contributions to the concept of Italian Postcolonialism in general or in terms of the specific artistic disciplines mentioned above.

Contributions may be in Italian or English. An abstract of 300 words maximum should be sent by 15 February 2017 to api@api.org.za along with the name, surname, affiliation, title of the paper and short biography of the presenter.

The registration fee for presenters from outside South Africa is $120 (R1200 for SA citizens) if paid before April 2017 or $135 (R1500 for SA citizens) for registrations after that date. The banking details for electronic transfers of the registration fee is as follows:

ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ITALIANISTS

ABSA Bank

Bank Account No: 90 5660 9619

Sandton Branch

Branch Code: 63 100 5

 Swift Code: ABSA ZA JJ

Reference: Name + API2017

For further information please visit the website www.api.org.za or write to anita.virga@wits.ac.za.