Italian Language and Literature Commons^™

Trattato Dell’Alcibra Amuchabile (Anonimo): A Guided Translation, Gary Towsley, Olympia Nicodemi

Geneseo Authors

The Trattato dell’Alcibra Amuchabile is a pre-modern algebra text from c. 1365. It is written in a Tuscan dialect of Italian and is situated in the abbacus school tradition, schools that taught the mathematics needed for a mercantile society. Like all the algebra written in Italy at the time, it was inherited from al-Khwarizmi and, like his, written with no symbols—no x’s, y’s, plus signs, etc. It was what is sometimes called “rhetorical algebra.”  There is very little source  material available in English from this important era in the history of algebra. This book helps fill that gap. …

The Desire Of Strict Souls: The Poetry, Criticism, And Letters Of Paul Valéry And Wallace Stevens, Michael Healy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation compares the poetic, critical, and epistolary oeuvres of Paul Valéry and Wallace Stevens and the influence of the former on the latter. Valéry famously advocated for the pursuit of “poésie pure” (“pure poetry”) and influenced Stevens especially in this way, though both of them concluded it was not achievable. I establish an approximation of a critical framework based on the work of the following critics and scholars: Wendy Lesser, Wendy Steiner, Anthony Cuda, Michael Clune, Paul Bové, and Liesl Olson. Harold Bloom’s passionate advocacy and deep, sustained engagement with Stevens and his work strongly influenced my choice to …

Beyond The Veil Of Modernity: René Guénon, Prophet Of The Metapolitical Imaginary, Frederic Colier

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Heralded by some as one of the greatest intellectuals of the 20th century, French metaphysician René Guénon (1886-1951) is also the controversial father of Primordial Tradition, a metaphysics designed to remedy the decline of Western civilization. Guénon viewed the West in the grip of a prolonged cycle of degeneration. He sought to implement a pseudo-authoritarian spiritual reset that required a total rejection of its Western intellectual heritage and an embrace of Eastern doctrines.

Focusing on his landmark book The Crisis of the Modern World (1927), the dissertation examines how Guénon implemented his controversial reset. After outlining the religious, cultural, and …

Twitteratura: Digital Social Reading And Active Reception Of Literary Texts In The Context Of Italian Contemporary Literature, Iuri Moscardi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores Digital Social Reading (DSR) as a novel mode of literary engagement, focusing on the Italian project Twitteratura, a series of social reading experiments conducted on Twitter (2012–2016) and later on the Betwyll app. The research situates Twitteratura within the intersection of Reader-Response Theory, Digital Humanities, Reception Studies, and Sociology of Literature, demonstrating how digital environments reshape the act of reading and interpretation. Through detailed analyses of four DSR projects centered on major twentieth-century Italian authors—Cesare Pavese, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italo Calvino, and Natalia Ginzburg—this dissertation argues that Twitteratura provides a concrete, data-rich demonstration of Wolfgang Iser’s reader-response …

The Myth Of The Italiani Brava Gente In Cinema Since 1945, Bradley P. Reimer

Honors Theses

The myth of the italiani brava gente has been intertwined with cinema since the end of the Second World War. This thesis aims to examine the ways in which these movies, from neorealist classics to disregarded comedies, are influenced by this myth.

By analyzing thirteen films of both Italian and American origin, clear trends begin to emerge between the socioeconomic state of Italy and the ways in which the myth is manifested on the silver screen. When Italy emerges from the war a rebuilding country, the films focus on the futility of war and the evil of Nazi Germany. During …

Res Historica, Volume 5, Alpha Rho Epsilon Phi Alpha Theta, Lindsay Rae Smith Privette Phd

Res Historica

The 2026 journal of historical research by Anderson University students, Res Historica.

The editorial team for this edition of Res Historica was Dr. Lindsay Rae Smith Privette, Julia Ackerman, Callyn Wright, Logan Davis, and John Hinton. Cover art by Mary Beth Lee.

Codenames For Language Courses, Jeffrey Nolan Mcculley, Chloe Bennett

UTA Libraries Staff Publications - Archive

In this lesson, students deepen their proficiency in the target language by designing and implementing a foreign-language edition of the game Codenames. Drawing on their understanding of vocabulary, semantics, and cultural nuance, students adapt game components and rules to account for language-specific challenges such as word ambiguity, cognates, homophones, and idiomatic meaning. Through collaborative gameplay, students actively apply linguistic knowledge in a communicative, problem-solving context that emphasizes precision and strategic language use. The lesson promotes critical thinking, intercultural competence, and authentic language practice while reinforcing vocabulary acquisition and comprehension in an engaging, student-centered format.

Introduction: Rethinking Circulation In Italian Film And Media, Simone Brioni Dr., Rachel Johnson, Shelleen Greene

Department of English Faculty Publications

This introduction to the special issue ‘Rethinking Circulation in

Italian Film and Media’ reconsiders how Italian audiovisual culture

moves across borders – industrially, geographically, linguistically,

and digitally. By focusing on the complex dynamics of circulation,

the essays gathered here trace the evolving connections between

production and distribution, exploring how contemporary modes

of localization, translation, and platform curation shape the

visibility and cultural capital of Italian cinema in global contexts.

From streaming giants such as Netflix to curated services like

MUBI, and from film festival circuits to independent film-making

networks, the issue interrogates how transnational infrastructures

of distribution redefine what counts …

Why Read The Classics (Of Mathematical Proofs)?, Cosimo Perini Brogi

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

Inspired by Italo Calvino’s (almost) homonymous writing, this short essay suggests a formal perspective to complement the typical categorisation of classical results in mathematics on aesthetic bases. The traditional proof that √2 is not a rational number provides a simple example of proof mining. When studied through the tools of logic, that proof has also led to designing new systems for formal proving based on cyclic proofs. This example thus supports the central thesis of this essay that reading the classics of mathematical proofs enables us to acquire a taste for mathematical beauty and can open new directions in mathematics …

Elena Ferrante: A Borderless Identity, Alexander James Hankins

Honors Theses and Capstones

This thesis examines the concept of identity in the works of Elena Ferrante, arguing that her fiction presents identity not as an isolated, self-contained construct, but as something relational, fluid, and deeply shaped by environment. Focusing primarily on The Neapolitan Quartet, the project introduces “boundaries” as a central framework, drawing on relational-cultural theory to explore how identities are formed through connection as much as separation. In Ferrante’s Naples, the setting functions as a microcosm of broader social forces — class disparity, gender inequality, generational tension, and political ideologies — that collectively shape individual experience.

At the core of this analysis …

Andante: Introduction, Ilaria Serra

Andante: An Introduction

Cover art: Dorothy Tennant (1855-1926), Al gioco

Immigration, “Literary Value”, And The Logic Of Late Capitalism In Piersandro Pallavicini’S Il Mostro Di Vigevano (1999), Simone Brioni Dr.

Department of English Faculty Publications

According to Fredric Jameson’s Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991), postmodern culture functions as an expression of the logic of late capitalism, manifesting in stylistic pastiche, the dominance of spectacle, a waning of historical consciousness, and a corresponding erosion of affect. Central to Jameson’s critique is the contention that postmodernism forecloses the possibility of imagining alternatives to capitalism. This article argues that Piersandro Pallavicini’s Il mostro di Vigevano (1999) exemplifies some of these features, and it shows how its description of immigrants to Italy as ingenuous, innocent, and simple-minded insinuates that they come from backward places …

Syllabus Itl 112: Basic Italian I, Chiara Caputi

Open Educational Resources

This is a syllabus for Basic Italian I (ITL 112) taught at the College of Staten Island during the Fall 2026 semester. This course teaches students about reading, writing, speaking and listening in Italian.

3 "Il Canto Dei Sanfedisti" Or The Counter-Revolution, Ilaria Serra

Andante: Chapter 1 The Napoleonic Era

Music for this section, sung by Beppe Barra

Cover art: Cardinale Fabrizio Ruffo, 1850 by Ambito Napoletano

1 Introduction, Ilaria Serra

Andante: Chapter 1 The Napoleonic Era

No abstract provided.

2 "L'Inno Dell'albero" Or Napoleon And The Trees Of Liberty, Ilaria Serra

Andante: Chapter 1 The Napoleonic Era

Music and Lyrics for this section

Cover art: L’albero della Libertà in a French print

4 "Partire, Partirò, Partir Bisogna" Or Napoleon's Bayonettes, Ilaria Serra

Andante: Chapter 1 The Napoleonic Era

Music for this section: Canto dei Coscritti sung by Caterina Bueno

Cover art: La partenza dei coscritti nel 1866; by Gerolamo Indunno

5 "Povero Napoleone" Or The End Of Napoleon, Ilaria Serra

Andante: Chapter 1 The Napoleonic Era

Music for this section

Cover art: Napoleon sitting by Anonymous, Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milano

Terminating Pregnancies In Boccaccio, Anne C. Leone

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

Analyzing examples from the Decameron (1349-51), De mulieribus claris (1361), and the Corbaccio (1365), I argue that Boccaccio (1313-75) demonstrates an awareness of theological, legal and medical opinions on abortion and contraception at the time. However, he is more attuned to the practical concerns of pregnancy than are many of his contemporaries. Acknowledging the variety of situations facing pregnant people and some parts of their lived experience that were ignored by many religious and legal authorities, Boccaccio highlights a disconnection between theory and practice, and thereby raises questions about the limits of abstract knowledge in the face of practical concerns.

Modifying Italian Consonants In The Voice Studio: An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study, Elisa Ramon

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The body of lyric diction literature, particularly on Italian, has grown substantially in the second half of the twentieth century. Lyric diction courses are now a required part of many voice programs across the United States. The widespread use of International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions and transcription rules has significantly contributed to the field. However, relatively few sources focus on the pedagogical strategies needed to teach and modify Italian consonants effectively.

This two-phase exploratory sequential mixed methods study identifies the features of Italian consonants that differentiate the lyric diction of novice singers from that of native speakers. It also proposes …

Pretty And Problematic: The Use Of Music In Guadagnino's 'Call Me By Your Name', Brandon L. Foskett

Deliberately Queer Journal

Tension in the reception of the American-Italian film Call Me by Your Name (dir. Guadagnino, 2017)—as a beautiful film that implicitly condones a problematic narrative—is shaped in part by its compilation soundtrack. Already lauded as a timeless masterpiece in cinematography, sensuality, and music, the film also receives steadfast criticism regarding its portrayal of homosexuality and alleged condoning of interage desire between Elio, a 17-year-old Italian-French boy, and Oliver, a 24-year-old American man. In this paper, I analyze five musical episodes from the film, including The Psychedelic Furs’ “Love My Way,” Ravel’s Une barque sur l’océan, and Sufjan Stevens’s “Mystery …

Crossing The Mediterranean: The Italian Response To The Migration Situation (2014-2024), Avery F. Van Scoy

World Languages, Literatures and Cultures Undergraduate Honors Theses

As Europe increasingly mirrors aspects of its sociopolitical landscape from the first half of the 20th century, a critical examination of historical biases and identity has become imperative. The enduring myth of Italiani, brava gente, or Italians, good people, continues to shape national identity and inform attitudes toward irregular migration, contributing to a growing number of fatalities in the Mediterranean. These deaths are caused, in part, by migration policies that prioritize keeping irregular migrants from reaching Italy by outsourcing border enforcement and restricting access to resources for organizations that seek to aid vulnerable migrants. The endurance of Italiani, brava gente …

Tellecollaboration Task L2l, Susanna Nocchi, Morgana Valentina

Case studies: Digital Education

The Italian Telecollaboration project began in 2021 as a partnership between Language Studies at TU Dublin, DCU, and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy. DCU is no longer involved and the initiative now continues as a collaboration between TU Dublin students of Italian and Università Cattolica students of English. The Telecollaboration is offered as a 2 ECTS module in Università Cattolica (see Collaborative Online International Learning) while at TU Dublin it is integrated into the language interaction assessment for the Italian Language 2A module, within the IBL degree. During Semester 2, students from both universities work in pairs …

Elementary Italian Ii, Monica Rossi-Miller

Open Educational Resources

Italian II aims at increasing the student's ability to use basic forms of oral communication in Italian through constant use of the everyday idiom. Carefully graded practice in reading and writing supplement the conversational aspects of the course. We will cover the second half of Italian Espresso 1 that is, chapter 7 through chapter 11, and the accompanying chapters in the workbook. We also will work on vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, oral comprehension, conversation, spelling and writing. Speaking, oral comprehension, and conversation will be
emphasized.

Italian Culture Through Film, Monica Rossi-Miller

Open Educational Resources

Introduction to important themes of Italian culture by viewing and analyzing
representative Italian films from the post-World War II era to the present. Topics examined include: the Italian family, how World War II has shaped contemporary Italian culture, Italy as a country of emigrants and immigrants, and an examination of religion and the Catholic Church.
This is a Writing Intensive course conducted in English, and all films have English subtitles.

A Writing Intensive Course Specifically is a designated course sections that—in addition to providing the established disciplinary-oriented student outcomes—incorporate approved instructional strategies and course assignments designed to enhance students’ writing …

Preventing Pregnancy: Dante And Medieval Culture, Anne C. Leone

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

This article provides an overview of the dominant views expressed in legal, medical and religious/theological traditions in the late Middle Ages in order to illustrate two basic points: 1) that the “historical precedent” with regard to abortive practices in the medieval Christian West was less homogenous and more diverse than the Supreme Court Justices assumed in their opinion delivered in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022); and 2) that – in stark contrast with what many anti-abortion activists today might assume about the historical precedent, – medieval thinkers did not generally believe that human life begins at conception.

The …

Heteropoesia: Basil Bunting’S Translation Of Obayd Zākānī’S Mush-O Gorbeh, Emadeddin Naghipour

Languages and Cultures Publications

This article studies the role of ‘selving’ and creative interpretation in literary translation. Specifically, it analyzes one of Basil Bunting’s successful translations of Obayd Zākānī’s Mush-o Gorbeh, a picturesque and catchy poem in rhyme and rhythm, laden with animal characters, which was considered to be both a masterpiece of children’s literature and a very important political satire. Bunting, a translator of Persian classical poems into English, had both political and poetic missions as a spy and an up-and-coming poet. This study turns to the theories of translation by Steiner, Benjamin, and Bassnett, among others, to show the challenges of translating …

Influencias Intergeneracionales De La Italianidad En La Vida Doméstica Y En La Esfera Pública De Argentina: Un Análisis De La Lingüística, La Comida Y La Identidad, Sage A. Wong-Davies

Scripps Senior Theses

In Argentina there are many people of Italian heritage due to the large wave of Italian immigration at the end of the 19^th century and beginning of the 20^th century. Through personal interviews and analyses of preexisting research, this thesis examines how the Italian influence has become incorporated in Argentinian culture on a national level and in the family culture of Argentinians with Italian heritage. This thesis specifically considers the Italian influence in Argentina through the lenses of linguistics and language, food, and identity. It determines that “italianidad” is very integrated in Argentinian culture in all of these …

Maka: Un Processo Collaborativo Raccontato A Tre Voci, Simone Brioni Dr., Geneviève Makaping, Elia Moutamid

Department of English Faculty Publications

The documentary Maka offers an account of Makaping’s journey of migration from Cameroon, her arrival in Italy in 1982 following the tragic death of her partner, her success as a journalist and television host, and her more recent relocation to Mantua. Maka focuses on questions of national belonging, and it reflects on how the perception of migration and race has changed since Makaping first came to Italy in the 1990s. This contribution includes a short article in which the protagonist, the writer and the director of the film reflect upon their collaboration. It also includes a video recording of the …

Transatlantic Literary Networks, 1949-1972, Cristina Iuli, Stefano Morello

Publications and Research

Il racconto di Donald Barthelme “Critique de la Vie Quotidienne”, pubblicato sul New Yorker il 9 luglio 1971, si apre su una famiglia newyorkese di classe media sull’orlo di una crisi matrimoniale. Wanda, la moglie, sfoglia Elle, costringendo il marito a prestare attenzione alle foto dell’elegante ristrutturazione di un vecchio mulino in Bretagna da cui spiccano arredi di Arne Jacobsen e “cose di plastica arancione e rosso brillante che arrivano da Milano” (Barthelme 1971, p. 26). Barthelme, che aveva trascorso tutta l’infanzia e buona parte della gioventù a Houston, in Texas, dove il padre era direttore del museo di …