NeMLA 2023

Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 2:15 - 4:15pm ET
Navigating Hardships: Resilience and Vulnerability in Pirandello’s Works (Seminar)
Location: Cascades II / NCC (Media Equipped)
Italian & Cultural Studies and Media Studies

Inspired by the 2023 NeMLA conference theme, this panel aims to critically explore how Pirandello addressed resilience in his works and how it developed into a process of cultural, mental, and physical adaptation for his characters. Throughout his rich corpus, comprised of poetry, novels, plays, and short stories, Pirandello tended to depict the existential struggles of his characters, framing them within the logic of an unstable and constructed reality. His narrative is in fact generally pervaded by an evident tension between resistance to and acceptance of adversity— a tension he often resolved in the truth of art.

Panelists:

• Nourit Melcer-Padon: Sicilian Resilience: Personal and Social Aspects

• Francesca Passaseo: L’altro figlio: Sexual Violence and Motherhood in Pirandello’s novelle

• Ombretta Frau: Trauma and Resilience in Pirandello’s L’altro figlio

• Luca Somigli: Marta una nessuna e centomila: spazio, identità e resilienza in L'esclusa

• Lisa Sarti: Resilience and the Tricks of Fate: Is There Hope for the Pirandellian Character?

If you have any specific questions on this panel, you can reach out to the Chairs, Lisa Sarti (lsarti@bmcc.cuny.edu) and Michael Subialka (msubialka@ucdavis.edu)