Two-day seminar “Le forme del male”
As part of our English Culture courses, we had the pleasure of hosting the two-day seminar Le forme del male [“The forms of evil”]. The focus of the seminar was on forms of evil in both literature and the medical field.
All the talks took place during class hours in November 2021 and were delivered by national and international experts.
To have an idea of what we discussed, have a look at the seminar program below!
DAY 1 Il delitto e il camice [“Murder and the white coat”]
Speakers: Isabella Merzagora & Carlo Alfredo Clerici
Chair: Paolo Caponi
Here are the biographical sketches of both speakers and you can learn about their talks.
Isabella Merzagora is full professor of Criminology at the University of Milan and President of the Italian Society of Criminology. In particular, she teaches specialization courses at the university level in the field of criminology and forensic psychopathology. She is also the author of over 280 publications on criminological issues and forensic psychopathology, and has collaborated in national and international research projects. As a speaker, she presented papers at numerous conferences in Italy and abroad. Moreover, she carries out expert and technical consultancy activities in the psychopathological field. Among her publications: Uomini violenti (2009), Colpevoli si nasce? (2012), Lo straniero a giudizio (2017), and La normalità del male (2019). Therefore, at the two-day seminar Le forme del male, Prof. Merzagora talked about the crime of homicide in today’s Italy.
Carlo Alfredo Clerici is a specialist in clinical psychology and psychotherapist. He works as a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the Department of Oncology and Hemato-Oncology of the University of Milan. But there is more that we can say about Prof. Clerici! He has an interest also in the history and technique of illusionism. At the two-day seminar Le forme del male, Prof. Clerici delivered a speech on the theme of suicide.
Day 2 Il delitto e la pagina [“Murder and the written page”]
Speakers: Maurizio Ascari & Barbara Pezzotti & Nicoletta Vallorani
Chairs: Emanuele Monegato & Anna Pasolini
Here, what you should know about the guest speakers and their talks!
Maurizio Ascari is full professor of English literature at the University of Bologna. His recent publications include books and essays on criminal literature (A Counter-History of Crime Fiction, 2007, nominated for an Edgar Awards), transcultural literature (Literature of the Global Age, 2011) and the evolution of genres. through hybridization with different media (Cinema and the Imagination in Katherine Mansfield’s Writing, 2014). He has translated and edited texts by Henry James, Katherine Mansfield, William Faulkner, Jack London, and William Wilkie Collins. Then, he gave a talk on counter-stories and ‘pre-stories’.
Barbara Pezzotti is lecturer in European Languages at Monash University (Australia). Before moving to Melbourne, she worked in Italy and New Zealand, on modern and contemporary literature and culture. In particular, she focused on crime fiction, popular culture, and literary geographies. Barbara has also worked on 20th and 21st century writing, cultural representations of space, and re-interpretation of history in literature and films. Indeed, she is the author of Investigating Italy’s past through Crime Fiction, Films and TV Series: Murder in the Age of Chaos (Palgrave McMillan, 2016) and The Importance of Place in Contemporary Italian Crime Fiction. A Bloody Journey (FDU Press/Rowman&Littlefield, 2102). As an adjunt supervisor she is currently supervising a Ph.D. thesis on Andrea Camilleri’s crime writing. So, at the two-day seminar she presented a paper on Andrea Camilleri’s works.
Book launch!
During the meeting, the speakers also presented the book The Routledge Companion to Crime Fiction. This book is a comprehensive introduction to crime fiction and crime fiction scholarship today. Across forty-five original chapters, specialists in the field offer innovative approaches to the classics of the genre as well as ground-breaking mappings of emerging themes and trends.
You can find the flyer of the event below.
