“Screening Space” in Italian Science Fiction
Within the second approach of the Conference programme, the present paper proposes to “screen space” (Sobchack 1997) in contemporary Italian Science Fiction.
Starting point will be the comparative analysis of two established authors, both originary from Bologna, Stefano Benni and Valerio Evangelisti, whose narratives strongly draw on the boundaries of Science Fiction. From his first novel Terra! (1983) to Spiriti (2000), Benni envisions new environments that recall literary contexts and spaces, ranging from Ariosto's lunatic space (Paternoster in Roelens & Lanslots 1993) to a typical Ph.K. Dick world, in which antagonistic forces operate. Critics label Benni's space as “fantastic” because of the surreal aspect of the settings described in a playful, plurilinguistic way. The comical tone of the descriptions highly contrasts with the pessimistic, dystopian message Benni's novel deliver. Evangelisti, at his turn, plays with genres within his Science Fiction novels including many references to the historic novel, adventure stories, popular film, visual arts... Moreover, he spatialises antagonisms so that space gets an allegoric dimension. Paradoxically, in his SF novels – just think of the “Nicolas Eymerich” series (1994-...; Somigli 2007), Evangelisti combines the allegoric space with a historic realism.
Space, whether the product of the fantastic or mimesis, allows both Benni and Evangelisti to embed their commitment to the New Italian Epic, as described by Wu Ming (group of writers from Bologna), in a literary text. Along with the Italian noman noir, another proof of the revival of genre literature in Italy, Science Fiction is capable of offering a critical approach to today's society.
Therefore the paper will
- explore space in the works by Benni and Evangelisti relating the texts to other contemporary (Italian) writers
- study the construction of space (intertextuality)
- relate the literary space to its paratext (maps, epilogues, aknowledgements, notes...)
- screen the aesthetics and ethics of space
- discuss its adaptations (films and graphic novels).
Inge Lanslots
Websites authors:
dr. Inge Lanslots
Institutional Affiliation: Lessius University College (University of Louvain, KUL), University of Antwerp (UA)
Inge Lanslots is Senior Lecturer in Italian at Lessius and the University of Antwerp. She completed her doctoral thesis on the notion of time in contemporary Italian Literature, Gli orologi molli: la narrativa italiana contemporanea e la conoscenza del tempo (1998). She published several articles on various Italian authors (Benni, Buzzati, Calvino, Ortese, Pressburger, Tabucchi) and co-edited Piccole finzioni con importanza. Valori della narrativa italiana contemporanea (1994).
(
Lessius (KUL)
Departement Toegepaste Taalkunde
Sint-Andriesstraat 2
2000 Antwerpen
e-mail:
Conference: Science Fiction across Media: Adaptation/Novelisation
May 28-30, 2009
K.U. Leuven, Belgium
This conference wants to bring together scholars from science fiction studies, adaptation studies and literary studies to share their expertise and shed new light on science-fiction adaptations and novelisations.
Besides film adaptation, there will be a special focus on the underdiscussed phenomenon of novelisation. Basically, novelisations are novels adapted from or based on a film, a TV series, a video game, or other media. In contrast to the more common adaptation process from book to film, novelisations are usually padded versions of screenplays. At least in its commercial or industrial form, a novelisation is released more or less concurrently with the film, as a marketing tool, in order to heighten visibility and awareness of the title. On the book market, however, the general public may easily confuse novelisations with novels adapted into films, as the latter are normally republished as tie-ins to film adaptations. As the study of novelisations and cinéromans has already progressed substantially in the French and Italian departments, this conference will be centred on English-language novelisations especially.
The conference also seeks to extend the adaptation debate on two terrains. First, genre is a dimension that has been fairly disregarded in adaptation studies. In particular, we shall investigate not only the relations between sf literature and sf cinema, but also how the focus on one genre contributes to our understanding of typical adaptation issues such as fidelity or the supremacy of the original text. Concerning science-fiction novelisations, it will be interesting to see how they relate and/or do not
relate to sf literature and cinema. And while the success of novelisations and spin-off novels is considered partly responsible for the niche science-fiction literature has been pushed into, some of the most interesting novelisations in general belong to the science-fiction genre.
Second, we would also like to encourage analyses that approach adaptation from the narratological concept of space. Since narrative has traditionally been associated with temporality rather than spatiality, space has always lagged behind in narrative theory. As it can be connected with other narratological concepts as well as paratextual and cognitive aspects, it is perhaps ideally suited to balance different mediatic representations against each other.
We invite papers from different perspectives and disciplines to contribute
to the discussion on science-fiction adaptation and novelisation. The
conference will be held in English.
Please send proposals, including a 300-word abstract, a brief CV,
institutional affiliation, and e-mail address, to:
Thomas.VanParys_at_arts.kuleuven.be
The deadline for proposals is February 1, 2009.
======
From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
cfp_at_english.upenn.edu
more information at
======
schema & outline paper
explore spatiality in 2 contemporary writers
before: portrayal of BENNI & EVANGELISTI
- outline career & education
- career B: 1976 Bar Sport (short stories)
- production:
- multifaceted nature of writings B: novels, short stories, plays, poetry ;; non fiction: journalistic writings (Rep, manifesto) ;; seminars on creative writing ;; music – BaldandersThelonious Monk
- ! BOLOGNA
- sf fits within narrative? How?
- Passion for popular genres (B: SF, music, tv) – B does not profile himself as a SF writer, contrary to Evangelisti
- Passion for popular genres which he studies thoroughly ; started as a reader of Urania ;
Space = costrued
Comic travestyPessimism / Writing within the genre overcoming/ blurring its boundaries
< consumerism
mass media
ecology (Terra! 1983) / < consumerism
mass media
ecology (Terra! 1983)
NIE
Wu Ming & Pincio
Raise awareness
Italy of the future = Tristalia (Elianto)
Interplanetarian
Intergalactical
Terra
Visionary aspect : quote van encyclopedia
Characters - perspectives
SF
Language – creativity
Inventories
Other mediatic representations
From:
Subject: FW: stefano benni
Date: Wed 20 May 2009 08:56:37 GMT+02:00
To:
______
Van: [
Verzonden: vrijdag 15 mei 2009 16:11
Aan:
Onderwerp: stefano benni
Comments:
biblio
______
Record: 1
Title:
Baldanders iterum redivivus anno 2004: Freunds Gespensterlied und Bennis Baldanders oder die Faszination der simplicianischen Figuren in der Moderne-über Grass und Borges hinaus
Author(s):
Battafarano, Italo Michele
Source:
Morgen-Glantz: Zeitschrift der Christian Knorr von Rosenroth-Gesellschaft 2005; 15: 89-95.
ISSN:
0942-0924
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: German literature;
Period: 2000-2099;
Primary Subject Author: Freund, Wieland (1969- );
Primary Subject Work: Das Gespensterlied (2004);
Genre: novel;
Subject Terms:
and Benni, Stefano (1947- ): Baldanders (2004); Grass, Günter (1927- ): Das Treffen in Telgte (1979); The Meeting at Telgte; Borges, Jorge Luis (1899-1986); and Guerrero, Margarita: El libro de los seres imaginarios (1967); sources in Grimmelshausen, Hans Jakob Christoffel von (1622-1676); Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch (1669); The Adventures of a Simpleton
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: German
Update Code: 200501
Sequence Numbers: 2005-2-9708
Accession Number:
2005201216
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______
Record: 2
Title:
Benni e le nuove avventure di Pinocchia: Comici appunti per una moderna 'éducation sentimentale'
Author(s):
De Pau, Daniela
Source:
Nemla Italian Studies (NemlaIS) 2005 Mar-Apr; 29: 111-24. [Journal Detail]
Peer Reviewed:
Yes
ISSN:
1087-6715
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Primary Subject Work: Pinocchia (1999);
Genre: drama;
Subject Terms:
comedy; treatment of marionettes
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: Italian
Update Code: 200601
Sequence Numbers: 2006-2-11804
Accession Number:
2006460660
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Record: 3
Title:
Di vincitori, di vinti e d'idee: Fanciulli e filosofia nei romanzi di Stefano Benni
Author(s):
Perissinotto, Cristina
Source:
RLA: Romance Languages Annual (RLAn) 1997; 9: 300-04. [Journal Detail]
Peer Reviewed:
Yes
ISSN:
1050-0774
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Primary Subject Work: La Compagnia dei Celestini (1992); Elianto (1996);
Genre: novel; Bildungsroman;
Subject Terms:
treatment of philosophy; relationship to children
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: Italian
Update Code: 199901
Sequence Numbers: 1999-2-11860
Accession Number:
1999047825
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Record: 4
Title:
Echoes of Counterculture in Stefano Benni's Humour
Author(s):
Boria, Monica
Source:
Romance Studies (RSt) 2005 Mar; 23 (1): 29-42. [Journal Detail]
Peer Reviewed:
Yes
ISSN:
0263-9904
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Genre: poetry; and fiction;
Subject Terms:
prose; humor; interdisciplinary approach
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: English
Update Code: 200501
Sequence Numbers: 2005-2-12328
Electronic Access:
DOI: 10.1179/026399005x27368
Accession Number:
2005460490
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______
Record: 5
Title:
I romanzi di Stefano Benni
Author(s):
Boria, Monica
Source:
pp. 43-58 IN: Pellegrini, Franca (ed. and preface); Tarantino, Elisabetta (ed. and preface); Il romanzo contemporaneo: Voci italiane. Leicester, England: Troubador; 2006. (xi, 138 pp.)
ISBN:
9781904744184
Series:
Troubador Italian Studies (Troubador Italian Studies)
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Genre: novel;
Subject Terms:
narrative technique; relationship to postmodernism
Document Information:
Publication Type: book article
Language of Publication: Italian
Update Code: 200701
Sequence Numbers: 2007-2-12328
Accession Number:
2007460940
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Record: 6
Title:
Il Medioevo alla Berlusconi: Zu Stefano Benni: La Compagnia dei Celestini (1992)
Author(s):
Marx, Barbara
Source:
Italienisch: Zeitschrift fur Italienische Sprache und Literatur (ItalienischZ) 1995 Nov; 17 (2 [34]): 42-56. [Journal Detail]
Notes:
It. sum.
Peer Reviewed:
No
ISSN:
0171-4996
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Primary Subject Work: La Compagnia dei Celestini (1992);
Genre: novel;
Subject Terms:
treatment of Middle Ages
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: German
Update Code: 199601
Sequence Numbers: 1996-2-10310
Accession Number:
1996058016
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Record: 7
Title:
Interview with Stefano Benni: A Postmodern Moraliste
Author(s):
Degli Esposti, Cristina
Source:
Italian Quarterly (IQ) 1995 Winter-Spring; 32 (123-124): 99-105. [Journal Detail]
Peer Reviewed:
Yes
ISSN:
0021-2954
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Subject Terms:
interview
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: English
Update Code: 199501
Sequence Numbers: 1995-2-8873
Accession Number:
1995057421
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Record: 8
Title:
Le Paris infernal de Stefano Benni
Author(s):
Obert, Judith
Source:
Cahiers d'Etudes Romanes (CER) 2001; 6 (2): 369-82. [Journal Detail]
Peer Reviewed:
No
ISSN:
0180-684X
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Genre: novel;
Subject Terms:
treatment of Paris
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: French
Update Code: 200401
Sequence Numbers: 2004-2-10950
Accession Number:
2004652582
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Record: 9
Title:
Original und Pastiche in Wort und Bild: Stefano Bennis Erzählsammlung Il bar sotto il mare
Author(s):
Jacobs, Helmut C.
Source:
Italienisch: Zeitschrift für Italienische Sprache und Literatur (ItalienischZ) 1997 Nov; 38: 21-37. [Journal Detail]
Notes:
Italian summary.
Peer Reviewed:
No
ISSN:
0171-4996
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Primary Subject Work: Il bar sotto il mare (1987);
Genre: short story;
Subject Terms:
and illustration; image-text relations; pastiche
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: German
Update Code: 199701
Sequence Numbers: 1997-2-9670
Accession Number:
1997056461
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Record: 10
Title:
Scrittori a Verona: Conversazioni con Ippolita Avalli, Stefano Benni, Marco Lodoli, Sandra Petrignani e Sebastiano Vassalli
Author(s):
Tani, Stefano (ed.)
Source:
Verona, Italy: Riccio; 2001. (150 pp.)
ISBN:
9788890059100
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Avalli, Ippolita; and Benni, Stefano (1947- ); Lodoli, Marco (1956- ); Petrignani, Sandra (1952- ); Vassalli, Sebastiano (1941- );
Subject Terms:
interview
Document Information:
Publication Type: book
Language of Publication: Italian
Update Code: 200201
Sequence Numbers: 2002-2-11446
Accession Number:
2002460673
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Record: 11
Title:
Stefano Benni (1947- )
Author(s):
Ward, David
Source:
pp. 25-31 IN: Pallotta, Augustus (ed. and introd.); Italian Novelists Since World War II, 1965-1995. Detroit, MI: Gale; 1999. (xxiv, 367 pp.)
ISBN:
9780787618513
Series:
Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB): 196
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Document Information:
Publication Type: book article
Language of Publication: English
Update Code: 200501
Sequence Numbers: 2005-2-12327
Accession Number:
2005463948
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Record: 12
Title:
Terra! di Stefano Benni: Viaggio nella leggerezza cosmica
Author(s):
Paternoster, Annick
Source:
pp. 191-95 IN: Roelens, Nathalie (ed. & introd.); Lanslots, Inge (ed.); Piccole finzioni con importanza: Valori della narrativa italiana contemporanea. Ravenna: Longo; 1993. (206 pp.)
Notes:
Convegno Internazionale, maggio 1991, Univ. di Anversa
Series:
Portico: Biblioteca di Lettere e Arti (Portico): 99
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Primary Subject Work: Terra! (1990);
Genre: novel;
Subject Terms:
treatment of space travel
Document Information:
Publication Type: book article
Language of Publication: Italian
Update Code: 199601
Sequence Numbers: 1996-2-10311
Accession Number:
1996058047
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Record: 13
Title:
The Pen and the Prophet
Author(s):
Perissinotto, Cristina
Source:
RLA: Romance Languages Annual (RLAn) 1996; 8: 287-91. [Journal Detail]
Peer Reviewed:
Yes
ISSN:
1050-0774
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: English literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Orwell, George (1903-1950);
Primary Subject Work: 1984 (1949);
Genre: novel;
Subject Terms:
treatment of prophecy; compared to Benni, Stefano (1947- ): La Compagnia dei Celestini (1992); Flaiano, Ennio (1910-1972): 'La felice città dei ladri'; Serra, Michele (1954- ): Il nuovo che avanza (1989); sources in Dante (1265-1321); La Divina Commedia: Inferno
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Primary Subject Work: La Compagnia dei Celestini (1992);
Genre: novel;
Subject Terms:
treatment of prophecy; compared to Flaiano, Ennio (1910-1972): 'La felice città dei ladri'; Serra, Michele (1954- ): Il nuovo che avanza (1989); Orwell, George (1903-1950): 1984 (1949); sources in Dante (1265-1321); La Divina Commedia: Inferno
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: English
Update Code: 199901
Sequence Numbers: 1999-1-6495; 1999-2-11861
Accession Number:
1999046841
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Record: 14
Title:
Verso il nuovo millennio: Rappresentazione dell'apocalisse nella narrativa italiana contemporanea (Benni, Busi, Vassalli)
Author(s):
Jansen, Monica
Source:
Narrativa (NarrativaP) 2001 June; 20-21: 131-50. [Journal Detail]
Peer Reviewed:
No
ISSN:
1166-3243
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Primary Subject Work: La Compagnia dei Celestini (1992);
Genre: novel;
Subject Terms:
treatment of the apocalypse; compared to Busi, Aldo (1948- ): Madre Asdrubala (1995); Vassalli, Sebastiano: 3012: L'anno del profeta
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: Italian
Update Code: 200101
Sequence Numbers: 2001-2-10292
Accession Number:
2001461670
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Record: 15
Title:
When You Are Truly in Love
Author(s):
Davidson, Chad (translator and introd.); Feltrin-Morris, Marella (translator and introd.)
Source:
Two Lines 2004;; 58-64.
ISSN:
1525-5204
General Subject Areas:
Subject Literature: Italian literature;
Period: 1900-1999;
Primary Subject Author: Benni, Stefano (1947- );
Primary Subject Work: 'Quando si ama davvero';
Genre: short story;
Subject Terms:
English language translation
Document Information:
Publication Type: journal article
Language of Publication: English
Update Code: 200601
Sequence Numbers: 2006-2-11805
Accession Number:
2006297216
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