We are delighted to announce that the latest issue of the Journal for Literary and Intermedial Crossings, entitled ‘Literature, social engagement, and civil commitment in the Italian press of the 18th and 19th centuries’ is now online!
The issue, edited by guest editors Francesca Bianco (University of Padua) and Andrea Penso (Vrije Universiteit Brussel), focuses on some of the many crossings and interactions which took place between literature, politics and society which animated Italian journalism across the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the aspects that characterized the Italian cultural, social, and political vitality of the 18th and 19th centuries concerns the rise of literary reviews and magazines. Initially considered an additional means to discussion of various aspects of intellectual and social life for Italy’s elitist circles and its salotti letterari, the reviews circulated widely and became a widespread medium for the dissemination of knowledge and information. Despite the heterogeneity of the Italian press at the time, a study of the journals from this period evidence an overall increase in socio-political engagements due to the interrelationships between journalism and literature. The articles of this special issue of the Journal for Literary and Intermedial Crossings aim specifically at investigating the role played by these journals as platforms where literature and its role in society were discussed on an almost daily basis, giving rise to conversations that were not limited to the literary domain. They do so through detailed surveys of magazines, journals, and editorials. Engaging with intercultural crossings which animated the European scene of the time, the issue’s perspective goes beyond territorial boundaries: the periodical press was namely one of the main protagonists in cross-cultural disseminations of knowledge and intercontinental dialogues at the time. It became the forum for perspectives on themes such as education and culture as well as consensus organization or other social and political issues. The topics of discussion, often based on the intersections between literature and current affairs, can be understood as contributing to the formation of cultural and political identity in the Italian peninsula: literature was often mobilised for purposes which went beyond the goal of artistic hedonism and which reveal traces of political change. The debates that animated the journals, gravitating around the intersections between literature, international politics, gender issues, and civic identity, mirrored the image of a society that was becoming increasingly sensitive to new cultural issues and permeated by a participatory spirit which the dominant censorship could not stop.
This issue includes the following articles:
. Francesca Bianco, Andrea Penso, “Introduction”
. Elena Zilotti, “Journalism and Theatre in the Age of Enlightenment: Elisabetta Caminer’s reviews for L’Europa Letteraria”
. Maria Di Maro, “The Enlightened Journalism of Elisabetta Caminer Turra”
. Andrea Penso, “Between Literature and Journalism: The Circulation of Foreign Literary News on the Italian Gazettes of the Early 19th Century”
. Francesca Bianco, “Stampa periodica e nuova coscienza civile nel Veneto del ‘decennio di preparazione’: il caso della Rivista Euganea”
. Carmela Panarello, “Da Cornelia a Cordelia: Il lavoro delle donne nella stampa femminile Toscana”
. Marguerite Bordry, “Un « jeu de miroirs » déformant? Les revues italiennes sous l’œil du Mercure de France (1890-1918)”