RiCOGNIZIONI. Rivista di Lingue e Letterature straniere e Culture moderne
type: channel
description: RiCOGNIZIONI is an open access, peer review digital journal hosting research on modern languages, literature and culture from both a disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective. Its aim is to stimulate a dialogue between related scientific fields and encourage contact between different approaches. The journal welcomes contributions from scholars and young researchers on: writers, movements, world cultures new and still unexplored areas of language, literature and culture CrOCEVIA features papers dealing with different linguistic and cultural domains, converging around a common thematic core InCONTRI hosts debates on current issues related to the social and cultural scene in the form of a round table forum ItINERARI is a miscellaneous section with contribution from different areas of language, literature and culture PaSSAGGI features unpublished translations and provides a critical forum on the role of translators SeGNALI offers readers conference reports, book reviews and information about ongoing research projects ISSN 2384-8987 * * *
publisher: Università di Torino
language: en-US
publication name: RiCOGNIZIONI. Rivista di Lingue e Letterature straniere e Culture moderne
issn: 2384-8987
copyright: RiCognizioni is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. With the licence CC-BY, authors retain the copyright, allowing anyone to download, reuse, re-print, modify, distribute and/or copy their contribution. The work must be properly attributed to its author. It is not necessary to ask further permissions both to author or journal board.
items: [rec. di] L. DE CRESCENZO, "Triste cosa è esser donna: la femminilità degenerata secondo Abel Botelho", Edizioni dell'Orso, Alessandria, 2024
items: https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/ricognizioni/article/view/12082
items: [rec. di] A. FERRARI (a cura di), Dizionario di linguistica del testo a uso delle scienze umane
items: « La tyrannie du vrai » : entretien avec Salma El Moumni
items: Linguistic Creativity Through the Lens of Constructed Languages
items: Constraints on the Art and Craft of Constructing Languages
items: Technology and Creativity in Language Invention
items: Awareness of Constructed Languages
items: Language Revival or Language Construction?
items: Defining 'Naturalness'
items: Self-specified Nominals in Esperanto: A Typological Approach
items: Functioning of the Affixes in Esperanto from an Enunciative Point of View
items: Quenya is Practically a Main Character
items: Translation of Personal Names in Klingon “Hamlet”
items: On the Intelligibility of a “Created Language”
items: Plant Names in Constructed Worlds
items: Literary Celebrities and their Websites
items: Lanterne nel buio digitale
items: Il ritratto digitale della literary celebrity: Abdulrazak Gurnah nel sito dell’Università del Kent
items: Websites and Contemporary Authors: the Case of Olga Tokarczuk
items: Literary Celebrity in China
items: Usages and Translations of the Italian "tanto" in Spoken Language
items: “Unveiling the Cinematic Artistry: Pedagogical Approaches to Teaching Spaghetti Westerns in Higher Education”
items: African Migrant Women’s Agency in the Diaspora
items: The Words of Living Together
items: Natural and Digital Landscapes in the Actions of "Kollektivnye Dejstvija"
items: Meduse Cyborg Revisited

[rec. di] L. DE CRESCENZO, "Triste cosa è esser donna: la femminilità degenerata secondo Abel Botelho", Edizioni dell'Orso, Alessandria, 2024
type: item
creator: Sara Altoni
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Sara Altoni
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 367
ending page: 369
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11700

https://ojs.unito.it/index.php/ricognizioni/article/view/12082
type: item
title: [rec. di] A. BONGIORNO et alii (dir.), "Création d'espaces et espaces de la création. Les formes de mémoire de lieux littéraires et artistiques. Italie, Espagne, Provence", Aix-en-Provence, Presses Universitaires de Provence, 2023
description: [rec. di] A. BONGIORNO et alii (dir.), "Création d'espaces et espaces de la création. Les formes de mémoire de lieux littéraires et artistiques. Italie, Espagne, Provence", Aix-en-Provence, Presses Universitaires de Provence, 2023
creator: Roberta Sapino
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Roberta Sapino
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 371
ending page: 373
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/12082

[rec. di] A. FERRARI (a cura di), Dizionario di linguistica del testo a uso delle scienze umane
type: item
creator: Luciano Zampese
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 luciano zampese
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 375
ending page: 377
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11987

« La tyrannie du vrai » : entretien avec Salma El Moumni
type: item
creator: Miriam Begliuomini
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Miriam Begliuomini
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 379
ending page: 385
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11967

Linguistic Creativity Through the Lens of Constructed Languages
type: item
description: This special issue of Ricognizioni, Linguistic Creativity through the Lens of Constructed Languages, brings together contributions from the 2024 I-Conlang conference (Orléans), exploring the diversity and vitality of constructed languages (conlangs). From philosophical and auxiliary languages to fictional and artistic creations, conlangs represent a fertile ground for linguistic innovation and interdisciplinary research. The volume addresses historical, technological, and sociolinguistic dimensions, with case studies ranging from Esperanto to fanfiction languages. It highlights the continuum between constructed and natural languages and emphasizes the value of conlangs as tools for exploring human creativity and linguistic diversity.
creator: Guillaume Enguehard
creator: Alice Ray
creator: Philippe Planchon
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Guillaume Enguehard; Alice Ray, Philippe Planchon
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 15
ending page: 17
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/12083

Constraints on the Art and Craft of Constructing Languages
type: item
description: In the 21st century, constructed languages started to be normalized as an object of scientific study. Their construction has become increasingly popular thanks to the spread of the internet and, therefore, the availability of linguistic resources from the most ‘exotic’ human languages. The practice of constructing languages (in brief, conlanging) is often made by non-professional linguists with much enthusiasm and anecdotal experience but without a solid linguistic ground. Interlinguistics may be divided into four periods (prehistorical, classic, modern, postmodern), where conlanging is the postmodern part. From its history, contemporary conlangers can profit from the errors and successes of their predecessors of classic Interlinguistics. This period started with the publication of Volapük (1879) until the release by IALA of Interlingua (1951). Its protagonists were mainly involved in the quest for the optimal International Auxiliary Language (IAL); nonetheless, their lessons are still valid.
creator: Federico Gobbo
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Federico Gobbo
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 19
ending page: 31
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11928

Technology and Creativity in Language Invention
type: item
description: The invention of languages, a complex practice, has been extensively described and analyzed from the perspective of linguistic methodologies implemented, such as those proposed by Rosenfelder (2010) and Peterson (2015). However, a less explored aspect concerns the use of automated tools by ideolinguists in their creative process. Our research focuses on this intersection between technology and linguistic creativity. Through a survey (Nomblot & Thomas, 2023) directed at language creators (both amateur and professional), to which 84 people responded, we explored the profiles of ideolinguists (gender, age, motivations for inventing languages, and time dedicated to their creation) and their language invention techniques (the steps they follow, their methods for creating sounds, grammars, and lexicons, as well as their desire for alignment between the language and the people using it, and whether or not they aim for their language to appear realistic).We also explored the habits and preferences of ideolinguists regarding the use of automated tools in the creation process. The results reveal a partial adoption of these technologies, with about 40% of respondents using computer tools. Among these tools, word generators emerge as the most popular (e.g., Awkwords), followed by full language generators (such as Vulgarlang) and name generators for characters and places (like Fantasy Name Generator). Our presentation will explore the underlying reasons for the use or non-use of these tools among ideolinguists. We will examine factors of satisfaction and dissatisfaction related to these technologies, as well as the needs expressed by users for new tools. This analysis aims to shed light on current dynamics in the field of constructed languages and to propose directions for the future development of tools better suited to the expectations of language creators.
creator: Aurélie Nomblot
creator: Izabella Thomas
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Aurélie Nomblot, Izabella Thomas
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 33
ending page: 48
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11506

Awareness of Constructed Languages
type: item
description: There are many constructed languages, but awareness of them among the general public is low. In 2022, the Espéranto-Développement-45 association carried out a survey to find out how well known 10 constructed languages were, using paper and internet questionnaires. The questions concerned knowledge of the name of the language, the ideas associated with this name, and the desirability of learning the language. 600 responses were analysed. Esperanto is the best-known language, especially among the over-60s. Elvish languages are best known among young people. Esperanto also appears to be the most desirable language for children to learn.
creator: Pierre Dieumegard
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Pierre Dieumegard
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 49
ending page: 60
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11503

Language Revival or Language Construction?
type: item
description: The aim of this paper is to show that constructed languages provide rele- vant methods for the reconstruction and revitalization of natural languages. I use the example of Normannique, a reconstructed Scandinavian language de- rived from remnants of Old Norse found in Normandy’s place names (France) and currently the focus of a modest revitalization program. Since August 2024, this language has had a website with resources (normannique.org) and a youtube channel featuring 114 subscribers (youtube.com/@normannique). First, I address the difference between constructed and natural languages. I argue that the languages classified in these categories sometimes have the same degree of arbitrariness. It is therefore not so much the arbitrary aspect of language planning as the population’s attitude towards the language that defines its classification as a constructed or natural language. In a second step, I show that the arbitrary nature of language planning can lead to a po- sitive attitude among the population when it fulfils a function aimed in par- ticular at improving the feasibility of a revitalization process. Thus, despite being classified as natural, revived languages are not always distinguishable in practice from constructed languages. Finally, I show that conventional me- thods of linguistics, unlike the planning methods developed for constructed languages, struggle to take this feasibility criterion into account. I propose an example of a mixed method, which I illustrate using the Normannique language revival as an example.
creator: Guillaume Enguehard
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Guillaume Enguehard
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 61
ending page: 73
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11594

Defining 'Naturalness'
type: item
description: Among the community of language construction enthusiasts, particularly those who fall under the ‘artlanger’ category, there exists a concept termed ‘naturalness’ (Rhiemeier, 2012). Under this framework, the quality of an artistic language (‘artlang’) can be assessed in terms of how naturalistic it is, i.e. the degree to which it is a simulacrum of a natural language (or ‘natlang’). This concept as practised in artlang communities exhibits a complex relationship with broader linguistic theory and typology that I explore in this talk. In terms of how ‘naturalness’ is achieved, while some advise engaging in ‘imaginative role- play’, (Brown, 2017), the main advice is to read about a wide array of natural languages to see what structures are attested (Peterson, 2015). Discussion of exemplar natlangs is thus a fre- quent device in theorising among artlangers, such as Kearsley (2023), who uses a discussion of Chukchi as a starting point for a critique of simplistic views of basic word order and alignment. Indeed, the term ANADEW, an acronym of ‘A Natlang Already Did [it] Except Worse’, distills this point, by noting that natlangs already exhibit ‘bizarre’ phenomena (Rhiemeier, 2012). This paper explores the extent to which this learned intuition of ‘naturalness’ on the part of conlangers conforms to the kinds of generalisations drawn by typologists, making two main observations. Firstly, I observe that, as noted by Merlo et al. (2022), the typology of a con- structed language is in large part determined by the diversity of languages that the conlanger has had exposure to, i.e., their typological knowledge. Secondly, I propose that another signif- icant influence on the typology of constructed languages are the theoretical assumptions made about Language more generally (a point made elsewhere for morphology by Peterson (2014)), particularly focusing on morphological complexity as discussed by Baerman et al. (2017)
creator: John Hutchinson
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 John Hutchinson
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 75
ending page: 88
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11446

Self-specified Nominals in Esperanto: A Typological Approach
type: item
description: The aim of this article is to propose a first typological study of self-specified nominals (often called ‘correlatives’) based on data from Esperanto, which I compare with several languages (English, Lithuanian, Wolof, etc.). Although there are many similarities between Esperanto and other languages (particularly Indo-European) on this point, it seems that no typological study has ever been carried out on this kind of system. In fact, the lack of recognition of self-specified nominals as forming a coherent paradigm complicates typological research, as these elements are rarely treated together in descriptive grammars. Self-specified nominals are structured at the intersection of two categories: grammatical (interrogative, demonstrative, etc.) and ontological (time, place, etc.). I propose an first inventory of these categories, and then address several points required for the elaboration of a typology, namely morphosyntactic status, evolutionary trends of the paradigm and implicational universals in the inventory of categories.
creator: Maximilien Guérin
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Maximilien Guérin
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 89
ending page: 103
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11440

Functioning of the Affixes in Esperanto from an Enunciative Point of View
type: item
description: Constructed languages often rely on a more or less extensive system of affixes, allowing for economical lexical expansion – a process already observed in natural languages. This study focuses on Esperanto, as it is a constructed language which has been in actual use since its origin. As far as the lexicon is concerned, Esperanto borrows its lexical elements (radicals and affixes) from Indo-European languages, but makes a particular use of them from a morphological point of view, through the autonomous use that can be made of them. This use will lead us to take an interest in the affix system of Esperanto, examining its dynamics from an enunciative perspective. Through various examples of affixes and their autonomous use, the aim is to highlight the role of enunciation (particularly the relationship to the enunciator and the qualitative dimension) in shaping the interpretation that can be made of these markers, by comparison with forms often considered as synonyms.
creator: Philippe Planchon
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Philippe Planchon
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 105
ending page: 121
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11464

Quenya is Practically a Main Character
type: item
description: In the last forty years, fan fictions, derivative writings openly based on published works of fiction, have gone from being shared on semi-secretive zines circulating between a handful of people, to being hosted on public online archives, such as Archive of Our Own with 6 million registered users. At the same time, fan studies have grown into an interdisciplinary and transnational field. However, linguistic approaches to fan studies and fan fictions have always been quite marginal, and even more rare are the linguistic works investigating the use of conlangs in fan fictions. With a corpus-based approach, this study aims to analyse how fanfiction’s authors use Tolkien’s conlangs in their works, focusing in particular on the use of Quenya, by far the best documented language of Tolkien’s Legendarium. The analysis gathers its empirical evidence from a corpus of publicly available fan fictions from AO3, all of them written in English with an explicitly stated use of Quenya. This investigation will have two main focuses: a) a pragmatic analysis of code-switching from English to Quenya and its stylistic purpose in Tolkien-inspired fanfictions; b) an analysis of the formal characteristics of Quenya in fanworks, aimed at verifying the authors’ level of knowledge of Quenya and (possibly) the sources of such knowledge.
creator: Gloria Comandini
creator: Francesco Dedè
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Gloria Comandini, Francesco Dedè
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 123
ending page: 137
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11545

Translation of Personal Names in Klingon “Hamlet”
type: item
description: The translation of literary classics into constructed languages (ConLangs), particularly artificial languages (ArtLangs) like Klingon, offers unique insights into the interplay between language, culture, and translation theory. This paper focuses on the Klingon adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, with a particular emphasis on the treatment of proper names. Through detailed analysis, the study explores how linguistic and cultural constraints of Klingon phonology influenced the adaptation of English names while maintaining their recognisability for readers. The adaptation process exemplifies a dual objective: conforming to Klingon phonological rules while preserving the familiarity of character names from the source text. For instance, adaptations like Gertrude becoming ghertlhuD demonstrate phonological transformation, where Klingon’s alveolar lateral affricates replace English consonant clusters to align with Klingon phonotactics. Similarly, vowel epenthesis and consonant substitutions ensure Klingon phonological compatibility, balancing “alienness” with reader accessibility. The analysis also reveals how names retained key phonetic features, such as syllable count and nuclear vowels, to maintain their recognisability. This work situates the Klingon Hamlet within broader sociolinguistic and sociocultural contexts, emphasizing the importance of audience reception in translation. Ultimately, the Klingon adaptation of Hamlet highlights the imaginative potential of ArtLangs, transcending their fictional origins to become vehicles for scholarly inquiry and cultural expression. This study contributes to translation studies by illuminating how adaptations in ConLangs navigate between linguistic fidelity and cultural resonance, enriching our understanding of language as a dynamic and multifaceted medium.
creator: Chiara Meluzzi
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Chiara Meluzzi
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 139
ending page: 150
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11521

On the Intelligibility of a “Created Language”
type: item
description: In most prehistoric fiction dialog is translated silently into the language of the narration, either in a neutral style, or incorporating othering modifications which make apparent its artificial nature. In the series of novels Sous le vent du monde by the French author Pierre Pelot, however, the dialog is given in a fictionally authentic form, using two distinct languages invented by Pelot. The consequent switching, while avoiding the diegetic incoherence of modern language exchanges in a prehistoric frame, may be unintelligible or only partly intelligible for the reader. This chapter looks at the way Pelot makes the instances of his created language accessible to readers, both in the lines of dialog and in the frequent incorporation of other-language items in the narrative. Linguistically, the invented languages are highly synthetic, and noun-heavy, using juxtaposition extensively to convey meaning and thus avoiding the difficult-to-convey values of grammatical words or closed-group items. The author further incorporates glosses and developments around these examples of code-switching in a way which permits the reader to deduce the meaning of many of the referents.
creator: Mat Pires
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Matthew Pires
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 151
ending page: 164
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11512

Plant Names in Constructed Worlds
type: item
description: This study investigates the extent to which plant names, coined within the context of fictional world-building, reflect the morphosyntactic and semantic-motivational structures characteristic of natural language phytonyms. The analysis begins by outlining the repertoire selection criteria, encompassing fictional worlds, sources, and methodologies for plant name identification. It then explores the strategies used to integrate plants into fictional settings, categorizing them into four distinct types based on two variables: the plant's real or fictitious nature and whether the naming language is natural or constructed (artlang). Furthermore, the study examines the alignment of invented plant names with Brent Berlin's five principles of ethnobotanical nomenclature, focusing on morphosyntactic and semantic aspects. The presence of phenomena such as synonymy and borrowing, typical of folk phytonyms repertoires, is also analyzed, offering insights into the linguistic parallels between natural and constructed ecosystems.
creator: Alberto Ghia
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Alberto Ghia
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 165
ending page: 179
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11510

Literary Celebrities and their Websites
type: item
description: “Is it possible to consider internationally appreciated writers, who are active on the web, influencers?”. Moreover, “Might literary culture be of inspiration as much as other forms of digital influence, in this era of easy and whimsical self-proclaimed and much followed influencers?”. This Round table open to PhD candidates of the Course in Digital Humanities (University of Genoa and University of Turin) is a launching pad for a debate on Literary celebrities and the world of the new media, especially through the analysis of official websites of internationally renowned writers.
creator: Carmen Concilio
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Carmen Concilio
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 183
ending page: 189
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/12038

Lanterne nel buio digitale
type: item
description: ABSTRACT · Lanterns in the Digital Dark: Reclaiming Authority and Amitav Ghosh’s Archives of Dissent Against Influencers Culture. This article responds to two primary objectives: first, delving into the problem of cultural authority in the digital age, second, intellectuals’ and writers’ responses to authority crisis as they embrace and make their way through the digital environment. Thus, the article juxtaposes the emergence of conformist influencers—new “priests” of superficial materialism—with writers’ enduring function as critical intellectuals. Based on the scholarship of thinkers such as Edward Said, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida, this thesis argues that even as social media incentivizes virality and instant consumption, thoughtful authors are consciously occupying digital space to construct richer and more nuanced discourse. Using as case study Amitav Ghosh’s online presence, this article demonstrates how committed and engaged writers today can build rich, interactive archives that wed intellectual depth to digital reach. Ghosh’s website, examined through the lens of Derrida’s conception of the archive as an expression of a specific type of power, is more than a holding cell of information, rather it is also a place of continued cultural conversation and active engagement, a counterpoint to the emptiness of influencer culture.
creator: Harjot Banga
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Harjot Banga
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 191
ending page: 205
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11903

Il ritratto digitale della literary celebrity: Abdulrazak Gurnah nel sito dell’Università del Kent
type: item
description: This article aims to explore Abdulrazak Gurnah’s digital portrait as it emerges from the webpage that the University of Kent dedicated to him after the award of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2021. By drawing on Celebrity Studies and Media Studies, the analysis focuses on an example of Digital Humanities that intersects the phenomenon of the literary celebrities, problematising the conception of celebrity through its hybridisation with the literary world and the universities. Thus, Gurnah’s webpage acts as a case study to explore the figure of the literary celebrity with academic traits. The first section examines the status of the literary celebrities within the Celebrity Studies and the aspects in which Gurnah’s image dovetails or diverges from the canonical definitions of celebrity. The second section is concerned with the analysis of the author’s webpage which, through the visual and aural spheres, gives back a portrait of the postcolonial intellectual who, as literary celebrity, fosters the humanities and the world of universities.
creator: Costanza Mondo
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Costanza Mondo
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 207
ending page: 220
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11827

Websites and Contemporary Authors: the Case of Olga Tokarczuk
type: item
description: Assuming that writers' web pages, as a response to the demands of modern communication, can represent significant research material, this article explores Olga Tokarczuk’s digital presence through two key websites: the one hosted by her publisher and the Olga Tokarczuk Foundation’s website. The author’s Wydawnictwo Literackie website is static, serving primarily as a promotional tool for the Nobel Prize’s publications, while the Foundation’s website is more dynamic, focusing on social and cultural initiatives and containing a database as well, conceived as an archive. I shall argue that both websites serve more traditional roles in showcasing Tokarczuk’s work rather than fostering direct engagement with her audience. Despite her celebrity status, Tokarczuk’s website presence reinforce her established public identity but doesn’t seem to align with an influencer model. This suggests that Tokarczuk’s approach is more focused on cultural discourse through her writing and actions than on shaping her persona through her websites.
creator: Stefania Spinelli
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Stefania Spinelli
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 221
ending page: 232
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11878

Literary Celebrity in China
type: item
description: Before literary celebrity in China emerged as a cultural phenomenon and industry akin to the celebrity culture described by Turner (2014 [2004]), ancient China had already witnessed the existence of phenomenal – if not charismatic (Weber 2004 [1919]) – figures endowed with the extraordinary power of words, legitimate authority, and above all, an innate vocation to transform the world: the shi (writers, intellectuals, and politicians). However, China’s tumultuous modern era forced these intellectuals to recalibrate their ambitions. Entering the contemporary age, they were further required to adopt a more modest, “people-centric” narrating language to coexist with the increasingly multifaceted expression mechanism shaped by a seemingly never-ending technological evolution. This paper first explores the unique role of the shi as intellectuals, cultural figures, and political influencers in ancient China. It then analyses their shifting vocations in modern China, as they sought to preserve, reform, or reconstruct from scratch the Chinese civilization. Finally, it investigates their complex modes of existence in contemporary China, marked by a curious “absence” from traditional media and yet a pervasive presence on new media platforms. This transformation reflects their “forced compromise” in adopting new narrative languages and modes of expression shaped by emerging technologies, ultimately raising some pressing concerns: Do words still hold power in the digital age? Has technological mediation rendered those multi-formed literary celebrities (mingren, mingliu, mingxing, wanghong, etc) more visible or invisible, more ordinary or extraordinary?
creator: Qian Zhang
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Qian Zhang
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 233
ending page: 263
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11907

Usages and Translations of the Italian "tanto" in Spoken Language
type: item
description: This paper explores the meanings, usages in context and translations into English of several tanto constructions (e.g., tanto meno, tanto poi, così tanto che, perché tanto, tanto è vero, etc.). The phrasemes are searched for in a spoken Italian corpus, where frequencies, meanings and usages in context are accounted for and discussed. Translation options are then retrieved from Italian-English parallel corpora, where also occurrences and meanings are taken into consideration. Such translations are corroborated or challenged by consulting spoken American and spoken British English corpora. Relative frequencies, pragmatic meanings, and usages are compared across all corpora. The findings reveal that several translations of the tanto constructions are retrieved from the spoken American English corpus; some others are obtained from the British English corpus. Conversely, the parallel corpora sporadically give rise to infrequent or unnatural language samples, especially as far as idiomatic expressions are concerned. Hence, the paper findings bring to the fore different patterns and pragmatic meanings of the source and target expressions. In particular, the tanto expressions, their translations, frequencies, and language patterning may greatly differ in terms of content and context.
creator: Patrizia Giampieri
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Patrizia Giampieri
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 267
ending page: 288
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11789

“Unveiling the Cinematic Artistry: Pedagogical Approaches to Teaching Spaghetti Westerns in Higher Education”
type: item
description: This article proposes interdisciplinary approaches, utilizing film theory, cultural studies, and historical perspectives to facilitate an enriched learning experience for students by examining the socio-political contexts, directorial styles, and thematic elements prevalent in Spaghetti Westerns. The Spaghetti Westerns genre can be useful in the context of teaching Italian culture, cinema, and language, due to the genre’s ability to transcend traditional genre boundaries, subvert expectations, and provide a candid commentary on society. The best Spaghetti Westerns movies allow students to question longstanding myths of American heroism and reflect the disillusionment of Italian society with its own political realities. Moreover Italian curricula in North American Universities should give to Spaghetti Westerns more attention because while the study of neorealist films in a second language classroom may be beneficial in terms of exploring narration and character development, Spaghetti Westerns are better in terms of discussions regarding innovative cinematic techniques.
creator: Marco Lettieri
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Marco Lettieri
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 289
ending page: 299
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11588

African Migrant Women’s Agency in the Diaspora
type: item
description: This article examines the agency of African migrant women in the diaspora context in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah. Existing scholarship indicates the entanglement of black women’s marginalisation with racism, a victim-focused perception of black women, and a deliberate erasure of black women’s experiences and identities in the diaspora. This necessitates an exploration of how African migrant women define themselves in relation to black identity and racial hierarchies in the diaspora. I argue that African migrant women’s experiences and identities are complex and fluid. Despite facing marginalisation and victimisation, African migrant women actively assert their agency and multifaceted identities. Drawing on Nnaemeka’s concepts of Nego-feminism and reinscription of womanhood, I explore how African migrant women’s agency is both negotiated and relational – a strategic response to racist marginalisation of black identity, enacted through their interpersonal relationship as casual workers and lovers in the diaspora. Using narrative qualitative research design, data was collected through close reading of both primary and secondary texts, and analysed through textual and narrative analysis, and coding methods. The findings reveal that African migrant women negotiate white women, white men, and African Americans’ stereotypical perceptions of their black identity. First, African migrant women adapt discursive silence to understand the mechanisms of their marginalisation. Second, they embrace complex forms of self-inscription to outrightly resist misnaming, dismissive, and downplaying tendencies of white American racism. Third, they strategically adapt male sponsorship to achieve vertical social mobility. This study provides insights into how African migrant women’s agency operates in white American racist contexts, counters the one-dimensional portrayal of African migrant women as victims, and contributes to the broader discourse on women’s struggle for social just…
creator: Julian Namiyingo
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Julian Namiyingo
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 301
ending page: 317
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11888

The Words of Living Together
type: item
description: This paper presents several activities designed within the framework of the action research project Plurilingualism for Social Sustainability and Youth Inclusion, aimed at upper secondary schools. Starting from considerations on the contemporary socio-cultural context in which Italian schools operate and the key actors involved in educational and formative processes, the project activities are illustrated in close connection with the educational objectives they seek to achieve. The first educational pathway focuses on the enhancement of plurilingualism through intercomprehension-based approaches. In this regard, the paper highlights the educational potential of the comparative mindset inherent in intercomprehension practices, emphasizing both the value of historicity as a pedagogical category and the possible shift in social perceptions of cultural differences. The second educational pathway aims to foster self-expression through the aesthetic dimension, encouraging individuals to continuously reimagine themselves and others in a creative way. At the same time, this process helps regain awareness of one's participation in the network of relationships that shapes individual identities.
creator: Irene Papa
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Irene Papa
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 319
ending page: 327
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11882

Natural and Digital Landscapes in the Actions of "Kollektivnye Dejstvija"
type: item
description: The present article examines the aesthetic evolution of liminal spaces in the actions of the Moscow Conceptualist group Kollektivnye Dejstvija (Collective Actions), analysing them as material semiotic borders between different communicative domains. The initial Soviet phase of the group began in 1976, while in 1989 the collective broke up. In 1995, some of its members reunited under the name [KD], and they have remained active since then. The aim of the group is to understand the nature of art beyond any socio-political conditioning. Each of the actions involves the staging of a minimalist performance, attended by a group of selected spectators-participants; most of these events are enacted outdoors, with the Kievogorskoe pole—an untilled field on the outskirts of Moscow bordered by woods—representing the main setting in the Soviet phase. Since 1980, the group’s actions have been archived through the samizdat project Poezdki za gorod (Trips out of Town), of which fifteen volumes have been produced to date. Marginal spaces prove to be particularly significant in the aesthetics of Kollektivnye Dejstvija, as their transcendence allows the artists and spectators-participants to access new theoretical and perceptual conceptualizations of reality. At the same time, semiotic borders appear as material sites where meaning is interpreted and creatively produced through sensorial dialogues with the artistic environment. While in the group’s initial phase the liminal zone is often represented by the woods separating the field of action from the ideologized urban area, since the late Eighties several digital devices have been used to amplify human possibilities of transcending conventional perception modes in the field of art. In my study, the material significance of semiotic borders in Kollektivnye Dejstvija’s actions is investigated through the theoretical frameworks of Timo Maran’s ecosemiotics and Giuliana Bruno’s research on projection in digital art.
creator: Roberta Sala
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Roberta Sala
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 329
ending page: 344
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/11923

Meduse Cyborg Revisited
type: item
description: Meduse Cyborg Revisited – A exploration of Japanese cyberpunk literature, in the works of Suzuki Izumi, Ōhara Mariko and Ono Miyuki Deotto delinea la necessità contemporanea di narrazioni legate al “realismo aumentato”. Su questo solco si sviluppa il rinnovato interesse verso la narrativa cyberpunk, e in particolar modo nella speculative fiction giapponese. Questo articolo si pone l’obiettivo di analizzare l’evoluzione della corrente cyberpunk giapponese, realizzate in “ondate” diverse - secondo la classificazione di Tatsumi (2000) - per tracciare analogie e divergenze tra le generazioni di scrittrici. In particolare, ci si concentra sulle tematiche che emergono da queste visioni del futuro di cosiddette “Meduse cyborg”, secondo la definizione di Daniele (1997): autrici “arrabbiate” che hanno attraversato, anticipato o superato il cyberpunk, investigando il ruolo del genere in scenari di sviluppo tecnologico sempre più accelerato. Il primo case studies sarà un esempio di narrativa pre-cyberpunk: Nanto! Koi no saikederikku di Suzuki Izumi. Il secondo caso è Hybrid Child di Ōhara Mariko, scrittrice della “terza ondata”, dove emergono le tematiche del cyberfemminismo, e corpi postumani. Come terzo caso si analizza un testo post-cyberpunk, Vendere il proprio corpo di Ono Miyuki per analizzare lo sviluppo tematico nella narrativa speculativa di oggi.
creator: Juan Francisco Scassa
rights: Copyright (c) 2025 Juan Francisco Scassa
date: 2025-07-01
publication date: 2025-07-01
volume: 12
number: 23
starting page: 345
ending page: 364
doi: 10.13135/2384-8987/12018