The Oxford Italian Association TOIA NEWSLETTER NO. 76 May – June 2016

Text and voice, text vs voice: Dante on writing and reading

The shift from an oral, gestural performance to a silent reading of an invisible, and therefore reproducible, text, which does not need to be publicly performed, may have been independently invented, or reinvented, in different societies.

The lecture will approach this topic focusing on the crucial role played, within the Western tradition, by Dante’s attitude towards the silent reading of poetry, on the one hand, and the poetical text as an independent entity, on the other.

Carlo Ginzburg is a noted Italian historian and proponent of the field of microhistory. He is best known for Il formaggio e i vermi (1976), which examined the beliefs of an Italian heretic, Menocchio, from Montereale Valcellina.

In 1966, he published The Night Battles, an examination of the benandanti visionary folk tradition found in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Friuli in northeastern Italy. He returned to looking at the visionary traditions of early modern Europe for his 1989 book Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath.

The son of Natalia Ginzburg and Leone Ginzburg, Carlo Ginzburg was born in 1939 in Turin, Italy. He received a PhD from the University of Pisa in 1961. He subsequently held teaching positions at the University of Bologna, the University of California, Los Angeles (1988–2006), and the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. His fields of interest range from the Italian Renaissance to early modern European history, with contributions to art history, literary studies, and the theory of historiography.

He was awarded the 2010 Balzan Prize and was elected an International Member of the American Philosophical Society in 2013.

Taylor Special Lecture by Professor Carlo Ginzburg

The Taylor Special Lecture,

Main Hall, Taylor Institution, St. Giles, Oxford

5.00 p.m. on Wednesday, 4th May, 2016.

Admission is free. All welcome.

Representing the Duce: Mussolini and Italian art 1922-1945

It is widely accepted that the cult of Mussolini was vital to the way Italian Fascism became a regime and integrated the population into a system of regimented consensus that appeared solid until it was undermined by the setbacks of World War Two.

The cult involved the weaving of narratives of “exceptionality” around the figure of Mussolini and the consolidation of these in collective rituals and the re-organisation of public spaces. The public projection of Mussolini’s image through the press, photographs, film, painting, sculpture and posters followed from this.

This lecture has as its starting point the still widely accepted notion that as the artist and art critic, Mario De Micheli, put it “la politica del fascismo nei confronti dell’arte fu moderata” (Mario De Micheli, L’arte sotto le dittature, Milan: Feltrinelli, 2000, p. 51).

By focusing on the construction of the image of Mussolini, its iconographic changes over time, its use in supporting the Duce’s personality cult, and especially the post-war destiny of the images, Dr Giuliana Pieri probes further into the construction of the notion of Fascism’s moderate policy towards the visual arts and looks at the way this idea developed in Italian post-war art historical discourse.

Two areas will be particularly in focus. The first is the iconography of the Duce. How and why did it change in the period 1922-45?

This will allow her to look at both the actual cult of the Duce and the counter-cult at the time of the fall of the regime. The second focal point will be the aftermath of the arts. What happened to the portraits of Mussolini in the post war period? When did they resurface both physically and critically? And why does any of this matter now?

Lecture by Dr Giuliana Pieri

On Tuesday, 17th May, 7.30 for 8.00 p.m.

At the Tsuzuki Lecture Theatre, St. Anne’s College

Entry: Members £2, non-members £5,

students under 30 free of charge

Parking: Bevington Road and adjacent side roads

Dr Giuliana Pieri (Dott. Lett. Pavia; MA

Kent, DPhil Oxon) is Reader in Italian and the

Visual Arts and Head of the School of Modern

Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Royal

Holloway University of London.

She has published widely on 19th and 20th

century visual culture, cultural history and popular

literature. Her research interests are firmly in the

area of comparative and interdisciplinary studies,

especially the intersection of the verbal and the

visual, and the role of Italian visual culture in the

construction of Italian identity both in Italy and

abroad. Recent volumes include The Cult of the

Duce. Mussolini and the Italians from 1914 to the

Present (2013, with S. Gundle and C. Duggan), and

Italian Crime Fiction (2011).

Dr. Giuliana Pieri, speaking at the exhibition 'Against

Mussolini: Art and the Fall of a Dictator'

In 2010 she co-curated the exhibition

Against Mussolini. Art and the Fall of a Dictator

(London, Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art)

as part of the AHRC funded research grant The

Cult of the Duce (www.mussolinicult.com).

She is on the editorial board of the journal

Italian Studies; is general series editor of European

Crime Fictions and Studies in Visual Culture

(University of Wales Press, Cardiff); and is a

member of the executive committee of the

Society of Italian Studies.

She is currently co-investigator of the

AHRC funded project Interdisciplinary Italy 1900-

2020: Interart/Intermedia. Her contribution

focuses on Italian Modernism and the intersection

between the fine arts, design (pre- and postwar)

and Italian culture as part of the project’s

collaboration with the Estorick Collection of

Modern Italian Art, official partner of the project.

Boccaccio meraviglioso (Wondrous Boccaccio)

120 minutes duration, Italian with Italian subtitles “The Taviani brothers, Paolo and Vittorio, re-create a distant past in Boccaccio meraviglioso: the plague year of

1348, when ten young Florentines take refuge in a country villa and pass the time by telling stories. The film, based on Boccaccio’s Decamerone, dramatizes both the storytellers and their tales. The Tavianis place the

action—which ranges from the pathos of a woman revived by a lover’s touch to the comedy of a craftsman who’s the butt of a metaphysical practical joke—in ancient buildings and landscapes that seem to vibrate with erotic

passions inflamed by the presence of death." The New Yorker

Veteran auteurs Paolo and Vittorio Taviani’s adaptation of Boccaccio’s The Decameron focuses

on five of the 100 stories in the classic Italian masterpiece and boasts stunning locations and an all-star cast. The stories are set against the backdrop of a 14th century, black plague-stricken Florence, where ten young men and women have escaped the Black Death by relocating to a country villa where, one by one, they take turns telling stories of love, fate, and resurrection. Wondrous Boccaccio is a poetic tribute to the stories that emerged from one of the darkest periods in Italian history, and the imaginations that fuelled them. Stunningly shot in several castles, towers and medieval ruins in Tuscany and Lazio, this visual gem is a luscious Taviani-style feast for the eyes. THE DIRECTORS: Paolo became passionate about cinema after seeing Rossellini’s Paisan. After writing and directing shorts and plays with his brother, Vittorio, he made his first feature in 1962 and they’ve worked together ever since. Their vast careers include prestigious wins in Cannes for Palme d’Or winner Padre Padrone (1977) and Grand Prix du Jury winner La Notte di San Lorenzo (1982). Caesar Must Die (2012) earned the brothers a Golden Bear in Berlin.

Showing at the Sadler Room, Rewley House, Wellington Square, Friday, 3rd June, 7.45 p.m. All welcome. Note this film is in Italian with Italian sub-titles.

Metered parking available in Wellington Square.

Luck in Italy: Modern Princes, from Pinocchio to Foucault's Pendulum

The Henry Rowlatt Bickley Memorial Lecture, 2016, will be delivered by Professor Robert S. C. Gordon, the Serena Professor of Italian at the University of Cambridge.

Luck, superstition and magic have long been an object of study amongst anthropologists of distant cultures. But to the critic or cultural historian working closer to home, it might seem strange to study such phenomena in a single country or culture. These feel more like universal notions that transcend national borders. This lecture is interested in luck and what it has looked like in Italy, particularly in the modern era, when secular thinking has competed with sacred thinking as a means of making sense of our lives and our actions. Drawing on a range of modern Italian literature, from Carlo Collodi to Umberto Eco, the lecture asks if there is such a thing as ‘luck in Italy’.

Professor Robert S. C. Gordon

Robert Gordon works primarily on modern Italian literature, cinema and cultural history. He is the author or editor of twelve books, including several on the work of Primo Levi (e.g. Primo Levi's Ordinary Virtues, Auschwitz Report, The Cambridge Companion to Primo Levi).

He has also published on the wider field of postwar cultural responses to the Holocaust, especially in the book The Holocaust in Italian Culture, 1944-2010 and the co-edited volume Holocaust Intersections.

He is co-editor of Culture, Censorship and the State in 20th-Century Italy and his work on cinema includes the books Pasolini. Forms of Subjectivity and the BFI Film Classics volume Bicycle Thieves, DVD and blu-ray audio commentaries, and articles and essays on Holocaust cinema, early film and literature, 'Hollywood on the Tiber', and censorship.

He is the author of a general account of modern Italian literature, A Difficult Modernity: An Introduction to Twentieth-Century Italian Literature.

He has taught at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and was elected Fellow of the British Academy in 2015.

The Bickley Lecture

St Hugh’s College, Oxford

At 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 14th June, 2016.

Admission is free.

Italian Language Teaching

Experienced native-Italian speaker and retired headmaster offers tuition, conversation, grammar, literature, help with exams at all levels of the language, from virtual beginner to University student. Tel 01865 559299

Accommodation in Venice

Family apartment, Dorsoduro. Sleeps up to eight – 3 doubles, 2 singles, 2 bathrooms, and terrace for meals. To rent for one week minimum or more. Please contact Margaret Pianta. Tel 0149 4873975 or email pianta@btopenworld.com

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Chianti Holiday Rental

Podere Scopeto in the Chianti hills is available for rent. Main house sleeps 10, small house next to it sleeps 2. Super-long salt-pool with pergolas, sensational view towards sunset. See more at www.poderescopeto.com Please contact marina@poderescopeto.com or telephone 01367 710486

Relax in the Mountains of the Abruzzo

Two bedroom house in a medieval village in the Majella National Park – stupendous views from the terrace. From £360 per week. View the property at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/mary.zajicek/Pacentro.html Please contact Mary Zajicek on 01865 469935 or 0797 9964998, or mary.zajicek5@gmail.com

Ciao was founded by a group of parents, teachers and students of the European School in Culham. What brought us together was the wish to promote the Italian language, culture and traditions among primary and secondary children of the school and beyond. If you would like to know more about us and what we do please have a look at our site: http://ciao-association.org/ You may like to participate or join us. Thank you for following us.

Beautiful country house in Southern Tuscany (Maremma). 4 double bedrooms, 3 showers, 1 bath, garden, BBQ.

Peaceful setting in chestnut groves with stunning views of the medieval hilltop village of Roccatederighi which is within walking distance, and has 5 restaurants and a wide range of services.

About 1½ hours from Pisa airport and 35 minutes from the coast with miles of public beaches and pine groves. £500 – £750 p/w depending on timing and numbers. Contact 0775 143 4267 or david@haenlein.co.uk

House to rent near Todi

3-bedroom, 2-bathroom house, with pool. 15% discount to TOIA members, out of main holiday season. Private setting in countryside in central Umbria. See www.holiday-rentals.co.uk (search on property number 412460) for photographs, details and rates. For further information and availability, please contact Patricia Dugdale on 01844 279242 or patricia.dugdale@tiscali.co.uk 3

Flat to rent, Alassio, Liguria

2-bedroom, 1-bathroom flat, within a family- owned villa in Alassio, zona Paradiso,10 minutes’ walk from the beach and the centre of town. For further information and availability, please contact Rupert Parmenter 00 39 331 6139126 or email rupert.parmenter@yahoo.com 3

STAY - COOK - CREATE at a boutique B&B in Taormina, Sicily

The natural beauty of the medieval cliffside town of Taormina is hard to dispute. The view of the sea and Mount Etna from its jagged cactus-covered cliffs is as close to perfection as a panorama can get. Villa Britannia is a small, exclusive, boutique B&B located in

the centre of Taormina, ideal for those with a love of food and wine, as well as those who wish to discover the multifarious cultural heritage of Sicily.

Enjoy Sicilian cooking classes, Etna wine tasting and traditional, Sicilian bread making and much more.

To find out further details and events, visit: www.villabritannia.com

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Garden apartment in the beauty and tranquillity of the Etruscan countryside

Two-bedroom furnished apartment (sleeps 5) with own patio, garden and garage. Fully equipped modern kitchen. One of two dwellings in a 4-hectare rural property in Bracciano Regional Park - yet close (50 km) to Rome.

Ideal for relaxation, sports and visits to Lake Bracciano, or the many delightful nearby places of interest: Tarquinia,, Bracciano, Viterbo, Trevignano, Terme di Stigliano, Sutri and, of course, Rome itself. Available on a weekend (£ 240), weekly (from £ 400) or monthly ( from £ 900 ) basis. For further information and photos, please go to: www.casadellaluna.com

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GARDEN PARTY he summer is a glorious time of year and in the autumn you can sometimes wonder if you have used it

wisely and to the full … So there is no excuse not to come to the TOIA Garden Party: it will be outdoors, it

will be summer and it is going to be held in the most pastoral and lovely of North Oxford locations: near

the River Cherwell, thanks to founder members, Gisela and Charles Cooper.

Asides from enjoying the setting thanks to our

hosts, it will be an opportunity to enjoy a convivial

afternoon, so come and relish all things Italian,

including wine, food and company … and

hopefully some music and a good-natured

competition. What’s not to like? And you could

always go punting before or afterwards …

2 Chadlington Road, Oxford

Saturday, 25th June, 2016 5.00-7.00 p.m.

Members £3, Guests £5

T

The Oxford Italian Association

is an Oxford cultural association of those interested in any aspect of Italy, whether language, art, travel, food and wine, or other. No knowledge of the language is

required for most of the events of the programme, although one at least each term is in Italian. There are at present about 20o members. At the moment the subscription is £15 renewable each November (£23 for couples, £6 for students under 30, and £6 for “country members” living more than 40 miles from Oxford). A descriptive leaflet with an application form is available from the Membership Secretary. The TOIA Newsletter is sent to members three times a year, before the beginning of each academic term. Please visit our website: www.toia.co.uk

The officers of the Association are

Chair: Professor Martin McLaughlin, Magdalen College, Oxford OX1 4AU email: martin.mclaughlin@magd.ox.ac.uk Vice-Chair: Mrs. Patricia Milner, The White House, Middle Street, Islip OX5 2SF Tel (01865) 377479 email: pmilner@clara.net Honorary Secretary: Post vacant Treasurer & Curator of the Rowe Trust: Dott.ssa. Luciana John, 6 Chalfont Road, Oxford OX2 6TH Tel (01865) 552757 email: lrjohn@yahoo.co.uk Membership Secretary: Mr. Martin Gray, 106 Eynsham Road, Oxford OX2 9BX Tel/Fax: (01865) 865476 email: martin.gray9@btopenworld.com Website contact: http://toia.co.uk/contact/ Newsletter contact: toianewsletter@outlook.com

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TOIA

TOIA Diary Dates

4 May Lecture (Professor Carlo Ginzburg) Main Hall, Taylor Institution 5.00 p.m. 17 May Lecture (Dr Giuliana Pieri) Tsuzuki Lecture Theatre, St. Anne’s, College, 7.30 for 8 p.m. 3 June Film (Boccaccio meraviglioso) Rewley House, Wellington Square 7.45 p.m. 14 June Lecture (Professor Robert Gordon) St. Hugh’s College 6.00 p.m. 25 June TOIA Garden Party 2 Chadlington Road, Oxford, 5.00 p.m.

If you wish to receive information about these orfuture holidays, please contact Martin Gray on

01865 860984 or email martin@learn-italy.com

LEARN ITALY

Study holidays in 2016/17

6–10 June 2016: Ravenna

3–9 October 2016:Bergamo, Brescia and the Brera

23–29 January 2017: Florence