Fellows

The Adelphi Phenomenon. The Reception of Central European Literature in Italy

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Since its founding in Milan in 1962, the publishing house Adelphi has been unique in the Italian-speaking world. Adelphi's founders—Luciano Foà, Roberto Bazlen, and Roberto Calasso—envisioned the publication of books that are noteworthy on the basis of their creation and reception histories. Their exquisite selection played an essential role in the second half of the 20^th century, conveying a literary Central Europe that stands between reality and (Habsburg) myth. This interdisciplinary project deals with the creation of this world through the selection and publication of distinctive books, a selection that contributes to the formation of an imaginary geography and thereby evokes a special atmosphere for readers. My project examines the modalities of the creation of imaginary geographies and the role of the publisher Adelphi in the process of cultural translation.

CV

Davide Gnoato studied German, English, Romance, and Slavic studies at the Universities of Trento and Vienna. He worked as a tutor at the Institutes of Romance Studies and Political Science and completed study visits at the University of Rouen and the Technical University of Dresden. Since completing his Master’s thesis on Viennese dandyism, he has been pursuing a PhD in comparative literature at the University of Vienna. He has also worked on issues of fin-de-siècle culture, exile poetics, language and violence, and literary modernism. In addition to his doctorate, he is a research assistant on the social science project »Food Socioscope« at the Institut d'Études Avancées de Paris, for which he conducted field research in Italy. He is also a co-founder of the Viennese theater association Scheinwerfer, writes for the journal Medienimpulse, and was a radio host focusing on Japanese popular music at the Viennese radio station Orange 94.0.

Publications

»Eroberung des Elfenbeinturms. Streitschrift für eine bessere Kultur, von Burstein Fabian« (Book review) (=Medienimpulse. Beiträge zur Medienpädagogik, vol. 61 (2023) 1); »Auf dem Weg zu einer Neuen Aufklärung. Ein Plädoyer für zukunftsorientierte Geisteswissenschaften, von Marcus Gabriel et. al.« (Book review) (=Medienimpulse. Beiträge zur Medienpädagogik, vol. 61 (2023) 2) (incoming).