In Corpore

In Corpore collects essays devoted to the critical exploration of the presence and impact of bodies in recent and contemporary Italian cultural producation, in light of current developments in thinking about bodies and their locations within cultures. The prominent position occupied by the body in Italian culture is at once undeniable and problematic. Dominant perspectives continue to inform a large number of representations of Italy and of Italians, and many of these images are deeply dependent on conceptualizations of bodies, of their roles, functions, and relative positions. Whether we are talking of models of masculinity, of gendered roles within the Italian family or of the infamous cliche of the 'bella figura,' the tendency is for such images to produce unified singular interpretations of 'Italian culture' and to assign stable locations to 'Italian bodies' within it. The essays included in the present volume, on the other hand, assume a pluarlity of conceptions of 'culture' and of 'the body.'

Loredana Polezzi is associate professor of Italian studies at the University of Warwick (UK).

Charlotte Ross is a lecturer in the Department of Italian studies at the University of Birmingham (UK).