The "Rethinking Lyric Communities in a Global Perspective" workshop at Notre Dame London is the culmination of the "Rethinking Lyric Communities" project. The aim of the new workshop is threefold: firstly, to bring together research on medieval, early modern, and modern poetry in a global perspective; secondly, to provide a critical summary of the project's findings and results; and thirdly, to test the scalability of the project’s theoretical insights.
It will encompass two research lectures by leading scholars in theory of community and lyric poetry: Roberto Dainotto (Duke University) and Maria Sofia Lannutti (University of Florence). These will be followed by a panel discussion and a book launch of the project's publications, which include an edited volume (ICI Berlin Press 2024) and two special issues: "Invention, Reenactment, Exchange: Lyric Communities in Medieval and Early Modern Italy," edited by Laura Banella and Francesco Giusti, Italian Studies, Issue 80.2 (forthcoming in 2025); and "Rethinking Lyric Communities in Premodern Worlds," edited by Laura Banella, Francesco Giusti, and Nicolas Longinotti, The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Issue 56.1 (forthcoming in 2026).
This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Italian Studies, the Nanovic Institite for European Studies, the Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good, the Kellog Institute for International Studies, the Medieval Institute, and the Italienzentrum of the Freie Universität Berlin.
Workshop Program
11:00 Introduction
CJ Jones (Notre Dame) ∙ Laura Banella (Notre Dame) ∙ Francesco Giusti (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt)
11:30 Lecture
Maria Sofia Lannutti (University of Florence): Inside and Outside the Community: Distance and Exclusion in Romance Lyric Poetry of the Middle Ages
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Lecture
Roberto Dainotto (Duke University): Lyrical ‘Reflections’ Lukàcs, Adorno, De Martino, and the Problem of Romantic Genres
15:30 Coffee break
16:00 Panel New Publications New Directions
Ardis Butterfield (Yale University) ∙ Robert Gordon (University of Cambridge) ∙ Catherine Keen (UCL) ∙ Karen Leeder (University of Oxford): Discussion and Launch of the Project’s Publications
- Rethinking Lyric Communities in Premodern Worlds, eds. Laura Banella, Francesco Giusti, and Nicolas Longinotti, Special Issue of the Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Issue 56.1 (forthcoming in 2026).
- Invention, Reenactment, Exchange: Lyric Communities in Medieval and Early Modern Italy, eds. Laura Banella and Francesco Giusti, Special Issue of Italian Studies, Issue 80.2 (2025).
- Rethinking Lyric Communities, eds. Irene Fantappiè, Francesco Giusti, Laura Scuriatti. ICI Berlin Press, 2024.
17:00-18:00 Aperitif
19:00 POETRY READING (The Horse Hospital, Colonnade, Bloomsbury, London)
Verity Spott ∙ Kimberly Campanello ∙ Anthony V. Capildeo
INVITED DISCUSSANTS
Derek Attridge (York) ∙ Dominic Brookshaw (Oxford) ∙ Imogen Choi (Oxford) ∙ Francesco Feriozzi (Notre Dame) ∙ Julia Caterina Hartley (Glasgow) ∙ Lachlan Hughes (Cambridge) ∙ Rino Modonutti (Padova) ∙ Francesca Southerden (Oxford) ∙ Katherine Travers (Warwick)
ORGANIZERS
Laura Banella (Notre Dame) ∙ Francesco Giusti (Goethe-U Frankfurt) ∙ Charles Leavitt (Notre Dame) ∙ Nicolas Longinotti (FU Berlin) ∙ Ryan Pepin (York)
SPONSORS The Center for Italian Studies ∙ The Nanovic Institute for European Studies ∙ The Franco Family Institute for Liberal Arts and the Public Good ∙ The Kellogg Institute for International Studies ∙ The Medieval Institute ∙ The Italienzentrum of the Freie Universität Berlin
To attend in person, please register by writing to us at lbanella@nd.edu
Originally published at italianstudies.nd.edu.