XXVth International Onomastica & Letteratura Symposium
The members of the Onomastica & Letteraura we are pleased to announce that work will soon begin on the organization of the XXVth International O&L Symposium to be held this year at the University of CAGLIARI on the 22rd, 23th and 24th of October, 2020.
The latest Assembly of Members has decided on the topics to be discussed in the Symposium. These are:
- Names ̶ inadequate, insulating or insulting
As is well known, in real life certain names end up by taking on connotations of infamy or stigma for the bearers (for Christians, the name, ‘Judas’; for those of anti-totalitarian convictions, the names of the “great dictators” of the twentieth century; the names of Jews in Nazi Germany; not to mention “foundling names”, or the name/numbers branded onto the forearms of deportees in the labour camps, etc.)
- Titles of literary works as proper names
The title as ‘premise/promise’, which can either be kept, or blatantly overturned, and which always leaves a trace in the mind of the reader (think of the suggestiveness of the titles of Amélie Nothomb’s early fiction).
- Names in dedications
Proper names appearing in the dedications of literary works are often placed there not for biographical purposes; nor are they to be seen in the light of a foreword or having some other extraliterary role. For example, in his Novellino, Masuccio Salernitano seems to choose the name of his dedicatee first, and only later brings the text of his novella in line with the biographical profile of this dedicatee; the dedicatees in Matteo Bandello actually play a key part in a complicated narrative structure, while, in the ‘Proemio’ of Orlando Furioso, the function of the name ‘Ippolito’ (the reference is to Ippolito, Cardinal of Este) is not purely encomiastic.
- Method
As in the last few editions of the Conference, a special section is dedicated to the methodology of onomastic research. This year space will be given, in particular, to reflections on names by philosophers, writers and artists.
- Regional literary onomastics.
As always, a slot will be made available for papers on the literature of the region hosting the Conference.
Those who wish to attend the Symposium or would like to submit a paper to the editorial board of the journal, Il Nome nel testo, should send a brief abstract (one page of 2200 characters, including spaces), accompanied by a succinct CV, to Donatella Bremer donatella.bremer@unipi.it, to arrive not later than 20 June 2020.
O&L, editorial board.
For further information contact also:
Maria Giovanna Arcamone: magiarc@gmail.com
Giorgio Sale: giosale@uniss.it
