At a glance... Adjunct Assistant Professor of Italian Part Time Faculty Romance Languages & Literatures Dept. matti@bc.edu Lyons Hall 304 140 Commonwealth Ave Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 617-552-4238

Education and Academic Degrees:

Harvard University, Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literature
University of Florence, Laurea in Lettere

Field of Research

Intellectual history of pre-fascist Italy focusing on the social role of the Literati as disseminators of political myths (Morasso, Corradini, D’Annunzio); “crowd psychology” and theatre; the “riviste fiorentine” (Il Marzocco, Il Leonardo, Il Regno, L’Unità, Lacerba); and World War I literature (memoirs and novels).

Honors

Associate, University Seminar on Studies in Modern Italy, Columbia University, 1988-1991

Publications

“Il teatro dannunziano e le recensioni del «Marzocco». Due interpretazioni a confronto: Angelo Conti e Enrico Corradini (1896-1899)”, in L. Pertile, R. Syska-Lamparska, and A. Oldcorn, eds., La scena del mondo . Studi sul teatro per Franco Fido, Ravenna, Longo Editore, 2006, 233-249.

“Reinterpretazioni della storia romana nel Nazionalismo tra Ottocento e Novecento. Appunti sulla ricerca di un apparato tematico-mitologico”, in F. Fido, R. Syska-Lamparska, and P. Stewart, eds., Studies for Dante. Essays in honor of Dante Della Terza, Florence, Edizioni Cadmo,1998, 281-306.

“Mario Morasso: la ridefinizione del ruolo sociale del letterato”, Il Vieusseux , Florence, II, 6, 1989, 40-59.

“Alla vigilia del primo Congresso nazionalista. Enrico Corradini:l’enunciazione di un principio generico e la ‘questione del consentimento’, Yearbook of Italian Studies, Montreal, 1989, 32-43.

Lectures

“L’Africa nella cultura italiana del tardo Ottocento e primo Novecento: immagini, miti, realtà”, XX AAIS (American Association of Italian Studies) Conference, New York, April 2000.

“Esperienza individuale e collettiva in un romanzo della prima guerra mondiale. Vent’anni di Corrado Alvaro”, XIX AAIS Conference, University of Oregon at Eugene, April 1999.

“La centralità della storiografia classica nella cultura del primo Novecento”, XV AAIS Conference, University of Arizona at Phoenix, April 1995.

”Il mito del passato remoto nella cultura italiana tra fine Ottocento e primo Novecento”, XIV AAIS Conference, University of Wisconsin at Madison, April 1994.

“Gli intellettuali e i miti salvifici della Grande Guerra”, XIII AAIS Conference, University of Texas at Austin, April 1993.

“La demistificazione dell’interventismo nel Rubè di Borgese”, Center for Literary and Cultural Studies, Harvard University, November 1993 (by invitation).

“La politica dei letterati nell’ottica di un intellettuale di fine secolo”,
Center for Literary and Cultural Studies, Harvard University, February 1990 (by invitation).

“Beyond the Decadent Aesthete and His Self Imposed Exile from History”, Depts. of History, French and Italian, San Diego State University, May 1990 (by invitation).

“The theses of the First Italian Nationalist Congress”, University Seminar on Studies in Modern Italy, Columbia University, November 1987 (by invitation).

“Psicologia della folla e opera letteraria”, IV AATI Conference, Atlanta, November 1987.

Work in progress

Individual and National Identity in World War I literature.

Courses taught

Undergraduate and Graduate: “Italian through Film and Short Stories”, “Florence: the Tale of a City”, “Critical Reading and Writing”, “Film and Society”, “Film and Literature”, “Boccaccio’s Decameron , “Advanced Studies in the Language: Translation Workshop”, “The Cultural History of Italy”, “The Literati and the Great War”.
Reading and Research: “Stylistics”, “Italian Cinema of the ‘70s: Ettore Scola’s works”, “Stylistic Analysis and Translation: G. P. Biasin’s critical essays on Cesare Pavese ”, “History and Literature: The Reinterpretation of the Aftermath of the Risorgimento in Pirandello’s I vecchi e i giovani”.

Course Calendar:

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