- Austria
Steffen Schneider
Karl-Franzens-University of Graz, Institut für Romanistik, Faculty Member
- Marsilio Ficino, Giordano Bruno, Mediterranean Studies, Early Modern, Renaissance Studies, Renaissance literature, and 13 moreItalian Studies, Italian Literature, French Studies, French Literature, Comparative Literature, Renaissance Philosophy, Romanistik, Romance Languages and Literatures, Romance philology, Italian Renaissance, André Gide, Récits de voyage, and Migrant Literatureedit
- Steffen Schneider is specialised in Romance literatures, especially French and Italian and also in Comparative Literature.edit
Leonardo Sciascia's novel Il Consiglio d'Egitto (1963) is unanimously read by scholars as historical metafiction reflecting the possibilities and difficulties of writing about history. Although this reading of the work is legitimate, it... more
Leonardo Sciascia's novel Il Consiglio d'Egitto (1963) is unanimously read by scholars as historical metafiction reflecting the possibilities and difficulties of writing about history. Although this reading of the work is legitimate, it is problematic because it has pushed other noteworthy aspects of the novel into the background. First and foremost is the fact that Sciascia creates an unusual image of Sicily in the novel, one that differs significantly from the conventions that prevailed until the 1960s, some of which Sciascia himself cultivated with his famous formula of sicilitudine. In this novel, however, he invents a new idea of Sicily as an island connected to the rest of the world and especially of the Mediterranean. My thesis is that the figure of the forger Vella functions as an ambivalent muse who, because of his Maltese origins, is virtually predestined to thematise Sicily's Mediterranean connections.By using Vella's word, the author Sciascia criticises the notion of a trans-historical Sicilian identity and replaces it with a more dynamic, open form of belonging to the Mediterranean. At first glance, this thesis may seem surprising; it may even meet with rejection, since Vella's historical and linguistic competences are narrowly limited such that his narratives of the Arab-Norman past rely not on knowledge but on fantasies. Thus, the question to be addressed here is whether an unreliable, even criminal, figures uch as Vella should be considered the authority of a new, Mediterranean conception of Sicily.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Consolo's work develops the classical themes of Sicilian literature in a very original way. The essay shows how Consolo breaks with the traditional notion of self-sufficient Sicilianity in the novel Retablo. Instead of a 'sicilitudine'... more
Consolo's work develops the classical themes of Sicilian literature in a very original way. The essay shows how Consolo breaks with the traditional notion of self-sufficient Sicilianity in the novel Retablo. Instead of a 'sicilitudine' supposedly sealed off from all external influences, he adopts a new conception of an inter- and transcultural Sicilian identity, which he discovers to be an important feature of the island's history. The aim of the essay is to show that Consolo's conception of Sicilian identity leads him to a new poetics of the novel. The plot structure, narrative techniques and style of Retablo are interpreted as an expression of the poetics of hybridity. Particular attention is paid to Consolo's updating of the island's cultural memory. It is shown that the protagonist's journey through Western Sicily also represents a journey through time, in the course of which ever deeper layers of the past are revealed. This is a deeply hybrid past, which in Consolo's work contains a critical potential for the present: His novel reminds us that Sicily is an important part of a Mediterranean network of relationships; he pleads for an open, hybrid Sicilian identity and for a critical view of self-victimization, which is not uncommon in classical works of Sicilian literature.
Research Interests:
This encyclopaedia article informs about the music-theoretical aspects of Marsilio Ficino's famous writing De vita. The effects of the text on later music theory are also discussed.
Research Interests: Music Theory, Musicology, Renaissance Studies, Renaissance Humanism, Renaissance music, and 6 moreItalian Renaissance literature, Renaissance Music Theory, Marsilio Ficino, Filologia Italiana Letteratura Italiana del Rinascimento, Italian Renaissance, and History of Science and Medicine In Medieval and Renaissance Europe
Research Interests:
Cardano’s dreams have been well researched and the same is true for his autobiography. An intensive examination of the function of dreams for Cardan’s autobiographical writing, however, has hardly taken place yet. The essay examines the... more
Cardano’s dreams have been well researched and the same is true for his autobiography. An intensive examination of the function of dreams for Cardan’s autobiographical writing, however, has hardly taken place yet. The essay examines the function of dreams in De vita propria and in this context also explains the special form of the ego-identity which underlies the text. Particular attention is paid to the special temporality of dreams, in which past, future and present are intertwined in a complex way.
Research Interests: Philosophy, Italian Studies, Renaissance Humanism, History of Science, Autobiography, and 7 moreItalian Literature, Intellectual History of the Renaissance, Italian Renaissance literature, Filologia Italiana Letteratura Italiana del Rinascimento, Letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea, Italian Renaissance, and Geschichte der Medizin
Mediterranean studies flourish in literary and cultural studies, but if you look at the numerous publications on the subject, it is striking that the concepts of the Mediterranean and the theories and methods used in these are very... more
Mediterranean studies flourish in literary and cultural studies, but if you look at the numerous publications on the subject, it is striking that the concepts of the Mediterranean and the theories and methods used in these are very disparate. Therefore, we encourage the contributors to ask what kind of connectivity and fragmentation literary texts produce, how they build and interrupt references (to the real world, to history, but also to other texts and discourses), how they create and deny communication, and how they take up and reflect literary and non-literary concepts of the Mediterranean.
The book will be published by De Gruyter as a peer-reviewed publication (double blind and open access). If you are interested in participating we ask you to send us an abstract by June 1, 2020.
The book will be published by De Gruyter as a peer-reviewed publication (double blind and open access). If you are interested in participating we ask you to send us an abstract by June 1, 2020.
Research Interests: Comparative Literature, French Literature, Hebrew Literature, Spanish Literature, Greek Literature, and 15 moreArabic Literature, Island Studies, Mediterranean Studies, Italian Literature, Maltese Literature, Palestinian Literature, Turkish Literature, Maghreb studies, Algerian Literature, Balcan studies, Egyptian Literature, Slavic Languages and Literatures, Tunisian Literature, Syrian Literature, and Albanian Literature
The essay examines the practice of judgement in Giordano Bruno's comedy Candelaio. The comic effect of the piece is largely due to the asymmetry between those with poor judgment and those who are intellectually superior to them. Bruno... more
The essay examines the practice of judgement in Giordano Bruno's comedy Candelaio. The comic effect of the piece is largely due to the asymmetry between those with poor judgment and those who are intellectually superior to them. Bruno addresses the importance of an untroubled power of judgement both in the prologue and in various passages of the text. The characters’ practice of judgement thus constitutes the plot of Candelaio and is at the same time explicitly thematized throughout the text. The essay shows that the representation of judgment in Candelaio is intertextually connected with the history of comedy in the Cinquecento. Comedy writers such as Bibbiena and Machiavelli already discovered the practice of judgement as a source of laughter. Bruno follows their models but complicates the plot and deepens the reflection on judgment by drawing on ideas from his work De umbris idearum, in which he lays the foundations of his epistemology. In Candelaio, however, Bruno is not interested in spreading philosophical views. It is rather a question of mocking social conventions, the contingency of which is uncovered.
Research Interests:
Tahar ben Jelloun's novel Partir deals with the emigration of young Moroccans to Spain, describing their attempts to gain a foothold there and their failure. The representation of the sea takes on a very special meaning, which is examined... more
Tahar ben Jelloun's novel Partir deals with the emigration of young Moroccans to Spain, describing their attempts to gain a foothold there and their failure. The representation of the sea takes on a very
special meaning, which is examined in this article. Firstly, the sea is represented as a border whose crossing promises entry into the desired paradise of Europe. Secondly, it is an endless space of doom,
a symbol of the mass death of refugees, hence also a metaphor of the existential plight of migrants.
Thirdly Ben Jelloun attributes a utopian potential to the sea, because it also enables peaceful contact between cultures. However, this positive function of the sea is only represented at an allegorical level: In the final chapter of the novel, world literature appears as a ship that permits a path to new spaces and the understanding interaction of foreign people with one another.
special meaning, which is examined in this article. Firstly, the sea is represented as a border whose crossing promises entry into the desired paradise of Europe. Secondly, it is an endless space of doom,
a symbol of the mass death of refugees, hence also a metaphor of the existential plight of migrants.
Thirdly Ben Jelloun attributes a utopian potential to the sea, because it also enables peaceful contact between cultures. However, this positive function of the sea is only represented at an allegorical level: In the final chapter of the novel, world literature appears as a ship that permits a path to new spaces and the understanding interaction of foreign people with one another.
Research Interests: Mediterranean Studies, Migrant Literature, Francophone Literature, Migration Studies, Moroccan Literature, and 8 moreLittérature Française, Littérature contemporaine, Méditerranée, Littérature Francophone, Frankophone Literatur, Literary Theory, Mediterranean poetics, Writing studies, Tahar Ben Jelloun, and Littératures de la migration
The aim of the essay is to show that Pirandello’s novel I vecchi e I giovani cannot be sufficiently understood if considered only as a historical novel, i.e. as a representation and evaluation of the recent past. I argue that the work... more
The aim of the essay is to show that Pirandello’s novel I vecchi e I giovani cannot be sufficiently understood if considered only as a historical novel, i.e. as a representation and evaluation of the recent past. I argue that the work contains a complex examination of the collective memory of the young Kingdom of Italy, and therefore place the concept of memory at the centre of my investigation. Pirandello addresses different levels of memory, which I analyse in turn: individual memory, generational memory, communicative memory and collective memory. Pirandello's representation of these forms of memory is of a critical nature: he aims to critique the way in which the Italian state appropriated the memory of the Risorgimento in order to strengthen the Italians' identification with the nation through a public policy of remembrance which culminated in the inauguration of the monument to King Vittorio , in the very moment when Pirandello wrote his novel.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: American Literature, World Literatures, Comparative Literature, French Literature, German Literature, and 11 moreSpanish Literature, Greek Literature, English Literature, Arabic Literature, Mediterranean Studies, Italian Literature, Jewish Literature, Turkish Literature, Letteratura italiana, Croatian Language and Literature, and Italienische Literatur
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper analyses the importance of communication in the work of Marsilio Ficino. There are two directions of communication in Ficino's platonism: a vertical form, the metaphysical communication between the substances that constitute... more
This paper analyses the importance of communication in the work of Marsilio Ficino. There are two directions of communication in Ficino's platonism: a vertical form, the metaphysical communication between the substances that constitute the so called 'chain of being', and a horizontal form which is the communication with other humans. The paper argues that Ficino reflected intensely on human communication which is at the centre of his philosophical poetics, and it shows, by means of an interpretation of the proœmium of De Sole, how this poetics is grounded in Ficino's interpretation of metaphysical communication.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This is an extensive and detailed article about the evolution of the myth of Leda through European literature, arts, music and philosophy. Published in: Brill’s New Pauly Supplements I - Volume 4 : The Reception of Myth and Mythology,... more
This is an extensive and detailed article about the evolution of the myth of Leda through European literature, arts, music and philosophy. Published in: Brill’s New Pauly Supplements I - Volume 4 : The Reception of Myth and Mythology, Edited by: Maria Moog-Grünewald.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-8647_bnps4_e633400
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-8647_bnps4_e633400
Research Interests:
This is an extensive and detailed article about the evolution of the myth of Paris (Alexandros) through European literature, arts, music and philosophy. Published in: Brill’s New Pauly Supplements I - Volume 4 : The Reception of Myth and... more
This is an extensive and detailed article about the evolution of the myth of Paris (Alexandros) through European literature, arts, music and philosophy. Published in: Brill’s New Pauly Supplements I - Volume 4 : The Reception of Myth and Mythology, Edited by: Maria Moog-Grünewald. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-8647_bnps4_e12224380
Research Interests:
This is an extensive and detailed article about the evolution of the myth of Helen of Troy through European literature, arts, music and philosophy. Published in Brill's New Pauly, Supplements I - Volume Schneider, Steffen, “Helen”, in:... more
This is an extensive and detailed article about the evolution of the myth of Helen of Troy through European literature, arts, music and philosophy. Published in Brill's New Pauly, Supplements I - Volume Schneider, Steffen, “Helen”, in: Brill’s New Pauly Supplements I - Volume 4 : The Reception of Myth and Mythology, Edited by: Maria Moog-Grünewald.
You can read it under this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-8647_bnps4_ID_0014
You can read it under this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2214-8647_bnps4_ID_0014
Research Interests:
Palermos mediterranes Gedächtnis wird in diesem Artikel dargestellt. Das Paper ist Teil der EuroMed - MemoriaCarte, die das Mittelmeer digital erschließt. Zu lesen unter http://euromed-memoriacarte.de/italien/palermo/
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The notion of the ‘spirit’ is dazzling: it has manifold meanings and plays a crucial role in Early Modern medicine, psychology, religion, natural philosophy and cosmology. This book explores how those disciplines conceived of the spirits... more
The notion of the ‘spirit’ is dazzling: it has manifold meanings and plays a crucial role in Early Modern medicine, psychology, religion, natural philosophy and cosmology. This book explores how those disciplines conceived of the spirits and shows that knowledge of the spirits is an essential prerequisite for the understanding of Renaissance literature and music. The volume focusses on the way in which the spirits act upon the soul’s perception, imagination and cognition, and on the cultural practices which aim to use or to purge or to ban the spirits.
Research Interests: Renaissance Studies, Shakespeare, Renaissance Philosophy, Renaissance Literature (Renaissance Studies), Magic, and 8 moreParacelsus (Philippus Theophrastus Aureolus von Hohenheim), Renaissance music, Giordano Bruno, Renaissance Music Theory, Philosophy of Nature, Marsilio Ficino, History of Science and Medicine In Medieval and Renaissance Europe, and Religious and Magical Practices
Program of the international Mediterranean Conference, Graz, 2022-11-3
Research Interests:
International Conference at the University of Graz (October 10-12, 2019)
Research Interests:
Mediterranean studies flourish in literary and cultural studies, but if you look at the numerous publications on the subject, it is striking that the concepts of the Mediterranean and the theories and methods used in these are very... more
Mediterranean studies flourish in literary and cultural studies, but if you look at the numerous publications on the subject, it is striking that the concepts of the Mediterranean and the theories and methods used in these are very disparate. Sometimes research focuses more on representations of the Mediterranean-landscape, history, cities-and sometimes more on the origins of authors or their cultural affiliations to the Mediterranean. Sometimes it is more a matter of overarching themes that are of current interest beyond the Mediterranean-migration, questions of inter-and transculturality, post-colonialism-and sometimes very specific aspects such as the Crusades or Mediterranean cities. Of course, we appreciate this fascinating diversity of important questions and topics; nevertheless, we believe that reflections on the foundations of this diverse research are essential to give a clear profile to Mediterranean literary studies. It is our conviction that this profile should be based upon the specific conditions and characteristics of (fictional) literature.
Research Interests: Comparative Literature, French Literature, Spanish Literature, Greek Literature, Arabic Literature, and 15 moreFrench Studies, Mediterranean Studies, Italian Literature, Maghrebi Literature, Turkish Literature, Israeli Literature, Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian literature, Modern Arabic Literature, Modern Greek and Comparative Literature, Letteratura italiana moderna e contemporanea, Littérature Française, Letteratura italiana, Littérature Francophone, Arabic Language and Literature, and Hebrew and Arabic Literatures, Middle Eastern Jewish History, Israeli and Palestinian Literatures and Cinema
Research Interests:
Convocamos a investigadores/as de todas las disciplinas humanísticas que manden propuestas en lo concerniente a los aspectos arriba mencionados o más allá de ellos y a discutir con nosotras/os las particularidades de los paisajes repletos... more
Convocamos a investigadores/as de todas las disciplinas humanísticas que manden propuestas en lo concerniente a los aspectos arriba mencionados o más allá de ellos y a discutir con nosotras/os las particularidades de los paisajes repletos de historia, estéticamente siempre impresionantes y ecológicamente precarios del Mediterráneo.
Como idiomas de la conferencia servirán el alemán, el italiano, el francés y el español; una traducción simultánea al inglés se pondrá a disposición de las/los participantes.
Por favor, envíenos sus propuestas de comunicaciones (inclusive un resumen y una breve biografía, máx. 500 palabras) antes del 1 de junio por correo electrónico: romanistik@uni-graz.at.
Como idiomas de la conferencia servirán el alemán, el italiano, el francés y el español; una traducción simultánea al inglés se pondrá a disposición de las/los participantes.
Por favor, envíenos sus propuestas de comunicaciones (inclusive un resumen y una breve biografía, máx. 500 palabras) antes del 1 de junio por correo electrónico: romanistik@uni-graz.at.
Research Interests:
Si invitano studiose e studiosi di tutte le discipline umanistiche ad inviare proposte in relazione agli argomenti e agli aspetti tematizzati, per discutere sulle specificità dei paesaggi del Mediterraneo storicamente fondati,... more
Si invitano studiose e studiosi di tutte le discipline umanistiche ad inviare proposte in relazione agli argomenti e agli aspetti tematizzati, per discutere sulle specificità dei paesaggi del Mediterraneo storicamente fondati, significativi nelle suggestioni estetiche che li caratterizzano da sempre e spesso dirompenti dal punto di vista ecologico.
Le lingue del convegno saranno il tedesco, l’italiano, il francese e lo spagnolo. Verrà fornito un servizio di traduzione simultanea in inglese.
Si prega di inviare le singole proposte corredate da un breve abstract e da una sintetica biografia (fino a un massimo di 500 parole) entro il 1° giugno 2022 al seguente indirizzo: romanistik@uni-graz.at.
Le lingue del convegno saranno il tedesco, l’italiano, il francese e lo spagnolo. Verrà fornito un servizio di traduzione simultanea in inglese.
Si prega di inviare le singole proposte corredate da un breve abstract e da una sintetica biografia (fino a un massimo di 500 parole) entro il 1° giugno 2022 al seguente indirizzo: romanistik@uni-graz.at.
Research Interests:
Forschende aller geisteswissenschaftlicher Disziplinen sind herzlich eingeladen, Themenvorschläge zu den verhandelten Aspekten sowie darüber hinaus einzusenden und mit uns über Partikularitäten der historisch prägenden, ästhetisch... more
Forschende aller geisteswissenschaftlicher Disziplinen sind herzlich eingeladen, Themenvorschläge zu den verhandelten Aspekten sowie darüber hinaus einzusenden und mit uns über Partikularitäten der historisch prägenden, ästhetisch unvermindert eindrucksvollen und ökologisch vielfach brisanten Landschaften des Mediterranen zu diskutieren.
Als Tagungssprachen werden Deutsch, Italienisch, Französisch und Spanisch dienen; eine Simultanübersetzung der Vorträge ins Englische wird allen Teilnehmer:innen zugänglich gemacht werden.
Bitte senden Sie uns Ihre Themenvorschläge inkl. Abstract und Kurzbiographie (max. 500 Wörter) bis zum 1. Juni 2022 an folgende Adresse: romanistik@uni-graz.at
Als Tagungssprachen werden Deutsch, Italienisch, Französisch und Spanisch dienen; eine Simultanübersetzung der Vorträge ins Englische wird allen Teilnehmer:innen zugänglich gemacht werden.
Bitte senden Sie uns Ihre Themenvorschläge inkl. Abstract und Kurzbiographie (max. 500 Wörter) bis zum 1. Juni 2022 an folgende Adresse: romanistik@uni-graz.at
Research Interests:
Des intervenants/tes de toutes les disciplines des sciences humaines sont cordialement invitées à envoyer des propositions, notamment mais pas seulement, en relation avec les sujets et les aspects cités, et à discuter avec nous des... more
Des intervenants/tes de toutes les disciplines des sciences humaines sont cordialement invitées à envoyer des propositions, notamment mais pas seulement, en relation avec les sujets et les aspects cités, et à discuter avec nous des spécificités des paysages méditerranéens, historiquement marquants, toujours aussi impressionnants sur le plan esthétique et écologiquement explosifs à de nombreux égards.
Les langues du colloque seront l’allemand, l’italien, le français et l’espagnol. Une traduction simultanée en anglais sera assurée.
Votre proposition accompagnée d’un court résumé et d’une brève biographie (maximum 500 mots) est à envoyer avant le 1er juin 2022 à : romanistik@uni-graz.at.
Les langues du colloque seront l’allemand, l’italien, le français et l’espagnol. Une traduction simultanée en anglais sera assurée.
Votre proposition accompagnée d’un court résumé et d’une brève biographie (maximum 500 mots) est à envoyer avant le 1er juin 2022 à : romanistik@uni-graz.at.
Research Interests:
Mediterranean studies flourish in literary and cultural studies, but concepts of the Mediterranean and the theories and methods they use are very disparate. This is because the Mediterranean is not a simple geographical or historical... more
Mediterranean studies flourish in literary and cultural studies, but concepts of the Mediterranean and the theories and methods they use are very disparate. This is because the Mediterranean is not a simple geographical or historical unity, but a multiplicity, a network of highly interconnected elements, each of which is different and individual. Talking about Mediterranean literature raises the question of whether the connectivity of Mediterranean literature can or should be limited in some way by constructing an inside and an outside of the Mediterranean. What kind of connectivity and fragmentation do literary texts produce, how do they build and interrupt references (to the real, to fictional forms of representation, to history, but also to other texts and discourses), how do they create and deny communication, and how do they engage with and reflect literary and non-literary concepts of the Mediterranean? These and other questions are considered and discussed in the over twenty contributions gathered in this volume.