Literature and peripheries

Polifemo no. 23, 2022

Deadline for proposals: 1 October 2021

The ‘periphery’ has long been the scene for the most pressing wagers of urban, economic and social development: in its various, often unfortunately negative aspects, the periphery constitutes a node of transition and inevitable connection between the ‘centre’ and the ‘outside’ of the city, maintaining opposing characteristics towards both, and acting as an identity-creating workshop for ‘middle-earth society’, where degradation is mixed with opportunities and is redeemed by creative energy.

The periphery is an extremely mobile place, in both time and space: it changes according to epochs and the cities where it is located, seeing that today there are ‘internal’ peripheries, characterised by situations of social marginalisation, cultural and emotional deprivation, and a lack of opportunities.

It is a mutable ‘object’ and for this reason continually eludes evaluations: if, on the one hand, it is defined by subtraction in relation to the terms of reference with which it is compared, on the other hand, it is now finding its place in the imagination as an accumulation of the multiple meanings acquired over time. The metaphorical (and re-semanticised – in an anthropological, linguistic and cultural sense) use of the term therefore makes use of different connotations, seen as values or as disvalues, depending on the diaphasic contexts and, above all, on the internal or external gaze of those who narrate the peripheries.

Nowadays, the periphery is a theme that has been so well covered by the arts (literature, the visual arts, music) and by the humanities in general (social, linguistic, anthropological and historical sciences) that it has now acquired a classic status, which must now attempt to find an interdisciplinary epistemological structure.

This thematic issue of Polifemo will welcome the work of researchers from the various disciplines – literary and other arts – who are studying the theme proposed.

• Among the topics that may be developed, we can mention by way of example:
• the role of language and literature in the formation of the concept of ‘periphery’ with reference to some specific cases;
• the metaphor of the periphery and its connotations;
• the peripheries of literature (the noir genre and others);
• the literature of the peripheries;
• the condition of young people in the peripheries.

Other proposals for study on the subject put forward by those intending to collaborate in the publication will be examined by the Scientific Committee, in order to widen the field of exploration undertaken in this issue of the Magazine. Contributions will be accepted in Italian, English and French.

To this end, the Editorial Board proposes the following deadlines: a preliminary and essential step is the sending, to redazione.polifemo@iulm.it, of an abstract (min.10/max.20 lines), keywords and a brief curriculum vitae of the proposer, by 1st October 2021 (absolute deadline). The Editorial Office will confirm to the authors the acceptance of the contributions by 15 October 2021. The deadline for submission of contributions is 15th February 2022.

All contributions will be subject to double blind peer review. The issue, edited by Prof. Giovanna Rocca and Prof. Marta Muscariello, will be published in June 2022.