Writing Nature(s)
This is a network of scholars united by a common interest in exploring and studying the depiction of Nature (encompassing human nature, non-human nature, and the environment) in European literatures and languages. Rather than a single project, it represents a collective endeavor spanning various research lines. Principal strands include Mountain and Travel Writing, Walser Cultural Islands, Ecocriticism and Ecopoétique across Classic, Modern, and Children’s Literature, and Representations of Nature in Picturebooks and Comics.
Since Romanticism, authors have lauded the Alps for their real and symbolic influence, however, their experiences often remained confined to Mont Blanc’s sea of ice and to travel accounts depicting landscapes and experiences. The emergence of mountaineering brought about a revolution in the representation of the mountains. The study of the factual and fictional works written by men and women who climbed the highest peaks is at the centre of the Mountain and Travel Writing research line.
The project WaLys Isole di cultura: lo scrigno walser dell’Alta valle del Lys focusses on the study of Germanophone minority languages such as Titsch e Töitschu with the aim of deepening the knowledge as well as strengthening the preservation of their cultural heritage.
The third research line delves into literary depictions of the relationships between vegetal creatures and humans, as well as non-human animals. An ecocritical/ecopoetical examination of European works from the Seventeenth century to the present, including classic, children’s novels, picturebooks, and comics, is crucial for raising awareness of environmental issues in fiction.
Publications
Bertolino F., Perazzone A. (2021), “Paper farms. A content analysis of sixty children’s picturebooks on the theme of the rural environment”, in N. Goga, S. Hoem Iversen and A.S. Teigland, Verbal and visual strategies in nonfiction picturebooks: Theoretical and analytical approaches, Scandinavian University Press, Oslo, pp. 140–155. ISBN: 9788215042442
Bertolino F., Parile E., Perazzone A. (2023), “Amici o nemici. Riflessioni sulla biodiversità animale negli albi illustrati sul tema ‘orto’”, in D. Morselli e G. Gola (a cura di), Verso una educazione sostenibile. Ecosistemi di ricerca e di apprendimento, ZeroSeiUp, Bergamo, pp. 125-134. ISBN 9791280549372
Giacoma L. (2023), “Wanderung: nur ein deutscher Begriff?” In Giacoma L., Odicino R., Pioletti A.M (a cura di), In viaggio. Esperienze e racconti da e per l’Europa. Milano: Franco Angeli, pp. 73-89.
Grandi, (2021) “‘Animals don’t behave like men… They have dignity and animality’. Richard Adams’s Watership Down and Interspecies Relationships in the Anthropocene”, Textus. English Studies in Italy, 34(3), 2021, pp. 159-186. [Fascia A]
Grandi, (2021) A.E.W. Mason’s Running Water and The Guide. With Introduction and Notes, London Academic Publishing, London, ISBN: 978-1-9996138-9-1, 2021, pp. 350.
Grandi, (2021) “‘Anyway, What’s a Doe More or Less?’ Androcentrism in Watership Down (1972) and Tales from Watership Down (1996) by Richard Adams”, Belgrade English Language and Literature Studies (BELLS), vol XIII, 2021, pp. 187-205.
Grandi, (2023) “Premessa”, con F. Locatelli, in L. Giacoma, R. Odicino, A.M. Pioletti eds., In viaggio. Esperienze e racconti da e per l’Europa, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2023, pp. 7-9
Grandi, (2023) “Climbing to the Heart of Stone. Reading Moffat through Plumwood.” Sinestesieonline, a. XII, n. 39, 2023, pp. 1-12.
Locatelli, (2019), Les Alpes, singuliers spectacles, Antologia di Letteratura alpestre con introduzione critica; Educatt, Milano, ISBN: 9788893354318.
Locatelli, F. Rigat (ed.), (2019), Les Silences de la montagne, Atti del Convegno internazionale Aosta, L’Analisi Linguistica e Letteraria, 1, XXIX 2021. [Fascia A]
Locatelli, (2021), « Quand la marche se fait écriture : le voyageur-penseur au milieu des sommets (XVIIIe-XIXe siècles)», Revue italienne d’études françaises [Online], n. 11, 15 novembre. [Fascia A]
Locatelli, (2021), « Tant de choses qui ne s’expriment pas : tentatives de description du paysage alpestre dans la littérature des XVIIIe et XIXe siècles », L’analisi Linguistica e Letteraria, vol. XXIX- n. 1, pp. 59-71. [Fascia A]
Sessarego A., Giacoma L. (2023), D’Òberteilera chéemen énger o arrivurun d’greschuneiara? Patrimonio idiomatico titsch e töitschu illustrato. Aosta, Tipografia Valdostana.
Conferences/Events:
Bertolino, Corso di perfezionamento universitario “Albi illustrati e natura, tra immagini e immaginari. Metodologie e strumenti per la promozione della lettura all’aperto” (20 CFU, 64 ore, a.a. 2022-2023 e 2023-2024), organizzato da Università della Valle d’Aosta, Sovraintendenza agli Studi Regione Autonoma Valle d’Aosta, Fondazione Centro Studi storico-letterari Natalino Sapegno, 0432 Associazione Culturale, Cooperativa e Libreria Tuttestorie.
Bertolino, R. Grandi, “Fly Like a Tree: Factual Elements – or a Lack Thereof – in Arboreal Representations in Two Fictional Picturebooks” (selezione), in 28/29 Settembre 2023 “The Picturebook Between Fiction and Reality” – The 9th International Conference of The European Network of Picturebook Research, Osijek, Croatia
Bertolino, R. Grandi, 15 maggio 2018, Organizzazione Seminario «On children and nature: words and pictures», Università della Valle d’Aosta – Dipartimento di Scienze Umane e Sociali, Univda.
Giacoma, 24 aprile al 22 maggio 2023, Mostra conclusiva dell’omonimo progetto di ricerca FAR3 D’Òberteilera chéemen énger o arrivurun d’greschuneiara? Last call per il patrimonio idiomatico titsch e töitschu. I modi di dire titsch e töitschu illustrati dai bambini e dalle bambine delle scuole primarie dell’Alta Valle del Lyspresso la Biblioteca Regionale Bruno Salvadori (Aosta), con relativa conferenza di inaugurazione il 26 aprile 2023.
Grandi, 26-30 Agosto 2024, “The Many Faces of Mountaineering: Gwen Moffat and the Mountain” (selezione), in 2024 ESSE Lausanne, Switzerland
Grandi, 16-19 Maggio 2024, “Parasite Energy Sources: Disney’s Strange World (2022) and Gaia’s Delicate Balance” (selezione), ASLE 2024 Symposium “Green Fire: Energy Stories Beyond Extraction”, University of North Florida, USA,
Grandi, 8-9 Giugno 2023, “Abridged (1976) and Unabridged (2019) Audiobooks of Watership Down: Changing Times, Changing Audiences?”, (selezione), Identifying the Addressee of Contemporary Literature for Children and Young Adults: border crossings towards a mixed readership – Baia Mare – Romania.
Grandi, 12-13 Dicembre 2022, “Gwen Moffat: the Space below Her Feet”, in Convegno Internazionale “In viaggio: esperienze e racconti dall’Europa alla Valle d’Aosta” – Univda
Grandi, F. Locatelli, 12-13 Dicembre 2022, Organizzazione Convegno Internazionale “In viaggio: esperienze e racconti dall’Europa alla Valle d’Aosta” – Univda
Locatelli, 25-26 novembre 2021 : partecipazione al Convegno internazionale « La géographie de Théophile Gautier”, Société Théophile Gautier, Université de Lorraine, Sorbonne Nouvelle (su invito);
Locatelli, 15 giugno 2021: partecipazione al Convegno internazionale “La Biodiversité: Enjeux littéraires, stylistiques, historiques”, Università Cattolica di Milano – Université de Perpignan (su invito);
Locatelli, 28-29 novembre 2019, partecipazione all’International Workshop “Speaking and Writing about colours”, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, con un intervento dal titolo: “La couleur, ou le langage du prodigieux spectacle: Les Tableaux de Montagnes de Théophile Gautier” (su invito).
