FROM DANTE TO THE PRESENT DAY: disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics in language, literature and culture

FROM DANTE TO THE PRESENT DAY:
          disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics
                     in language, literature and culture

University of Split,
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

23 - 24 SEPTEMBER, 2021

CALL FOR PAPERS
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Italian
Language and Literature, Italian Cultural Institute and the Centre for
Interdisciplinary Mediterranean Studies – Studia Mediterranea invite you
to participate in the international multidisciplinary scientific conference From Dante to the
present day: disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics in language, literature and
culture to be held from September 23rd – 24th 2021 in Split, Croatia.

The Organizing Committee welcomes papers from a wide variety of interdisciplinary and
theoretical perspectives. The Committee encourages scholars to share their theoretical
and empirical considerations and take part in discussions, starting from the premise that
physical and mental illnesses, both individual and collective, have always aroused
interest in writers, artists, painters, psychoanalysts, and scholars, in particular in the view
of the current pandemic that has struck the world with enormous and unexpected force.
The intention of this conference is to investigate the reasons (however insignificant they
might seem) of the presence of illness, epidemic or pandemic outbreaks in the Mediterra-
nean and European literature, language and culture, and its in-, inter-, trans- and
cross-cultural implications.

The intention is to explore the topic by starting from the great precursors of Humanism,
Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio who tackled the physical and spiritual aspects of disease
outbreak in the 14th century Italy. Authors like Manzoni describe the disease as
destroying people and entire cities, whereas Sartre speaks of the disease metaphorically,
perceiving it as an indicator of the uselessness of human existence. Kafka and Proust,
through manifestations of a disease, are interested in the annihilation and general failure
of man. For Moravia, a disease is a metaphor of the irrational; Pirandello talks about
conformism and the subconscious, whereas Svevo invents pathologies to escape from
the internal disturbances, and Morante powerfully verbalizes various paranoias entering
the physiognomy of the disease, and symbolizing processes of sublimation. A disease
can be a symptom of weakness, or the physical manifestation of social degradation;
sometimes even, as in Camus, a metaphor for war.

The Organizing Committee encourages authors to reflect about, but not limited to, the
following topics:

      Literary, linguistic and social traditions and innovations associated with the
      occurrence of diseases
      The role of diseases and physical and mental disorders in art,
      language and literature
      Contemporary literary trends in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic
      Reflections and thematization of diseases, epidemics and pandemics
      in children's literature
      Crisis communication during pandemic with special emphasis on children
      Communicating about health crisis to children
      Modern communication channels in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic
      Communication phenomena during public health crisis
      Lexical innovations in the media as a reflection of the pandemic
      Linguistic analysis of neologisms formed during public health crises
      Linguistic reflections of the pandemic on social networks
      Existential endangerment, a threat to humans and to the survival of humankind
      as a topic in literature
      Psychosomatic disorders in literature
      Mind/body relationship in literature
      Post-pandemic consequences in language and literature
      The impact of Covid-19 on education: challenges of learning and teaching
      in time of pandemic
      Loss of objectivity in educational evaluation due to new formats and dynamics
      of evaluation
      Teaching materials/digital technologies in learning process during the pandemic;
      the new role of teachers
      SLA during the pandemic
      Parenting (Parent/teacher/teaching process) during the pandemic
      Subjects in the pandemic playground: science, conspiracy theories
      and convergent opportunism
      Visual elements/visual support in the pandemic promotional campaigns
      Reflexions of fear, stress, solidarity and empathy in the society
      during the pandemic
      Illness and disease as a motive/ inspiration/ driving force for creating music
      The pandemic and visual arts
      Social distancing and new habits

The Organizing Committee welcomes submissions exploring any and all questions
concerned with disease outbreaks, epidemics and pandemics in language, literature and
culture, and all manifestations and features. The conference is particularly interested in
finding out more about the cultural implications and reflections of diseases and physical
and mental disorders in language, literature, and culture.

Please, submit your abstracts (from 150 – 200 words) by May 1, 2021. Please, enclose
a short bio, as well. The conference organizers will timely notify all the participants about
the abstract acceptance, at the latest by May 15, 2021.

Upon abstracts’ acceptance the authors will be requested to pay the 40 € registration fee
to confirm the participation at the conference. The authors will subsequently be informed
about all other important information regarding the conference.

Paper presentation will be organized in parallel sessions. Presentations should not
exceed 15 minutes. Each presentation will be followed by a 5 minute discussion. The
official conference languages are Italian and English.

The Confirmation of the presentation will be issued to all the participants at the confer-
ence. All the selected papers will be double-blind peer reviewed and published in the
Conference Proceedings.

Please sent your abstracts to the following e-mail address:
pandemiaconference@gmail.com

If you have any questions regarding the conference, please contact Marijana Alujević
(marijana@ffst.hr) or Antonela Marić (antonela@ffst.hr).

***
CONFERENCE VENUE: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences,
University of Split, Poljička cesta 35, Split, Croatia.

The Conference will be held in-person. The conference may shift to online format due
to the reasons caused by the COVID – 19 pandemic.

The Conference is organized with the support of the Center for
Cross-Cultural and Korean Studies.

KEY DATES:
Abstract submission deadline: May 1, 2021
Notification of acceptance: May 15, 2021