Maddalena Moretti

My PhD thesis, ‘Come una specie di guida’: Pasolini’s Reconceptualisation of Dante in his Theory and Practice of Realism, investigated the role played by Dante Alighieri’s work in helping to shape Pier Paolo Pasolini’s approach to the concept of realism. The study used the lens of twentieth-century Dante criticism, in particular Gianfranco Contini, Antonio Gramsci, and Erich Auerbach, to read the dialogue between Dante and Pasolini.

Drawing from my previous study on Dante’s literary and cultural legacy, my current research explores the reception of Pasolini in contemporary Italian culture.

Research interests: Dante Alighieri, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Twentieth-century literature and culture, reception of Dante, Italian cinema, intertextuality, transmediality.

Publications

• ‘“Il potere è sempre . . . realistico”: Pasolini Against Power, Against Realistic Literature’, Annali d’Italianistica, forthcoming.
• ‘Two poetic laboratories in comparison: Dante’s rime and Pasolini’s Poesie a Casarsa’, TRANS, forthcoming.
• Review of Erminia Ardissino, L’umana «Commedia» di Dante (Ravenna: Longo, 2016), L’Alighieri, 49 (2017), 154-57.
• ‘Le genti del bel paese là dove ’l sì suona’, Apice (Pagine della Dante), 1 (2016) https://ladante.it/apice-anno-2016-n-1.html.
• Review of War and Peace in Dante: essays literary, historical and theological, ed. by John C. Barnes and Daragh O'Connell (Dublin: Four Courts press, 2015), L’Alighieri, 47 (2016), 143-147.

Awards

2021 - Runner-Up BIS/SIS Postgraduate Prize

Dissemination activity

• Leeds Cineforum: a forum for film lovers in Leeds

(January 2017 – ongoing)

A series of film screening featuring presentations from film researchers from across the UK, and group discussions.

Co-organiser: Dr Rachel Johnson.

• Pour Parler Podcast

(2018 - ongoing)

A series of podcasts on literature, available on Spotify and Speaker.

Co-organiser: Giulia Paganelli.