Author: martina

On Tuesday, May 13, the Orange Room of the Arturo Frinzi Library hosted the second conference in the “Forgotten Voices” series. The event featured Professor Valentina Nider (University of Bologna), who delivered a talk entitled “Genealogies and Futures: New Perspectives for Literature and Gender Studies.”

The meeting explored the vibrant ferment of female voices that, between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Spain, courageously challenged traditional institutions in order to claim emancipation and independence. Particular attention was devoted to the luminous figure of Emilia Pardo Bazán, an intellectual and journalist who became a true beacon for her contemporaries, including Carmen de Burgos “Colombine,” Ángeles Vicente, and María Lejárraga.

The conference also provided a valuable opportunity to delve into two fundamental texts recently translated within the series  “Genealogie e futuri“, an open-access resource of the University of Bologna curated by Valentina Nider:

• “La donna spagnola” by Emilia Pardo Bazán, with introduction and translation by Francesca Peretto (2025).

• “Zezé” by Ángeles Vicente, with introduction and translation by Vincenzo Quaranta (2025).

The event took place with the participation of Francesca Peretto, Vincenzo Quaranta, and Stefano Bazzaco, who helped enrich the discussion. The audience had the opportunity to comment on and analyze the most interesting aspects of the lives and literary production of these extraordinary authors, weaving together the deep reflections of the essays with the evocative power of narrative.

The conference “Disability Theatre from 1900 to the Present in German and Italian Disability Studies,” co-organized by our Professor Massimo Salgaro, concluded on Friday, May 9 at Villa Vigoni’s Italo-German Centre for European Dialogue.

From May 6 to 9, 2025, experts in disability studies from Germany, Italy, and other parts of Europe came together to examine a crucial theme: the representation of the disabled body on stage and in dramatic texts from 1900 to the present. It was a moment of in-depth discussion and reflection on how, in the history of European literature, theatrical works have rarely been conceived for actors with disabilities, and on how theatrical theories and institutions have often, albeit unintentionally, reinforced ableism.

Also within the framework of the initiatives promoted by the conference, on Wednesday, May 7, Teatro a Rotelle performed at the Teatro Cristallo Breccia in Como with a reprise of “In principio era la Rupe” (In the Beginning There Was the Cliff).

The performance, the result of the creativity and commitment of the university theatre company’s actors and actresses and directed by Nicoletta Vicentini and Jana Karšaiová, makes an ironic and provocative reference to the Spartan practice of abandoning newborns deemed weak on Mount Taygetus. In principio era la Rupe, staged with great intensity by performers with and without disabilities, offered a powerful and moving reflection on how perceptions of disability have changed over time.