Elisa Paolicelli, PhD | Università degli studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia (original) (raw)
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Papers by Elisa Paolicelli, PhD
Les villes divisées: Récits littéraires et cinématographiques, 2018
Cet article examine le rapport entre les protagonistes féminines et leurs contextes urbains dans ... more Cet article examine le rapport entre les protagonistes féminines et leurs contextes urbains dans deux adaptations cinématographiques allemandes, "Keiner liebt mich" (1994) et "Glück" (2012), réalisées par Doris Dörrie. L'analyse se concentre sur la correspondance, établie par ces films, entre la représentation marginale des protagonistes et la fragmentation de l’espace social de Cologne et Berlin, dans respectivement "Keiner liebt mich" et "Glück".
Leaves, 2017
This article focuses on the feminine violence which occurs in the closed private spaces of two co... more This article focuses on the feminine violence which occurs in the closed private spaces of two contemporary film adaptations: "The Virgin Suicides" (1999) by Sofia Coppola and "Cracks" (2009) by Jordan Scott. Combining the visual and textual analyses of these movies and of the novels they are based on, I will concentrate particularly on the Lisbon house ("The Virgin Suicides") and St. Mathilda’s girls boarding school ("Cracks") as independent microcosms which, nevertheless, encapsulate and highlight some wider external social dynamics (fear of the unknown, of the unconscious, of diversity). Because of their confinement, these two private spaces can also be considered as enclaves, and more specifically as refuges or prisons, where the disciplinary power of their matriarchal hierarchies imposes itself through the dual relationship of transgression and punishment that reflects Hobbes’s idea of society (and legitimate government) as a Leviathan.
Thesis Chapters by Elisa Paolicelli, PhD
Daughters As Outsiders: The Mother-Daughter Bond in Three Novels, "The Virgin Suicides", "Hunting and Gathering", and "A Girl Returned", 2020
The Lisbon sisters, Camille, and the "Arminuta" are the daughters and the protagonists of three n... more The Lisbon sisters, Camille, and the "Arminuta" are the daughters and the protagonists of three novels set in three different geographical-linguistic areas: the United States, France, and Italy. "The Virgin Suicides" (1993) by Jeffrey Eugenides, "Hunting and Gathering" ("Ensemble, c’est tout", 2004) by Anna Gavalda, and "A Girl Returned" ("L’Arminuta", 2017) by Donatella Di Pietrantonio are the selected novels covering the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century. The theoretical background of the mother-daughter relationship provides an introduction to the textual analysis of the novels, which unveils the condition of outsiders of the protagonists. Their characterization develops within their social marginality: imprisonment (the Lisbon sisters), "emotional autarky" (Camille), and abandonment (the "Arminuta"); while their marginal status is the product of their particular relationship with the controversial personality of their mothers. Mrs. Lisbon is a control-obsessed, authoritarian mother; Catherine is a narcissistic woman; while both the biological and the adoptive mothers of the "Arminuta" abandon her. The outsider theme, particularly its literary-philosophical theorization by Colin Wilson, is the key point of our analytical method. In our literary selection, each storyline identifies one of the three existential steps of the outsider, originally conceived as a male figure. By analyzing the fictional development of the Lisbon sisters, Camille, and the "Arminuta", we retrace backwards the existential journey of the outsider as theorized by Wilson: the mystic detachment from reality as the final stage of a route which started with the pursuit of Truth, and went through the process of accepting personal alienation. Retracing the outsider's experience allows us to show that being an outsider in literary terms is not a male prerogative: it is a condition of marginality embodied by female characters as well. In addition to this, precisely as outsiders the protagonists can express their agency.
Talks by Elisa Paolicelli, PhD
In this talk I focused on the visual and textual analysis of female urban marginality in the nove... more In this talk I focused on the visual and textual analysis of female urban marginality in the novel "La Délicatesse" (2009) by David Foenkinos and its film adaptation ("La Délicatesse", 2011) by Stéphane and David Foenkinos.
Conference Presentations by Elisa Paolicelli, PhD
Starting from the dialectic relationship between the centre of Rome and its contemporary urban ma... more Starting from the dialectic relationship between the centre of Rome and its contemporary urban margins, I focused on the way the female protagonists of the films "Tutta la vita davanti" and "Un giorno speciale" confront themselves with the divided city of Rome from a social and geographical point of view.
Cette communication se concentre sur les adaptations cinématographiques "Ensemble, c'est tout" (2... more Cette communication se concentre sur les adaptations cinématographiques "Ensemble, c'est tout" (2007) de Claude Berri et "La Délicatesse" (2011) de David et Stéphane Foenkinos. Dans ces transpositions à l'écran – des romans éponymes de respectivement Anna Gavalda ("Ensemble, c’est tout", 2004) et David Foenkinos ("La Délicatesse", 2009) –, une correspondance s’établit entre la marginalité des femmes protagonistes et la représentation atypique d'un Paris montré à travers ses espaces privés, comme les intérieurs de maisons et d'immeubles.
Les films "Acciaio" et "Miele" représentent une opposition dans l'image de la banlieue italienne ... more Les films "Acciaio" et "Miele" représentent une opposition dans l'image de la banlieue italienne qui est perçue soit comme prison, soit comme refuge par les protagonistes des deux adaptations. Cette opposition n'est pourtant pas absolue : l'espace urbain et le point de vue des personnages se chargent d'une ambivalence telle qu'un lieu oppressif peut soudainement se révéler apaisant ou vice-versa.
Les villes divisées: Récits littéraires et cinématographiques, 2018
Cet article examine le rapport entre les protagonistes féminines et leurs contextes urbains dans ... more Cet article examine le rapport entre les protagonistes féminines et leurs contextes urbains dans deux adaptations cinématographiques allemandes, "Keiner liebt mich" (1994) et "Glück" (2012), réalisées par Doris Dörrie. L'analyse se concentre sur la correspondance, établie par ces films, entre la représentation marginale des protagonistes et la fragmentation de l’espace social de Cologne et Berlin, dans respectivement "Keiner liebt mich" et "Glück".
Leaves, 2017
This article focuses on the feminine violence which occurs in the closed private spaces of two co... more This article focuses on the feminine violence which occurs in the closed private spaces of two contemporary film adaptations: "The Virgin Suicides" (1999) by Sofia Coppola and "Cracks" (2009) by Jordan Scott. Combining the visual and textual analyses of these movies and of the novels they are based on, I will concentrate particularly on the Lisbon house ("The Virgin Suicides") and St. Mathilda’s girls boarding school ("Cracks") as independent microcosms which, nevertheless, encapsulate and highlight some wider external social dynamics (fear of the unknown, of the unconscious, of diversity). Because of their confinement, these two private spaces can also be considered as enclaves, and more specifically as refuges or prisons, where the disciplinary power of their matriarchal hierarchies imposes itself through the dual relationship of transgression and punishment that reflects Hobbes’s idea of society (and legitimate government) as a Leviathan.
Daughters As Outsiders: The Mother-Daughter Bond in Three Novels, "The Virgin Suicides", "Hunting and Gathering", and "A Girl Returned", 2020
The Lisbon sisters, Camille, and the "Arminuta" are the daughters and the protagonists of three n... more The Lisbon sisters, Camille, and the "Arminuta" are the daughters and the protagonists of three novels set in three different geographical-linguistic areas: the United States, France, and Italy. "The Virgin Suicides" (1993) by Jeffrey Eugenides, "Hunting and Gathering" ("Ensemble, c’est tout", 2004) by Anna Gavalda, and "A Girl Returned" ("L’Arminuta", 2017) by Donatella Di Pietrantonio are the selected novels covering the 20th century and the first two decades of the 21st century. The theoretical background of the mother-daughter relationship provides an introduction to the textual analysis of the novels, which unveils the condition of outsiders of the protagonists. Their characterization develops within their social marginality: imprisonment (the Lisbon sisters), "emotional autarky" (Camille), and abandonment (the "Arminuta"); while their marginal status is the product of their particular relationship with the controversial personality of their mothers. Mrs. Lisbon is a control-obsessed, authoritarian mother; Catherine is a narcissistic woman; while both the biological and the adoptive mothers of the "Arminuta" abandon her. The outsider theme, particularly its literary-philosophical theorization by Colin Wilson, is the key point of our analytical method. In our literary selection, each storyline identifies one of the three existential steps of the outsider, originally conceived as a male figure. By analyzing the fictional development of the Lisbon sisters, Camille, and the "Arminuta", we retrace backwards the existential journey of the outsider as theorized by Wilson: the mystic detachment from reality as the final stage of a route which started with the pursuit of Truth, and went through the process of accepting personal alienation. Retracing the outsider's experience allows us to show that being an outsider in literary terms is not a male prerogative: it is a condition of marginality embodied by female characters as well. In addition to this, precisely as outsiders the protagonists can express their agency.
In this talk I focused on the visual and textual analysis of female urban marginality in the nove... more In this talk I focused on the visual and textual analysis of female urban marginality in the novel "La Délicatesse" (2009) by David Foenkinos and its film adaptation ("La Délicatesse", 2011) by Stéphane and David Foenkinos.
Starting from the dialectic relationship between the centre of Rome and its contemporary urban ma... more Starting from the dialectic relationship between the centre of Rome and its contemporary urban margins, I focused on the way the female protagonists of the films "Tutta la vita davanti" and "Un giorno speciale" confront themselves with the divided city of Rome from a social and geographical point of view.
Cette communication se concentre sur les adaptations cinématographiques "Ensemble, c'est tout" (2... more Cette communication se concentre sur les adaptations cinématographiques "Ensemble, c'est tout" (2007) de Claude Berri et "La Délicatesse" (2011) de David et Stéphane Foenkinos. Dans ces transpositions à l'écran – des romans éponymes de respectivement Anna Gavalda ("Ensemble, c’est tout", 2004) et David Foenkinos ("La Délicatesse", 2009) –, une correspondance s’établit entre la marginalité des femmes protagonistes et la représentation atypique d'un Paris montré à travers ses espaces privés, comme les intérieurs de maisons et d'immeubles.
Les films "Acciaio" et "Miele" représentent une opposition dans l'image de la banlieue italienne ... more Les films "Acciaio" et "Miele" représentent une opposition dans l'image de la banlieue italienne qui est perçue soit comme prison, soit comme refuge par les protagonistes des deux adaptations. Cette opposition n'est pourtant pas absolue : l'espace urbain et le point de vue des personnages se chargent d'une ambivalence telle qu'un lieu oppressif peut soudainement se révéler apaisant ou vice-versa.