TESTA C Italian political cinema: Surveying ... (original) (raw)
The 2005 Cornell Entralogos Conference has provided me with the welcome opportunity to develop some theoretical reflections on the ways in which, on the one hand, literature, and more in general arts and the humanities, contribute to shaping the world -but, also on the other hand, on how different "worlds" (different historical and cultural realities, that is) bring about a correspondingly diverse gamut of artistic creations. This paper of mine, then, arises within the context of an overarching theoretical exploration inspired by the theme of the Conference: "Art Makes a Difference / Difference Makes Art." In my intention, the symmetry of this proposition aims not for a selfreferential form of witticism but for an almost mimetic reproduction of the endless circulation -in some sense, indeed, the circularity -of the exchanges that obtain between culture and society. Which of the two comes first? Neither, it goes without saying. Which of the two comes second? Both, of course.
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