Abstract
It seems bizarre to characterize as semiperipheral the homeland of Dante, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. Throughout the centuries Italy has enriched the world’s culture in all areas of thought and human knowledge, and the Italian language, culture and way of life now more than ever seem to exert an international fascination with a recognized — if rather stereotyped — identity worldwide. However, Italian culture has also been known for its complexity and contradictions, and as Pirandello in L’Umorismo well realized, it is through these paradoxes that the real nature of things is revealed. Realities, thoughts and lives tend to open themselves to a plurality of interpretations, and Italy is the place where opposites coexist. This may be said also for the situation of Italian academia, caught in a web of contradictions and multi-layered influences, and for the experiences of Italian academics — especially humanities scholars — whose lives are emblematic of the need to juggle contrasts and reconcile seemingly irreconcilable phenomena.
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© 2014 Raffaella Negretti
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Negretti, R. (2014). Looking Back from the Centre: Experiences of Italian Humanities Scholars Living and Writing Abroad. In: Bennett, K. (eds) The Semiperiphery of Academic Writing. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137351197_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137351197_9
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-46870-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-35119-7
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