PhD Candidates

LITERARY CURRICULUM

Iris Karafillidis
iris.karafillidis@phd.unipi.it
The expression of religiosity in contemporary Russian poetry and fiction: Olga Sedakova and Mariia Stepanova
[SSD L-LIN/21]

The research project aims to study the religioznij diskurs (understood as the expression of religiosity, which embraces both a lexical and a more broadly syntagmatic and phraseological point of view) in the literary works in prose and verse by O’ga Sedakova (b. 1949) and Mariia Stepanova (b. 1972), two eminent figures of the contemporary Russian literary scene. To this end, both the identification of the Slavic-ecclesiastical origin and the recognition of the biblical referent (New Testament and Old Testament) are hermeneutical picks of fundamental importance to understand how the words of religious afference have been modelled in the works of the two authors. After an introduction that defines the methodological and typological terms adopted, the dissertation delves into the analysis of Sedakova’s and Stepanova’s works Each part of the study firstly takes into account the reflection of the religious lexicon in the poems and then dwells on Sedakova’s short stories and Stepanova’s novel. A final section is reserved, in both cases, to the translation work, in order to identify how, in this case too, the religious component plays a leading role in the interlinguistic reflection of both authors.

Религиозные выражения в современных стихотворений и прозаических произведений: Ольга Седакова и Мария Степанова

Целью исследования является изучение роли религиозного дискурса (понимаемого как религиозные выражения, охватывающие как лексические, так и более широкие синтагматические и фразеологические аспекты) в произведениях в прозе и стихах Ольги Седаковой (р. 1949) и Марии Степановой (р. 1972), двух выдающихся фигур современной русской литературной сцены. Для достижения поставленной цели проводится как идентификация церковно-славянской матрицы и признание функции библейского референта (относящегося к Новому и Ветхому Заветам) – герменевтических приёмов, имеющих фундаментальное значение для понимания того, как термины с религиозной привязкой были смоделированы в работах двух авторов. Вслед за введением, определяющим принятые методологические и типологические термины, работа разделена на две части, посвящённые авторам. Каждая часть рассматривает сначала произведения в стихах, а затем отдельно останавливается на рассказах Седаковой и на романе Степановой. Заключительный раздел в обоих случаях отведен анализу переводов, чтобы определить, каким образом и в этом случае религиозный компонент играет ведущую роль в межъязыковой рефлексии обоих авторов.

Supervisor: Prof. Stefano Garzonio – Pisa

Angela Moro
angela.moro@phd.unipi.it

Out of Place. The Representation of Space in the Short Fiction of Max Aub and Ramón J. Sender
[SSD L-LIN/05]

The purpose of this research project is to analyse the forms of representation of space in the short fiction of Max Aub (Paris, 1903 – Mexico City, 1972) and Ramón J. Sender (Huesca, Aragón, 1901 – San Diego, California, 1982). Within the framework of Spanish republican exile literature, the research therefore engages with a double theoretical framework whose intersection, often conceived in self-excluding terms, lacks significant exploration: that of narrative brevitas and that of theories of space, with a special focus on the concept of heterotopia. The thesis is divided into two macro sections. The first section sets out the theoretical and methodological premises about both short fiction and the spatial turn, which indeed are the hermeneutical tools utilized to analyse the primary sources. The second section provides an in-depth insight into a broad corpus of Aub and Sender’s works, which, through a combinantion of the thematic and chronological criteria, outlines an array of analytical approaches. We will thus take into account the geographies of autochthony and those of the new world, suspended between myth and history and able to endow the space represented with tangibility. Furthermore, the notion of limbo will be explored as a constitutive and structuring place for both the main characters and the authorial instance. The thesis ends with some evocations of the Spanish Civil War from exile along with two short stories of despedida that overlap in many spatial aspects. Torn between different and only partially comparable lands, Aub and Sender, through writing, retrieve an environment where contradictory and alternative spaces can coexist simultaneously, in an attempt to reaffirm their inalienable place in the world.

Fuera de lugar. La representación del espacio en la narrativa breve de Max Aub y Ramón J. Sender

El presente trabajo tiene el propósito de analizar las formas de representación del espacio en la narrativa breve de Max Aub (París, 1903 – Ciudad de México, 1972) y Ramón J. Sender (Huesca, Aragón, 1901 – San Diego, California, 1982). En el marco de la literatura del exilio republicano español de 1939, se trae a colación, por lo tanto, un doble aparato teórico cuya intersección, a menudo concebida en términos autoexcluyentes, está aún poco estudiada: la de la brevitas narrativa y la de las teorías sobre el espacio, con un especial enfoque en el concepto de heterotopía. La tesis está dividida en dos macrosecciones. La primera plantea unas premisas teórico-metodológicas sobre la narrativa breve y el espacio, que ofrecen las herramientas hermenéuticas para abordar las fuentes primarias. En el segundo apartado, nos centraremos en un amplio corpus de obras de los autores seleccionados que, al combinar el criterio cronológico con el temático, nos permite perfilar un abanico de vertientes de análisis. Se observan las geografías de la autoctonía y las del nuevo mundo, suspendidas entre el mito y la historia y capaces de otorgar una presencia tangible al espacio representado. Además, se explora la noción de limbo como lugar constitutivo y estructurante tanto de los protagonistas de las narraciones como de la instancia autoral. La tesis se cierra con algunas evocaciones de la Guerra Civil desde el exilio y dos relatos de despedida que tienen importantes márgenes de solapamiento. Desgarrados entre territorios diferentes y solo parcialmente asimilables, Aub y Sender, a través de la escritura, encuentran un entorno donde pueden hacer coexistir de manera simultánea espacios contradictorios y alternativos a los reales, en el intento de reafirmar su inalienable lugar en el mundo.

Supervisor: Prof. Enrico Di Pastena – Pisa

Matteo Zupancic
m.zupancic@studenti.unipi.it

Per un’applicazione della Sprachreflexion teologica alla prosa tedesca tra Jahrhundertwende e 
Weimarer Republik: Kafka, Musil, Döblin, Jünger, Jahnn.
[SSD L-LIN/13]

Il presente progetto di ricerca è volto alla realizzazione di una base teorica e di un apparato metodologico per l’analisi del fenomeno della Sprachreflexion all’interno della prosa letteraria tedesca, nel periodo compreso tra la Jahrhundertwende e la Zwischenkriegszeit. Muovendo da un approccio fortemente interdisciplinare (i tentativi di categorizzazione della Sprachkrise, il dibattito sul paradigma della secolarizzazione e gli studi sulla Mystik der Moderne e sui rapporti tra filosofia contemporanea e teologia negativa), verrà innanzitutto svolta un’indagine, anche in senso kulturwissenschaftlich, del legame tra la riflessione linguistica propria della tradizione teologica e la Sprachreflexion letteraria della Moderne. In secondo luogo, si tenterà lo sviluppo di un metodo teorico-letterario fondato sulle tre categorie di via affirmationis, via negationis e via analogiae e si cercherà di valutarne le potenzialità ermeneutiche per l’analisi dei testi di alcuni dei più importanti autori del periodo selezionato.

Supervisor: Prof. Francesco Rossi – Pisa

LINGUISTIC CURRICULUM

Sara Corso
s.corso3@studenti.unipi.it
Acquisizione e produzione della lingua tedesca nei locutori multilingui:
Interferenze e processi di apprendimento
[SSD L-LIN/14]

Il progetto intende indagare i meccanismi di apprendimento nonché eventuali fenomeni di transfer linguistici rilevabili in locutori multilingui che apprendano il tedesco quale L2 in contesti guidati o che lo abbiano acquisito spontaneamente (ad es. durante l’infanzia). Si provvederà alla composizione di un corpus attraverso la somministrazione di interviste e test tramite i quali osservare: le modalità con cui il contatto linguistico si verifica ed influenza la produzione linguistica dei locutori presi in esame; come i meccanismi di apprendimento vengono messi in atto dai soggetti e, dunque, quali metodi didattici risultano essere idonei ai fini di una didattica che incontri le necessità di studenti multilingui.

Supervisor: Prof. Marianne Hepp – Pisa

Giulia Rambelli
giulia.rambelli@phd.unipi.it
Towards a Distributional Construction Grammar
[SSD L-LIN/01]

This research project looks at developing an overall framework of natural language comprehension, called Distributional Construction Grammar (DCxG), which integrates Distributional Semantics into Construction Grammar. The entire architecture will be modelled to describe the cognitive and linguistic mechanisms behind the interpretation of a sentence, including into the same framework both the compositional process (according to which the meaning of a sentence is the result of the composition of the meaning of the single words) and the direct access to the meaning mechanism shown by several constructions. In particular, we propose an activation function which evaluates the possibility for a construction to be predicted. Therefore the final computational model will bring together formal linguistic theories, usage-based contextual information and psycholinguistic findings towards a generic account of language comprehension.

Supervisor: Prof. Alessandro Lenci – Pisa

Julija Šabasevičiūtė
j.sabaseviciute@studenti.unipi.it

Problemi di linguistica contrastiva fra lituano e italiano
[SSD L-LIN/01]

L’oggetto della ricerca che qui si presenta è costituito dall’indagine dei più rilevanti fenomeni contrastivi individuabili ai diversi livelli dell’analisi linguistica tra l’italiano e il lituano. Lo studio si propone di indagare in prospettiva linguistica e traduttologica (profittando cioè anche delle più recenti traduzioni di testi letterari dal lituano all’italiano e viceversa) i principali fenomeni di anisomorfismo rilevabili tra le due lingue in una cornice ampia, contrastiva e comparativa. Scopo del lavoro è raccogliere un’adeguata documentazione dei suddetti fenomeni, descriverne la configurazione e comprenderne i meccanismi, al fine di facilitare lo studio del lituano da parte degli studenti italiani e quello dell’italiano da parte degli studenti lituani. Considerata in prospettiva, la ricerca vorrebbe contribuire alla stesura di una grammatica contrastiva delle due lingue che ancora manca nel panorama scientifico.

Supervisors: Prof. Pietro Umberto Dini – Pisa, Prof. Diego Ardoino – Vilnius

Martina Turconi
martina.turconi@phd.unipi.it

Supervisor: Prof. Giovanna Marotta – Pisa