Call for papers
Bonds. Forms, languages and practices of relationship
Doctoral Conference
PhD in Philology, Literature and Perfomance Studies
University of Verona
Verona, 18-20 November 2026
No being exists in isolation: existence itself is rooted in connection and communion. Literature and artistic forms in general arise from an instinctive necessity to give voice to human experience which, by its very nature, is fulfilled within a shared dimension.
Whether inherited, broken, or intentionally forged, the human bond serves as a key hermeneutic lens for defining individual identity, which is shaped by connections with the surrounding world. This Conference aims to explore its various forms, representations and functions from antiquity to the present day, analyzing this phenomenon through philological, linguistic, literary, and performative perspectives.
Some of the possible lines of research include, but are not limited to:
• The bond (affective, social, cultural) as the thematic core of the creative work;
• Inherited or elective bonds (familial figures, mentors, fellowships and friendships), analyzed also through their violent dissolution (crime, incest, abandonment and betrayal);
• The bond as form and genre (epistolography, tenzoni, dialogic writings) that explicates and narrates the nature of a relationship;
• The linguistic bond as a “shared code” and a sign of belonging, exclusion or the construction of a relationship (slang, dialects, specialized languages);
• Diachronic variations in the representation and perception of the relationship and its emblematic figures from the classical era to the contemporary age;
• The bond as a genealogical-relational device: re-activations of myths and reenactment, collectives and radical pedagogies, and the history of reciprocity between the stage and the audience.
Essential bibliography
AA.VV., Il concetto di amicizia nella storia della cultura europea. Atti del XXII convegno internazionale di studi italo-tedeschi (Merano, 9-11 maggio 1994), Merano, Accademia di studi italo-tedeschi, 1995.
Battaglia Salvatore, Mitografia del personaggio, Napoli, Liguori, 1967.
Bettini Maurizio, Affari di famiglia: la parentela nella letteratura e nella cultura antica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2009.
Bishop Claire, Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, Londra, Verso Books, 2012.
Butler Judith, L’alleanza dei corpi. Note per una teoria performativa dell’azione collettiva, Milano, nottetempo, 2017.
Cesarini Remo, Dizionario dei temi letterari, a cura di Id. – Domenichelli Mario – Fasano Pino, 3 voll., Torino, UTET, 2007.
Chemello Adriana (a cura di), Alla lettera. Teorie e pratiche epistolari dai Greci al Novecento, Milano, Guerini, 1998.
Del Sapio Garbero Maria (a cura di), Trame parentali trame letterarie, Napoli, Liguori, 2000.
Dodds Eric R., I Greci e l’irrazionale, a cura di Vacca De Bosis Virginia, Firenze, La Nuova Italia, 1959.
Donne John, Devotion upon Emergent Occasion, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1623.
Ejzenstejn Sergej Michajlovic, Teoria generale del montaggio, a cura di Montani Pietro, Venezia, Marsilio, 2001.
Garboli Cesare, Introduzione, in Lessico famigliare di Ginzburg Natalia, Torino, Einaudi, 1963, pp. I-XIX.
Greco Lorenzo, Dubbiosi disiri. Famiglia ed amori proibiti nella narrativa italiana fra ‘800 e ‘900, Pisa, Giardini editori, 1984.
Guidorizzi Giulio, Legami di sangue, legami proibiti. Sguardi interdisciplinari sull’incesto, Roma, Carocci, 2007.
McKenzie Wark, Raving, Roma, Nero Editions, 2023.
Medda Enrico – Di Benedetto Vincenzo, La tragedia sulla scena, Torino, Einaudi, 2002.
Mengaldo Pier Vincenzo, La tradizione del Novecento. Terza Serie, Torino, Einaudi, 1991.
Mengozzi Marino (a cura di), Il tramonto del padre, Cesena, Stillgraf, 2018.
Nancy Jean-Luc, Être Singulier Pluriel, Parigi, Éditions Galilée, 1996.
Natale Massimo, «Ho pensato che non io…»: padri e poesia moderna, in Un giorno d’incantesimo. Studi per Gilberto Lonardi, a cura di Id., Sommacampagna (Verona), Cierre Edizioni, 2020, pp. 101-122.
Oliveros Pauline, Deep Listening: A Composer’s Sound Practice, Bloomington, iUniverse, 2005.
Pellini Pierluigi, De Roberto e la coazione di Malpelo. Narrazioni familiari dal verismo al modernismo, in In una casa di vetro. Generi e temi del naturalismo europeo, a cura di Id., Firenze, Le Monnier, 2004, pp. 212-235.
Sacchi Annalisa, Inappropriabili. Relazioni, opere e lotte nelle arti performative in Italia (1959-1979), Venezia, Marsilio, 2024.
Turra Valeria, Ermeneutica del riconoscimento. Fondazione filosofica di un concetto, Milano – Udine, Mimesis, 2018.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES
The Conference will take place at the University of Verona from 18 to 20 of November 2026. This Call for Papers is open to PhD students, post-docs, and scholars who have obtained their PhD within the last three years.
Each presentation should not exceed 20 minutes. The accepted languages are Italian and English.
Proposals, in PDF format, must include an abstract (max. 500 words), an essential bibliography (max. 5 titles), and a brief biographical note (max. 200 words).
Applications must be submitted by 25 June 2026, to the following address: legami2026.univr.phd@gmail.com.
Notification of acceptance will be sent by 6 July 2026.
The Conference Proceedings will be published; contributions (original and not previously published elsewhere) must be submitted by 15 February 2027.
For further information, inquiries or clarifications, please contact: legami2026.univr.phd@gmail.com.