No being exists in isolation: existance 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, its fufilled within a shared dimension. Whether inherited, broken or intentionally forged, the human bond serves as an hermenutic lens for defining an individual identity shaped by connections with the surrounding world. This Conference aims to explore its various forms, representations and functions from antiquity to the present, analyzing this phenomenon though philological, linguistic, literary and performative perspective.

Argument

In 1623, John Donne wrote: «No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main».

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.

Individual identity is shaped first and foremost by an inherent bond: the family. Ancient literature had established its archetypes early on; in this light, the Odyssey may be interpreted as a “family novel”, driven by the protagonist’s relentless effort to reunite his household. Likewise, the powerful image of pius Aeneas fleeing a burning Troy, with his father upon his back and his son by the hand, embodies this bond, underscoring its ethical and social significance.

Between Humanism and the Renaissance, this reflection on the family as the foundation of civil order and as a structure governed by moral principles reached full maturity (notably in Alberti’s I Libri della famiglia). Simultaneously, the first nuances of a sensitivity toward familial affections began to surface. Ariosto’s Satire reveals the precariousness of personal relationships: as they lean toward intimacy, they remain caught in the conflict between an emergent longing for affective stability and the demands of social duty.

In modern times, the domestic sphere frequently provides the setting for Goldoni’s theater, echoing the earlier traditions of Plautus and Terence. Subsequently, the theme resurfaces in Leopardi’s poetry and finds a focal point in Pascoli, before achieving full expression in the twentieth century (Montale, Caproni, Bertolucci). Concurrently, narrative prose and cinema became privileged spaces for exploring how familial and social ties shape identity (e.g. Verga’s prose and Germi’s filmography). Ultimately, this connection is reflected in language itself, as seen in Ginzburg’s Family Lexicon, where words constitute the “heritage through which [...] a tribe recognizes itself and distinguishes itself from others” (Garboli, 1963).

Paradoxically, a bond can also be defined through a traumatic rift, manifesting in countless ways across genres and eras. This dynamic finds expression in the sharp and radical breaks of ancient tragedy (the Oresteia, the myths of Oedipus and Medea), Shakespearean drama, and opera, down to contemporary playwriting. The crisis of relationships is thus expressed through chains of crime, incest, and betrayal (notably exemplified by the figure of the stepfather Ganelon in the Chanson de Roland).

In other contexts, the breach manifests as conflict and rebellion against coercion. This ranges from the resistance to familial authority in the Decameron (Lisabetta and Ghismunda) to the complex domestic dynamics in Svevo’s novels or Dolan’s Mommy. Furthermore, the broken bond is articulated through forms of abandonment and estrangement. These extend from the trauma of exile in Ovid’s Epistulae ex

Ponto and Tasso’s Canzone al Metauro, where mourning leads to an irreparable rupture, to the dissolution of identity in Pirandello and the emotional alienation in Jonze’s Her.

Finally, the bond may arise from a conscious choice, whether intellectual or emotional, that transcends biological ties. The history of literature and performance is populated by such elective affinities. This tradition includes the long lineage of nurses and wet-nurses, reaching from ancient Greece to the poetry of Saba. It also features guiding figures like Virgil, the «sweet father» of the Commedia, or Rosaria in Menzogna e sortilegio, whose care fills the void left by the inadequacies of Elisa’s natural family.

Over the centuries, this theme has also developed through the representation of indissoluble, almost fraternal friendships: from the myths of Achilles and Patroclus and the Knights of the Round Table to fellowships forged through literature itself (e.g. Dante’s sonnet Guido, i’ vorrei che tu e Lapo ed io, or Foscolo’s Ultime lettere di Jacopo Ortis). More recently, Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend and Scott’s Thelma & Louise testify to an increasing focus on female alliances. In the last century, the consolidation of elective bonds, including the feminist movement, is evident in artistic experiences such as the Nemesiache, where performative practice becomes a concrete site to produce relationships.

In addition, in theater and performance, these impulses translate into practices that construct the bond within the scenic space. This thread runs from ancient tradition to twentieth-century forms, where the complicity between actors and spectators becomes a constitutive element of the event. Similarly, in the musical sphere, the bond is defined through the organization of sonic materials and shared listening. This extends to recent practices such as rave culture, where temporary communities are formed through sound and the body, giving rise to situated forms of belonging (McKenzie, 2023).

Whether inherited, broken, or intentionally forged, the 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 and functions from antiquity to the present day, analyzing this phenomenon through philological, literary, and performative perspectives.

Starting from the above-mentioned points, 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.

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).

The deadline has been extended to 25 June 2026.

Applications must be submitted 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.

Scientific committee

• Faculty Board of the PhD Course in Philology, Literature and Performance Studies at the University of Verona

Organizing committee

• Federica Bertucco
• Ginevra Ghiaroni
• Matilde Grendene
• Federica Zeviani

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 MICHAJLOVIČ, 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. MC KENZIE 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.