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Illustrated Periodicals in Post-War Italy: Text and Image between Art, Cinema, and Literature

edited by Stefano Locati, Università IULM (Milan), Dario Boemia, Università IULM (Milan), Elena Gipponi, Università IULM (Milano) and Jelena Lalatovic, Institute for Literature and Art (Belgrade)

 

This issue of Elephant & Castle (35) aims to investigate Italian illustrated periodicals during the years of reconstruction after World War II (1945-1957), which Fausto Colombo defines as the years of "republican normalisation" (Colombo 2015). The intent is particularly to study the fruitful yet unstable relationship between image and text in the layout of these periodicals, which made the visual component a central element of their identity.

After the first news magazines appeared between the two wars and were closed between 1939 and 1943 by fascism, starting from 1945 the major Italian publishers returned to focus on a format that, in its early appearances, had challenged the hierarchies at the editorial level between newspapers and weeklies (Piccone Stella and Rossi 1964) and at the textual level between words and images (De Berti and Piazzoni 2009, Andreani 2018). The period under examination sees daily publishing stagnate in immobility, while there is a growing dynamism in weeklies (Farinelli et al. 1997, Murialdi 2006, Tranfaglia 2007), capable of addressing an increasingly broad audience on transversal themes and issues (Lombardo and Pignatel 1985, Forgacs and Gundle 2007). New series of already existing magazines (“Oggi,” “Tempo,” “Domus,” “Casabella,” “Cinema”...) as well as newly published ones (“L’Europeo,” “Il Mondo,” “Epoca,” “Cinema nuovo,” “Fiera letteraria”...) (Ferretti and Guerriero 2010) converge in newsstands. Things begin to change at the end of the 1950s, coinciding with the economic boom (Contorbia 2009).

What characterises this type of periodical is the presence of images in the form of cartoons, illustrations, and especially photographs that multiply and invade every space of the layout. Illustrated periodicals can thus be approached to what Cometa (2016) defines as iconotext. The images are inserted into a much more varied, articulated, and appealing layout grid, thus acquiring unprecedented centrality and changing the relationship with written texts. By remedying old discursive structures in light of new expressive possibilities, new forms of storytelling emerge, such as photo-documentaries, photo-reportages, and photo-novels, making the relationship between the written and visual components inextricable. Consequently, all traditional forms of writing are forced to reckon with such media changes.

The aim of this issue is to investigate the evolution of the relationship between text and image in periodicals and their interactions. Additionally, it seeks to consider the role played by these publications in shaping the collective imagination from a comparative perspective (looking at foreign models and/or different historical periods) and in analysing the links between printing techniques, editorial policies, and horizons of expectation. To understand these phenomena, a comparative perspective is needed that allows the evaluation of Italian phenomena in light of the broader European and international context and an interdisciplinary approach that brings together periodical studies with visual, literary, cinematic, artistic, cultural, and historical studies. The goal is to converge different research streams toward a theoretical perspective that not only reflects on the texts and their specificities but also considers editorial dynamics and their impact on culture and society at the time.

Contributions may address the following research fields, although they are not limited to them:

- The functions of images in a publishing context where they are the protagonists;

- The functions of texts in a publishing context where the verbal component is often reduced to a “soundtrack”;

- The post-war change in artistic, cinematic, and/or literary criticism aimed at the broad audience of newsmagazines and illustrated magazines within the cultural climate of neorealism;

- Texts and paratexts of serialised stories and novels published in magazines;

- Representation of industry and film sets, storytelling of films and authorial experiences;

- Visual/photographic and textual representation of intellectuals, artists, and protagonists of cultural debates;

- The space of comics and graphic narratives;

- Reviews and reportage on major artistic events (biennials, art fairs, exhibitions…);

- Editorial vicissitudes of publications and movements between the “center” and the “peripheries” of the Italian press;

- Oscillations and reinterpretations in the representation of ethnic groups/cultures, subcultures, the feminist movement, the women's movement, the female subculture, social and political communities;

- Positioning of the Italian case in relation to the European and international publishing industry;

- Theoretical and methodological implications inherent in the study of illustrated periodicals.

 

Articles will be subjected to a double peer review process according to the journal’s procedures.

Article proposals must follow the journal's typographical norms.

Texts in Italian and English are accepted.

To be considered, article proposals must be accompanied by:

- An abstract in the language of the manuscript and in English (max. 1000 characters including spaces);

- Five keywords (in the language of the manuscript and in English);

- A brief biobibliographical note (max. 1000 characters in Italian and English).

Proposals should be sent to the journal’s editorial office (elephantandcastle@unibg.it) and to the four editors Stefano Locati (stefano.locati@iulm.it), Dario Boemia (dario.boemia@iulm.it), Elena Gipponi (elena.gipponi@iulm.it), and Jelena Lalatovic (lalatovicj@protonmail.com) by Wednesday, July 31, 2024.

Notification of selected proposals will be given by Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

Complete contributions (unless expressly justified exceptions; minimum 25,000, maximum 35,000 characters including spaces and notes; bibliography not included in the count), possibly accompanied by copyright-free images, must be uploaded to the journal's website by Wednesday, January 15, 2025.

Any observations by the editors following the peer review procedures will be communicated by Friday, February 28, 2025. Revised contributions must be submitted by the authors by Monday, March 31, 2025.

The issue is scheduled to be published in July 2025.

 

References

ANDREANI M., 2018. “Foto-documentari: note sui supplementi illustrati italiani del dopoguerra”, in Menduini E., Marmo L. (eds.), Fotografia e culture visuali del XXI secolo. Roma: TrE-Press, pp. 305-319.

COLOMBO F., 2015. “L’industria culturale in Italia nella prima era repubblicana”, in Colombo F., Eugeni R. (eds.), Storia della comunicazione e dello spettacolo in Italia. Volume II: I media alla sfida della democrazia (1945-1978). Milano: Vita e Pensiero, pp. 11-31.

COMETA M., 2016. “Forme e retoriche del fototesto letterario”, in Cometa M., Coglitore R. (a cura di), Fototesti. Letteratura e cultura visuale, Macerata: Quodlibet, pp. 69-115.

CONTORBIA F. (ed.), 2009. Giornalismo italiano. 1939-1968. Milano: Mondadori.

DE BERTI R. e PIAZZONI I. (eds.), 2009. Forme e modelli del rotocalco italiano tra fascismo e guerra. Milano: Cisalpino.

FARINELLI G., PACCAGNINI E., Santambrogio G., Villa A.I., 1997. Storia del giornalismo italiano. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri. Torino: Utet.

FERRETTI G.C., GUERRIERO S., 2010. Storia dell’informazione letteraria in Italia dalla terza pagina a internet. 1925-2009. Milano: Feltrinelli.

FORGACS D., GUNDLE S., 2007. Cultura di massa e società italiana. 1936-1954. Bologna: Il Mulino.

LOMBARDO M., PIGNATEL F., 1985. La stampa periodica in Italia. Mezzo Secolo di riviste illustrate. Roma: Editori Riuniti.

MURIALDI P., 2006. Storia del giornalismo italiano. Il Mulino: Bologna.

PICCONE STELLA S., ROSSI A., 1964. La fatica di leggere. Roma: Editori Riuniti.

TRANFAGLIA A.V., 2007. Storia degli editori italiani. Dall’Unità alla fine degli anni Sessanta. Roma-Bari: Laterza.