CALL FOR PAPERS: THE RISORGIMENTO REVISITED. NEW YORK 11-12 APRIL 2008

Over the last fifteen years, scholarly interest in Italy’s ‘Risorgimento’ (c.1790-c.1870) has undergone a considerable revival. Informed by the approach to 19th-century nationalism pioneered by Anderson, Hobsbawm and others, as well as by the methodologies of the ‘new cultural history’, this renewed interest in the Risorgimento has been constrained by neither. Instead, historians of the Risorgimento have sought to ask new questions about the formation of Italian national identity, and have reached new conclusions about its origins, its discursive and political expressions, and its appeal, limitations and long-term impact.

This international conference will be the first time that the leading protagonists of the new research have been brought together outside Italy. Its aim is to raise the profile of debates on the Risorgimento among a broader public and to
encourage the development of a comparative and/or trans-national perspective on the formation of Italian national identity. By considering the issue of how modern Italian identity was first conceived and constructed politically, we would also expect to make a timely contribution to current discussions about the role of patriotism and the nature of nationalism in present-day Italy.

The conference will be held in New York at the Italian Academy of Columbia University on 11-12 April 2008. We would especially welcome papers which address the following themes:

Gender, family and sexuality
Exile and diaspora
War, militarism and Italy’s ‘enemies’
Religions and religious identity
Political emotions and the role of romanticism
The use of history

Those wishing to contribute to the conference are asked to submit a title, a brief abstract of their proposed paper, and a statement of academic/professional affiliation by April 30 2007 to Silvana Patriarca (patriarca@fordham.edu) and
Lucy Riall (l.riall@history.bbk.ac.uk).