Books

Camilla Caporicci Oxford University Press, 2024, pp. 480. ISBN: 9780192848833 Traditionally attributed to King Solomon, the Song of Songs is one of the most fascinating and controversial biblical books, and played an essential role in the shaping of European spirituality and culture. Combining a sensual and deeply lyrical celebration of love with a well-established tradition of Christian allegorical interpretation, this text, crucial to both the Middle Ages and the early modern period, held a particular appeal for poets. The Song of Songs and Its Tradition in Renaissance Love Lyric is the first systematic and wide-ranging investigation of the multifaceted use of the Song of Songs in Renaissance love lyric poetry, with specific attention to Italian, French, and, especially, English poetic production. At the same time, this investigation is embedded into a narrative that, comprising two initial chapters devoted to medieval poetry and to Francesco Petrarca, represents an unprecedented attempt to trace the role of the Song of Songs in the rise and development of the European love lyric, following its path – or rather, one of its paths – from the medieval origins of this tradition to the end of the sixteenth century. While the comparative standpoint characterizing this study fosters a deeper comprehension of the evolution of the European love lyric, its multidisciplinary approach, which considers the Song of Songs as the centre of a web of dynamics pertaining to the fields of literature, philosophy, theology, and religious and cultural history, contributes to the understanding of the thought and spirit of ages crucial to the shaping of European culture.

Manuela D’Amore Literary Voices of the Italian Diaspora in Britain: Time, Transnational Identity and Hybridity Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, pp. 314. ISBN: 978-3-031-35437-3 This volume studies the literary voices of the Italian diaspora in Britain. They are mostly unknown to specialist and non-specialist readers, but deserve full recognition: they have recounted the history of the migrant community in the period 1880-1980, while creatively experimenting with hybrid forms of expression and blending words with visuals. Their focus on the horrors of the Second World War – especially on the tragedy of the Arandora Star (2nd July 1940) – offers clear evidence of their civil commitment.  Made up by 21 authors and 34 pieces of prose, verse and drama, Literary Voices of the Italian Diaspora in Britain will appeal to specialists in different areas of study. It discusses topical issues like migration and social integration, cultures and foods in transition, as well as plurilingualism. More importantly, it begins to fill the void left by a critical tradition which has only appreciated the northern American and Australian branches of Italian writing. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-35438-0

Maria Grazia Sindoni Multimodality and Translanguaging in Video Interactions Cambridge University Press, Elements in Applied Linguistics, 2023, pp. 75. ISBN: 9781009286947 This Element presents and critically discusses video-mediated communication by combining theories and empirical methods of multimodal studies and translanguaging. Since Covid-19 gained momentum, video-based interactions have become more and more ingrained in private and public lives and to the point of being fully incorporated in a wide range of community practices in personal, work and educational environments. The meaning making of video communication results from the complex, situationally based and culturally influenced and interlaced components of different semiotic resources and practices. These include the use of speech, writing, translingual practices, gaze behaviour, proxemics and kinesics patterns, as well as forms of embodied interaction. The Element aims at unpacking these resources and at interpreting how they make meanings to improve and encourage active and responsible participation in the current digital scenarios. https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/abs/multimodality-and-translanguaging-in-video-interactions/7BA4AC0FD92A20DE089053E7B513392C

Jeanne Dubino, Orkun Kocabıyık, Elisabetta Marino, Andrew Smyth (eds.) War in Travel Literature Cambridge Scholars, 2023, pp. 313. ISBN: 1-5275-0482-4 These twelve chapters show how war functions as a subject, theme, impetus—willing and not—and backdrop in travel writing. Literature about travel and war in tandem enables readers to rethink both categories. The forms of travel writing about war addressed in this collection, including cookbooks and military magazines along with nonfiction narrative and  memoir, reveal how heterogenous travel writing can be. To study travel in connection with war expands readers’ understanding of the multiple motivations instigating travellers’ journeys. War is about more than fighting on a battlefield; its reach is extensive, encompassing the spheres surrounding its battlefields and fronts. The many actors involved in any conflict attests to the ways war is absorbed into their worlds, permeates their thoughts and spurs their actions. Readers interested in travel literature from the beginning of the nineteenth century through the present day will find this volume to be of especial interest. https://www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-1-5275-0482-0

Virginia Pulcini The Influence of English on Italian: Lexical and Cultural Features De Gruyter Mouton, 2023, pp. 285. ISBN: 9783110754957 Open Access The volume explores the history of language contact between Italy and Anglophone countries and illustrates the phenomenon of lexical borrowing. Types of English-induced borrowings are presented on the basis of quantitative and qualitative information provided by Italian lexicographic sources and corpus-based evidence. Criteria of currency and frequency are discussed with reference to a multilingual project (GLAD – Global Anglicism Database), offering a contribution to loanword lexicography. The book is addressed to scholars and nonexperts interested in the input of English borrowings into Italian. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110755114/html?lang=en