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In his novel, Machines Like Me (2019), Ian McEwan offers an interesting example of "alternate history" while dealing with crucial ethical issues connected with the development of Artificial Intelligence. Instead of setting his story in the future, the author chooses to set it in the past, but he radically changes the contours of the latter. Hence, the England of the early 1980s is turned into a technologically advanced society, well ahead of the scientific progress of the early 21st century. Thus, the future casts its light on the past in what appears as a typically postmodernist mélange: besides mingling genres (from speculative fiction to uchronia), McEwan also performs an intriguing hybridization of fact and fiction. The paper intends to explore the rich historical dimension of the novel, which betrays the author's interest in the reflection on history and on its narrativization - as well as its manipulation and/or contamination - within the literary text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article aims to show that in the second half of the XIXth Century the European Romantic trend in literature became even in Italy part of the launch pad for the first "Fanta-clinic" and "Medical-thriller" novels. According to the lesson of the coeval French literature it also baptized a kind of modern poetry turned to épater le bourgeois through the transfiguration of Anatomy and later through the use of the scientific method in composing verses and novels. This paper aims to focalize some links between Literature and Medicine by concerning literary inspirations felt by many coeval writers about Paolo Gorini (1813- 1881) and Efisio Marini (1835-1900). The paper tries to demonstrate that the dark suggestions offered by the two scientists to some well known names of the Italian Literature (from Carlo Dossi to Matilde Serao) grew up strong in the Northern part of Italy as well as they did in the Southern part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the genealogy and creation of the asylum in Racconigi, in Italy. The paper explores the management of Dr. Toselli between 1873 and 1879. This mental hospital hosted psychiatric patients from the Province of Cuneo, coming from families, hospitals and other asylums in Turin, Genoa, Reggio Emilia. The research also outlines the history of public health policies and control strategies of abnormalities in an Italian province. At the same time, it looks at the political and cultural context of the time and analyses the complexity of power relations between public authorities, and their ideology on the issue of the insanity plea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a conference paper delivered at the conference "La costruzione dell'Italia: Il contributo degli esuli in Piemonte," which took place March 5, 2011 in Turin, Italy. The conference paper discusses the history of the Unification of Italy, with a focus on cultural renewal among exiles.

The British Italian Legion was created in the summer of 1855 as a reinforcement to the British army in Crimea, already weakened by the siege of Sevastopol. Volunteers were garrisoned in Novara and Chivasso until February 1856, when they were found to be plotting a patriotic uprising plan. This nearly led Austria and Piedmont-Sardinia to a diplomatic crisis and, therefore, the English government was forced to move the entire legion to Malta. The end of the Crimean War and the clashes between legionaries and the Maltese people inevitably caused the disbandment of the corp, starting from May 1856. Although most of the soldiers wanted to return to Piedmont, the government of Turin only allowed entry to its subjects. The remaining 1500 legionaries, who had mostly been longtime residents in the Kingdom of Sardinia, were transferred to England. During the sea crossing, Lieutenant Francesco Angherà, who was strongly connected to Mazzinian circles, unsuccessfully incited his comrades to land in Calabria and to foment an anti-Bourbon uprising. Only at the end of the summer, the Piedmontese leaders accepted to endorse the return of the remaining soldiers: most of them set sail for Genoa, while a smaller part was recruited by the Argentinian government to build a militaryagricultural colony. This paper is based on previous publications and is enriched by several unpublished documents, both Italian and English, and coeval newspaper articles. Thanks to these sources it has been possible to highlight the revolutionary events that the legion went through and the legionaries’ difficult homecoming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents new documents on brothers Giorgio Domenico and Giuseppe Andrea Duprà, court painters in 18th century Turin. The study is the result of a thorough archival research carried out on the archives of Insinuazione di Torino and the religious archives of the city. The main focus is the Savoyard origin of the Duprà family as well as the complex network of artistic, economic and family relations of these two great painters. Finally, a new sacred work by Giuseppe Andrea Duprà ispresented, a milestone in the evolution of religious painting in Turin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper is presented on the historiography and biography of Italian unification leader Vincenzo Malenchini and his residence in Nugola, Italy. Topics discussed include background information on the Malenchini family, the residence of Malenchini during his participation in the Italian unification of the 19th century, and the political activities of Malenchini during this time.

A conference paper is presented on volunteers in the Italian unification army and the leadership of the unification forces, including leader Vincenzo Malenchini, during the 19th century in Italy. Topics discussed include the role of the Società Nazionale Italiana independence society in leading the unification effort, the participation of Malenchini in the unification, and the role of volunteers in the unification forces.

The essay aims at reappraising the role of Augusto Telluccini (1876-1930), a roman official at the Ministry of the Royal House, who became an art historian, and later Superintendent of the Piedmont historical monuments. In that position, from 1921 to 1928 he coordinated all the operations concerning two of the most relevant museum restorations and outfitting: Palazzo Madama and Stupinigi. The paper reinterprets Telluccini’s story under a practical perspective and considers him both as the main modern reviewer of Juvarra’s works and a valuable museologist: the first to understand the relevance of the Royal Residences network, which are now included in the Unesco World Heritage List. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper intends to reconstruct the climate of Turin where he lived and worked Giuseppe Levi, the particular figures which animated the subalpine universities in the fascist period, the fruitful interaction between Jewish and anti-fascist world. Particular attention will be devoted to the different reactions of the Jewish community during the confidence to fascism in 1931 oath. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Prohistoria is the property of Prohistoria Ediciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Prohistoria is the property of Prohistoria Ediciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Prohistoria is the property of Prohistoria Ediciones and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni is the property of Editrice Morcelliana S.p.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents a conference paper delivered at the convention "Gli sguardi incrociati: La Ligura vista dagli scrittori piemontesi e il Piemonte visto dagli scritori liguri," held September 11, 2010 at the Fondazione Bottari Lattes in Monforte d'Alba, on the topic of the work of Italian writer Nico Orengo and the Piedmont region of Italy.

A conference paper is presented on the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Catholic Social Movement. Topics discussed include commonalities and conflict between the Church and the Movement, the relationship between laicism and Catholicism, and the political and social activities of the Movement.

The article focuses on an aviary discovered from a royal house in Stupinigi, Italy in 17th century. Various topics discussed include architectural description of the house, paper label on the cage, rediscovery of lost birds from the cage and its preservation at the Elegant Gallery in Italy. It further discusses literary works on the aviary and its birds.

Copyright of Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni is the property of Editrice Morcelliana S.p.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni is the property of Editrice Morcelliana S.p.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores some 'neglected' books and essays by Henry James, Thomas A. Trollope, Theodosia Garrow Trollope, Enrico Nencioni, Helen Zimmern, Kate Field, Linda White Villari and Cora Fabbri -- and offers a new perspective on the complex network of human, political, cultural and artistic connections established by the Anglo-American community and the Italian one in 19th century Florence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni is the property of Editrice Morcelliana S.p.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni is the property of Editrice Morcelliana S.p.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The role of Giulio Mancini as the father of connoisseurship has been recently questioned on the grounds that Mancini never aimed to discuss the attributions of contemporary works of art. Generally the birth of modern connoisseurship, with figures such as the Richardson brothers, has been linked to the growing art market of the 18th century, and the most important 17th-century forerunners, such as Marco Boschini, acted as dealers as well: all these connoisseurs dealt with the attributions of paintings of the previous centuries. This paper explores the roots of connoisseurship in the topography work of Mancini, author of the first modern artistic guide to Rome. Mancini, studying the early Renaissance frescoes in Rome (Jacopo Ripanda, Pastura, Pinturicchio, Baldassarre Peruzzi), discussed Vasari's biographies and suggested new attributions with a modern approach that clearly anticipates the method of later connoisseurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The name of Baldovina Vestri is not known beyond the boundaries of her native city, Siena. This paper aims to give back her effective role among the 'sisters of Italy' protagonists in the history of the Risorgimento. Our proposal is also to explore the social and family context in which she developed her adhesion to the political ideals of Garibaldi. In fact he gave to her, daughter of a democratic master mason, the thrust in order to make transgressive choices, like leaving home to follow him in the Rome campaign (1867). From the Eighties, Vestri hocked her in the Public Assistance, while the social appointment in the years of the Great War definitely forged the myth of her as 'secular saint'. She became the icon of a quintessential patriotic spirit able to endure any sacrifice for the homeland. This image survived and became fixed forever under Fascism, but it hid the independence and restlessness, linked to her democratic and anticlerical trust, that qualified her early years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni is the property of Editrice Morcelliana S.p.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper intends to deal with the way history is seen and used in magical realist writings, namely as a subjective view on things happened in the past, precisely because the past can be known only by means of documents, testimonies a.s.o. of other people. Hence, memory plays an important role in telling (his) tories. In Gabriel García Márquez, Salman Rushdie and Isabel Allende's novels, the reader clearly distinguishes echoes of the historical events occurring in the respective countries, but these events are shaped by the characters' personal perspectives, which constitute alternative versions to the official History [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rivista di Storia del Cristianesimo is the property of Editrice Morcelliana S.p.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni is the property of Editrice Morcelliana S.p.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rivista di Storia del Cristianesimo is the property of Editrice Morcelliana S.p.A. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

By focusing on the (lack of) relations between anthropologists and folk groups, this paper intends to reach three objectives: to shed new light on the folk group as an object of study, i.e. to reconceptualise it radically as object (undefined as of yet) of anthropological research and challenge the boundaries into which folklore studies have secured their academic legitimation and scientific standing at the expense of folk groups, which were kept just out of the border as if they were the negative limit of the field itself; to reconsider some aspects of the scientific practice of Italian anthropologists in relation to this object of study, aspects related to their failure to critically face issues of knowledge construction and the related political dimensions; to call into question the uses of the notion of folklore that have been made by a variety of actors from the Post World War II period onwards, so as to also shed light onto the grey area of the relations among folk groups, the powers of Modernity, and the politics of everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with a number of textual and exegetical problems in books 1-8 of Nicetas Choniates' Xpovᶥκὴ δᶥήγησᶥς. The author's chief intention is to detect neglected literary sources, to define more thoroughly the exact meaning of some words and phrases, to shed light on some res Byzantinae (in matters of history, geography, Realien etc.), and to discuss some textual problems posed -- or left open -- by van Dieten's edition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]