Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper aims to examine the problem of imitation in Luigi Pirandello’s critical and theoretical works (from his first articles, published in the late XIXth century, to the volumes Arte e scienza and L’umorismo, 1908), in order to analyse the role plaid by the author in the wider context of Modernism. On the one hand, it will be illustrated the importance of mimesis for Pirandello’s opinion on contemporary literature, especially with regard to Naturalism and Neoidealism.

In the last years, many academic publications on the interaction of medical and philosophical issues in Galen’s
writings appeared, along with some investigations on his rhetorical strategies. Nonetheless, a comprehensive study on the role that rhetoric played in Galen’s education, medical practice, and literary production was still missing.The book by Caroline Petit, which analyses important aspects of Galens’ rhetorical abilities, aims at filling this gap.

In the prefaces to the individual books of the Silvae, Statius asks to be forgiven for the boldness of his compositions, which he claims to have been written in one go and very quickly. A comparison between these claims and rhetorical teaching, especially that of Quintilian, makes clear that the shortcomings for which Statius apologises should be identified with the arrangement of the topics rather than with the metrical and stylistic features of his verses.

The contribution aims, in its first part, at framing the populist phenomenon from the point of view of historical and political evolution of two interrelated processes: the praise of the direct representation of the popular will and the criticism and delegitimization of the elite. These processes find a sudden acceleration at the time of disintermediation, which clearly demonstrates its dual nature as an object of study between politics and communication.