In the increasingly multicultural fabric of Italian and European society, we believe that more than ever the study of literature should not be limited to aesthetic concerns and formal aspects, but it must be enriched by a growing interest in its socio-political dimension. The idea underlying our research project is that human sciences—literary and cultural studies in particular—should contribute to the promotion of “transformative innovations” and provide “cultural support to […] the construction of a responsible, inclusive and sustainable society” (see the Italian PNR – National Research Programme, 2021-2027: 2, 72). By focusing on texts and performance in Anglophone literatures and cultures, our research project sets out to scrutinize issues of representation, inclusion and diversity that have become crucial to a greater extent in contemporary Western societies.

 

Through an interdisciplinary approach, updating and adapting the theoretical tools of Performance, Cultural, Postcolonial, and Gender Studies, our research will gather, analyze, and discuss an array of transnational and trans-medial texts, notably poems, drama, and song lyrics. As we believe in the powerful socio-political relevance of literary and cultural studies, we have chosen to concentrate on the cultural production of the last fifty years, which especially reverberates in the context of today’s youth culture. This relatively tight periodization finds as a counterpart a vastly transnational framework, as the texts and authors involved come from a rich variety of geographical areas—USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Italy, South Africa, South Asia—which broadens the research field to a nearly global scale.

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