Imprisonment has traditionally been a contested topic and, in the Italian context, the field of Captivity Studies has recently emerged in response to the need of questioning the impact of a variety of forms of imprisonment on the national memory and identity in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Thus, the Italian case is an extremely fruitful testbed to evaluate to what extent the transformations undergone throughout the last century by culturally relevant forms of imprisonment shaped public discourse and were represented in trans-medial context. Bringing together scholars engaged with the theme of captivity across different research areas in the Humanities and the Social Sciences, this conference aims to be a forum for discussing how trans-medial fictional and non-fictional representations of captivity (including e.g. fascist political confinement, WWII internment, political abductions, ransom kidnappings, penitentiaries, asylums and refugee camps), shaped – and shape – public
opinion and the legislator, thus helping redefine the genre of testimony within the Italian criminological, literary and philosophical traditions.
This two-day symposium was organized under the aegis and with the support of the Humanities Center (University of Rochester), the Humanities Department (Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester) and the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies (York University).
The event will be open to the public and free of charge, although we anticipate that attendees will have to request access credentials by contacting the organizers at captivityandsocialjustice@gmail.com.
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