Opera aperta: Italian electronic literature from the 1960s to the present

Research output: Book/ReportBook

Abstract

In 1962, Umberto Eco published Opera aperta, setting the ground for a new wave of creative experimentation across the arts and media. The concept of «open work» – informed by systems theory, cybernetics, relativism, pragmatism and other influential disciplines of the time – was used by Eco to reconsider the work of art as a site for interactivity, collaboration and intermediality. Starting from this perspective, this book reconstructs the history of Italian electronic literature, looking at creative practices across literature, electronic and digital media from the early days of computers to the social media age. It examines how Italian writers, poets, literary critics and intellectuals have responded to each phase of the digital revolution, by enacting «poetics of openness» and «politics of intermediality». Case studies include Nanni Balestrini, Gianni Toti, Italo Calvino, Caterina Davinio, Wu Ming, Michela Murgia, Francesco Pecoraro, Roberto Saviano, Tommaso Pincio, Fabio Viola, Fabrizio Venerandi and Enrico Colombini. In some cases, literary experimentation with new technologies has taken a clear polemical stance towards mass media, globalisation, information society and late capitalism, in order to challenge and/or reconfigure artistic or social ontologies. In others, digital technologies have been used to enhance and extend the parameters and «languages» of literature.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationOxford
PublisherPeter Lang Publishing
Number of pages308
ISBN (Electronic)9781789978605, 9781789978612, 9781789978629
ISBN (Print)9781789978599
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27 Apr 2022

Publication series

NameItalian Modernities
PublisherPeter Lang
Volume39

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • electronic literature
  • Italian Neoavanguardia
  • digital culture
  • experimental literature

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