Call for Articles PSA XXXI: “Modernism across the Arts: Charting Pirandello’s World.”

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PSA XXXI (2018)

Co-editors: Lisa Sarti and Michael Subialka

In light of growing attention to the multimedia dimensions of modernist production across Europe and the globe, the next issue of PSA (the journal of the Pirandello Society of America) will be devoted to “Modernism across the Arts: Charting Pirandello’s World.” We seek contributions from scholars across disciplines to examine modernist experimenters who bridged not just genre but media, like Luigi Pirandello himself. We aim to chart how the culture of modernist multimedia experimentation developed, both in relation to Pirandello and as a broader cultural movement.

This special issue invites contributions not only from scholars of Pirandello but from all those working on the relationships of the arts in the modernist moment. We take Pirandello as a model, but we recognize the rich breadth of these forms of experimentation, both in Italy and beyond. Contributions may thus focus on Pirandello, look at Pirandello comparatively, or even look not at Pirandello but rather at the broader culture of modernist multimedia production that helps to situate Pirandello’s work and impact.

Article submissions should generally be between 5,000 and 10,000 words, following MLA formatting, and can be made via email (send a word document with separate cover sheet including personal information) to: editorpsa@gmail.com The submission deadline for this issue is December 31, 2018. Questions for the editors can be directed to the email address above. (PSA is a peer-reviewed journal, and submissions are sent to readers anonymously for expert review.)

Topics of possible inquiry include (but are not limited to):

  • The link between modernist experimentation (rupture with tradition) and the need to work across the arts
    • Pirandello as a model
    • Models for Pirandello
    • The broader culture of experimentation and multimedia rupture in its transnational dimensions
  • The ambivalence of experimentation in modernism (modernist traditionalism, etc.) and the challenges or possibilities of multimedia work
    • Pirandello himself had an ambivalent relationship to experimentation. How might his views be related to those of his contemporaries? How might his contemporaries’ views situate his?
  • Views on progress or decline in relation to the use of media and understanding of the system of the arts
  • Using media to convey key modernist tropes or to work through key modernist problems
    • Are there links between different modernist movements or figures in this regard?
  • Pirandello’s literature and theatre in relation to modernist visual and performing arts, including film
  • And any other topic that might fit with the scope of the issue’s theme…

In addition to article submissions, PSA seeks submissions that would fit into its other sections:

  • Interviews for publication in the journal’s “In Conversation” section. We are happy to accept submissions consisting of interviews with directors, actors, filmmakers, or other artists who work on Pirandello or who connect themselves to Pirandellian themes.
  • New translations of Pirandello’s work.
  • Original creative work inspired by or relating to Pirandello.
  • Finally, the journal also publishes book and performance reviews relating to Pirandello

We are happy to accept submissions for these on a rolling basis. These submissions can likewise be made via email (as a word document) to: editorpsa@gmail.com

PSA