When: January 11, 2022
Speaker: Gabrielle Orsi
Topic: History and Story: Elsa Morante, Rome, La Storia and the Shoah
Location: Online
About the Presentation:
Elsa Morante (1912-1985), Roman author and poet, drew upon her own life, including her experience as a Jewish refugee in World War II, to write her bestselling 1974 novel La Storia. Dr. Orsi will provide the historical context to Elsa Morante’s novel– the multiple centuries of Jewish life on the Italian peninsula, Morante’s own life, and the questions surrounding the novel and its portrayal of the Holocaust which persist to this day. Elsa Morante– hailed by her husband Alberto Moravia as a genius and the better writer of the two, and viewed by many Italian writers, including Elena Ferrante, as a major 20th century figure and lasting inspiration– remains little known to English-speaking audiences (though that may change with the 2023 translation of her first novel and masterpiece, Menzogna e sortilegio by Jenny McPhee as Lies and Sorcery.)
About the Presenter:
A native of San Diego, California, Gabrielle Orsi earned her PhD in Italian at Columbia University in 2008, focusing on modern Italian literature and Holocaust Studies. She has taught at University of Denver, University of Kentucky, Lexington, City University of New York, Queens College Department of European Languages & Literatures, Barnard College, Columbia University, Colorado Mountain College, and Bellevue College in WA, and held fellowships at the American Academy in Rome, Northwestern University, the Getty Institute of Los Angeles, and the Institute of Modern Languages Research at University of London. She has published a number of academic articles and book chapters on Italian literature and Italian Jewish history as well as contributing original research on Italian female authors to the University of Chicago’s Italian Women Writers Database. She currently works for the University of Washington’s School of Medicine and resides in Oregon.
Advanced registration will be required. A link to the registration form will be sent to the Dante Alighieri Society mailing list.
There will be a “social hour” beginning at 7 pm. The presentation will start at 7:30.
DANTE ALIGHIERI SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON
2023-2024 Season
Live Meeting COVID Guidelines
Even as COVID variants continue to plague the population, we have returned to offering live meetings for Dante this season. We’ve all been longing for a return to shared meals, and since this is foundational to Dante activities, we want to make it possible. Following the guidelines and regulations now in place by many workplaces, public venues and community groups, the Dante Board of Directors has agreed to the guidelines listed below as an acceptable plan to keep us as safe as possible when meeting in person.
1) Please do not attend if you have been exposed to COVID, or are experiencing any symptoms of illness. We will make best efforts to record the presentations so that those who cannot attend in person can enjoy them afterwards. There will also be a few meetings presented on ZOOM instead of live this season, for all to enjoy.
2) Masks are encouraged. Although no longer required, we encourage attendees to wear masks when not eating or drinking.
Thank you again for your understanding and observance of these guidelines. Let’s work together to control COVID!!!