Matteo Brera (University of Padova / Seton Hall University) will present his paper, “Primo Bartolini’s Poetic Landscapes and the Making of Diasporic Freedom in the U.S. South,” as part of the panel Text, Space, and Memory: Italian Transnational Practices Across the Global and U.S. Souths at the 2026 Society for the Study of Southern Literature (SSSL) conference, held at Fisk University in Nashville, TN.
The panel will take place on Monday, March 30, 2026, from 8:45 AM to 10:05 AM in Franklin Library 1 and is chaired by Andrew Maginn (Middle Tennessee State University). It brings together scholars studying Italian transnational experiences to explore how literary and cultural practices engage with questions of space, memory, and identity across the U.S. South and the Global South.
Dr. Brera’s contribution centers on Primo Bartolini’s poetic work, exploring how literary landscapes express forms of diasporic freedom within the historical and cultural setting of the American South. His paper examines how spatial imaginaries and poetic expression relate to migration, displacement, and belonging, offering a nuanced interpretation of Italian diasporic presence in Southern literary traditions.
By placing Bartolini’s work within broader transnational frameworks, the presentation emphasizes how literature shapes alternative geographies of identity and memory. It contributes to ongoing scholarly discussions of diaspora, mobility, and the reconfiguration of cultural space, highlighting the significance of Italian voices in the study of Southern literature and in global interconnectedness.
This panel highlights the importance of interdisciplinary methods in literary studies, combining insights from Italian Studies, Southern Studies, and transnational humanities to explore how texts reflect cultural and historical experiences across borders.
To see the full conference schedule, visit https://southernlit.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/SSSL-2026-Conference-Schedule-as-of-Mar-13-2026v2.pdf
