University of Bergamo
Full Professor
10/ANGL-01 – English and Anglo-American Studies
Department of Languages, Literatures and Foreign Cultures
University of Bergamo
My main research field include U.S. modernist fiction, literary theory, and literary and cinematic representations of queer subjectivity. In recent years, I have examined the relationship between social media and contemporary debates on canonicity in the humanities.
In this project I investigate discourses of well-being in late nineteenth-century American culture, with particular attention to the growing emphasis on bodily health. This trend was closely tied to post-revolutionary political ideologies that sought to define national strength and identity in opposition to Britain, the former colonial power. Physical vigor emerged as a central concern across newspapers, fiction, and advice literature. Especially significant to this study is the work of Catherine Beecher, whose conduct books played a crucial role at the intersection of American discourses on well-being, fitness, and leisure and in the development of women’s sports.