|
The subject of the Fourth International Conference on
Jewish Italian Literature (ICOJIL) will be the various
diasporas in the East and the West starting from an Italian
perspective. The way in which the Jew of the galut has been
received differs, in fact, greatly from one country to
another, ranking from being merely tolerated in a few
economic activities but having to suffer from all kinds of
discrimination (the case of most Catholic countries) to the
warm but not disinterested welcome Jews enjoyed in the
Ottoman Empire and the United Provinces. The effect upon the
various communities has been highly different as well, from
isolating themselves, to actively assimilating by applying
the principle dina de malkuta dina (“the country’s
laws are our laws”), which could lead to conversion to the
local (mostly Christian) religion (Mahler, Svevo).
Various aspects of the relationship with the receiving
culture merit analysis in an international conference, that
will have Istanbul, maybe the most international metropolis
of the Modern Age and justly considered as the crossroad of
East and West, as its base. As such, the conference
coincides with the wide range of manifestations in the
context of “Istanbul 2010 - European Cultural Capital”. Even
if a broad range of historical contributions might be
expected, ICOJIL 4 will be focused mainly on an analysis of
written texts in order to (re)construct a cultural memory of
(Italian)Jewish migration. Proposals for papers that deal
with other minorities within the Ottoman Empire will also be
considered, for the purpose of comparison of different
situations and types of interaction.
|
|
