Enrica Leydi
PhD Italian Studies [she/her]
Email: enrica dot leydi at warwick dot ac dot uk
Academia: Enrica Leydi
About
I am a PhD student in Italian Studies at the University of Warwick, funded by Chancellor’s International Scholarship, under the supervision of Prof. Fabio CamillettiLink opens in a new window.
Research
My doctoral project examines how Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837) addresses the visual epistemology of the Revolving Century (1750–1850) – particularly in relation to anatomy, landscape, and cartography – within a network of texts that culminates in the Operette morali (1827). I argue that he does this by deconstructing these paradigms philosophically and recollecting them poetically, thereby placing them in a field of tension that distorts them as anamorphoses.In addition to Leopardi, my other research interests include Dante’s influence and the multiple meanings of the trope/genre of 'dialogue with the dead' in early nineteenth-century literature. I am also interested in the reception of material culture, particularly puppet theatre, in Carlo Collodi’s Le avventure di Pinocchio (1881–1883).
Peer-reviewed Articles
- L'età delle macchine: automi e simulacri anatomici in Leopardi, in 'Technique, animalité et post-humanisme chez Giacomo Leopardi', Cahiers d’études italiennes, 2025, 40.
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'Sotto il coltello anatomico:' Anatomical Imagery in Leopardi's Zibaldone, in 'Notes in Italian Studies', 2024, 3, pp. 9-18.
Edited Books and Special Issues
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with Fabio Camilletti and Gennaro Ambrosino, Speaking with the Dead. Tradition and Haunting in Italy’s Revolving Century (1750-1850), 'The Italianist', status: in progress.
Selected Conference Papers
- Antonio Serantoni: Life and Adventures of a Wax Modeller with his creations, at 'Ceroplastics. International Congress on Wax Modelling', Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 2025.
- Resurrecting Dante in Vincenzo Monti's 'I Poeti dei Primi Secoli della Lingua Italiana', at 'Dante Futures', Univeristy of Cambridge, 2024.
- "Quella lingua morta a cui non è più speranza di resurrezione". Monti, 'I poeti dei primi secoli della lingua italiana' (1824), and the "Vocabolario dei Morti", at 'Speaking with the dead. Italy and the Legacy of the Past in the Revolving Century (1750-1850)', University of Warwick, 2024.
- Comics and Classics: Giacomo Leopardi between literature and pop culture, Internation 19th-Century Studies Association, Durham University, 2024.
- Pinocchio, ovvero la commedia degli orrori, at 'SIS Biennal Conference', Royal Holloway University of London, 2024
- I fratelli di legno di Pinocchio. Per uno studio del teatro di figura dell’Italia post-unitaria, at
Pinocchio "burattino" globale, Collodi, 2024
- Dante 'con due pennellatte’ in the 1818 reflections of Foscolo and Leopardi, at 'Dante Futures', University of Leeds, 2024.
- Paesaggi dell’Antropocene nelle Operette Morali di Giacomo Leopardi, at ‘Geographies of the Present: Places and Spaces of the Anthropocene in Italy’, University College Cork, 2023.
- Leopardi’s volcanic landscape: The Broom”, at 'ASLE-UK biannual conference, Northumbria University, 2022.
- Dante appeso a un filo. Un adattamento per marionette della "Divina Commedia", at 'Congresso Dantesco Internazionale', Università di Bologna, 2021.
Book reviews
- Review of Elisa Segnini, Fragments, Genius and Madness: Masks and Mask-Making in the fin-de-siècle Imagination, in 'Italian Bookshelf', Annali d'Italianistica, 42, 2024, 701-704.
- Review of Fulvio Conti, The Ultimate Italian. Dante and a Nation’s Identity, in Italian Studies, 2023, 78:4, 534-535.
- Review of Serenella Iovino, Italo Calvino’s Animals. Anthropocene Stories (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2021), in Incontri. Rivista europea di studi italiani, 2022, 37:1, 3pp.
Organised conferences and events
- Co-organiser, 'Corpo a corpo. Prospettive transtoriche e transmediali sulla corporeità nella cultura italiana', AIPI Summer School, Warwick Venice Centre, 16-19 September 2025.
- Co-organiser, Leopardi day 2025, University of Warwick, 26 June 2025.
- Co-organiser, 'Irresistible Decay: Discourses of Death in Life from the 18th Century to Today', Humanities Research Centre, University of Warwick, 7 March 2025.
- Co-organiser, Speaking with the Dead: Italy and the Legacy of the Past in the Revolving Century (1750-1850), University of Warwick, 26-27 September 2024.
Scholarships and Awards
- AIPI Summer School Grant, 2025.
- HRC Doctoral Fellowship, 2024-2025.
- Chancellor’s International Scholarship, University of Warwick, 2023.
- Erasmus+ Scholarship, Durham University, 2021.
- Merit Scholarship for a summer school, University of Exeter, 2019.
Memberships and Professional Organisations
- The Revolving Century. Transdisciplinary Network for the Study of Cultures in the Age of Revolutions (1751–1849) – Co-founder.
- Ottocentismi. Interdisciplinary Network for Nineteenth-Century Italian Studies (INNIS) – Member, Postgraduate Section.
- Society for Italian Studies (SIS) – Member.
- Associazione dei Professori di Italiano (AIPI) – Member.
- Associazione degli Italianisti (AdI) – Member.
Qualifications
MA in Italian Studies, Università di Bologna "Alma Mater Studiorum", 2023.
BA in Humanities, Università di Bologna "Alma Mater Studiorum", 2020.
Teaching:
IT101 LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT (2025/2026): T2 W 1, 2, 3, 9, 10.
IT101 Italian for Beginners (Undergraduate) (University of Warwick, 2024/2025)
Listen to the episode (in Italian) I wrote for Ottocentismi. Il Podcast.
"Storia ed avventure di più di un burattino. Pinocchio e il teatro di figura"
