Concettina Rizzo

Concettina Rizzo is a Full Professor of French Literature at the Department of Humanities, University of Catania. She is actively engaged in research, teaching, and international academic leadership, with a focus on 19th-century comparative literature, art criticism, literary translation, and intercultural dynamics in Francophone regions. She coordinates the Double Degree program with UPEC Paris and leads the EUNICE Mediterranean module, reflecting her strong commitment to European academic integration.

Research Interests: Her work centers on the semiotic interplay between literature and the arts, particularly in 19th-century France. She investigates art dictionaries, auction catalogues, aesthetic perception, and theatrical translation. She also explores intercultural relations in North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East, with a focus on migration, identity, and plurilingualism.

Her recent publications reflect a consistent engagement with contemporary Francophone literature, gender studies, trauma narratives, and translation theory. The articles show a strong trend toward interdisciplinarity, combining literary analysis with cultural studies, philosophy, and postcolonial theory, particularly in the context of Mediterranean and Maghrebi cultures.

• Member, Structures Committee, International Comparative Literature Association (AILC/ICLA), 2016–2019

Advising and Grants: She has supervised numerous PhD theses in comparative literature and Francophone studies, often in cotutelle with French universities. She has led national (PRIN) and international (ERASMUS+, Comenius) research projects, including the Dire-Med project on intercultural dialogue in the Mediterranean. She is the scientific coordinator of the AUF (Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie) for the University of Catania and participates in editorial boards of journals such as Studi comparatistici and Comparatistica.

Labs and Teams: She founded and led the cultural association 'Il Verso Presente' and coordinates the 'Tradurre per la Scena' workshop in collaboration with the French Embassy. She is a member of international research networks such as Polyphonie, La.Li.Tra Casablanca, and EUNICE, promoting transnational academic collaboration in the humanities.