Maria Rizzarelli

Maria Rizzarelli is a Full Professor of Literary Criticism and Comparative Literature at the Department of Humanities, University of Catania. She teaches Literary Theory, Literature and Visual Culture, and Cultural Journalism. Her research focuses on intermediality, particularly the intersections of literature with photography, cinema, and journalism, as well as gender studies and digital humanities.

Education:

• PhD in Italian Studies (Lexicography and Semantics of Literary Italian), University of Catania, 2001
• Laurea in Modern Literature, University of Catania, 1998 (110/110 cum laude)
• Laurea in Philosophy, University of Catania, 1994 (110/110 cum laude)

Her research interests center on 20th-century Italian literature, with emphasis on hybrid genres and the interplay between text and image. She explores how literary works engage with visual media, particularly in the works of authors like Pasolini, Calvino, Sciascia, and Goliarda Sapienza. Her work often addresses gender, performance, and the construction of identity across media.

The most recent articles reflect a strong trend in intermedial studies, visual culture, and feminist literary criticism. Themes such as phototexts, simulacra of women, cinematic adaptation, and the 'double talent' of actress-writers recur across her publications. Her scholarship bridges literary analysis with visual theory, media studies, and cultural history.

Scientific Awards:

• Kinomata Prize 2021 for Love and War: Intermedial Paths between Literature and Cinema
• FFABR 2017 (MIUR funding for scientific productivity)
• Bando per il Progetto giovani ricercatori 2001 (University of Catania)

Maria Rizzarelli supervises PhD students, including Viviana Triscari and Ida Scebba. She has received research grants from the University of Catania and MIUR, leading projects such as Phototexts: Rhetoric, Poetics and Cognition and DIRIS: Disobedienti, ribelli, sovversive nelle letterature tra Oriente e Occidente. She is also the scientific coordinator of the PRIN 2020 project on phototexts and the Catania unit of the PRIN 2017 D.A.M.A. project on actress-writers.

She co-founded and co-directs the journal Arabeschi. International Journal of Studies on Literature and Visuality and its book series I quaderni di Arabeschi. She also leads the research group on literature and visuality and coordinates seminars for the Med Photo Fest. Her editorial roles include membership in the scientific committees of Studi Novecenteschi, Studi Pasoliniani, and Over the Rainbow.