Daphne Orlandi

Daphne Orlandi is a Research Fellow at the Department of Humanities, University of Catania, where she contributes to the PRIN 2022 project "Between Text and Performance: Race and Gender in Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (1970s–today)" under Scientific Director Stefania Arcara. Her work examines literature's role in political activism, particularly how female authors deploy texts as metaphorical weapons for social renewal.

Her academic background includes:

• PhD in American Studies (Sapienza University of Rome / Technical University of Dortmund cotutelle)
• Research fellowships at University of Bath and Technical University of Dortmund
• 2024 Visiting Fellowship at Harvard's Houghton Library

Dr. Orlandi specializes in 19th-century American literary movements, with research spanning Transcendentalism as a social force, world literature frameworks, and the transatlantic development of feminist theory. Her methodology combines close textual analysis with historical contextualization to reveal continuities between literary production and social reform.

Her 2023 publications demonstrate a cohesive scholarly trajectory analyzing how Emerson and Fuller constructed literary canons that transcended national boundaries while advancing social change. Both articles highlight her signature approach of tracing ideological lineages from 19th-century reform movements to contemporary political discourse through the lens of gender and globalism.

As part of the current PRIN project, she investigates narrative strategies in contemporary Anglophone playwrights and poets who weaponize performance texts for political renewal. Her international research experience across UK, German, and US institutions informs this cross-cultural analysis of race and gender dynamics in literary activism.