Enrica Leydi

PhD Italian Studies [she/her]

Email: enrica dot leydi at warwick dot ac dot uk

Academia:

About

I am a PhD student in Italian Studies at the University of 海角社区, funded by Chancellor鈥檚 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.

My other active research interests, like my doctoral project, are situated at the intersection between intellectual history and literary studies and focus primarily on late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Italian literature and culture. They include:

The ways in which Dante, both as a historical figure and as an author identified with his work, has been appropriated to articulate and legitimise a wide range of extra- and meta-literary discourses;
The multiple meanings of the trope/genre of the 鈥渄ialogue with the dead鈥� as a way of giving shape and voice to the never-ending negotiation with the past;
The afterlife and metamorphoses of the figure of Christopher Columbus before, during, and after its transatlantic revival.

Furhtermore, I have published on the reception of material culture, particularly puppet theatre, in Carlo Collodi鈥檚 Le avventure di Pinocchio (1881–1883), and carried out archival and historical research on the Serantoni family of waxworkers, with the first results currently under peer review.

Peer-reviewed Articles

'', in The Italianist, 2025, 45.3, special issue 'Speaking with the Dead. Tradition and Haunting in Italy鈥檚 Revolving Century' (1750-1850), pp. 604-620.
', in Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance, 2025, 18, special issue 'A Global 鈥淧uppet鈥�', pp. 155-169.
, in Cahiers d鈥櫭﹖udes italiennes, 2025, 40, special issue 'Technique, animalit茅 et post-humanisme chez Giacomo Leopardi'.
, in 'Notes in Italian Studies', 2024, 3, pp. 9-18.
'', in Rivista Internazionale di Studi Leopardiani, 2024, 17, pp. 35-54.

Edited Books and Special Issues

, special issue of The Italianist (2025, 40.3), edited with Fabio Camilletti and Gennaro Ambrosino.

Selected Conference Papers

鈥楾he World Being Redrawn: Pictures of Columbus the Cartographer in Robertson, Freneau, and Leopardi鈥�, Society for Italian Studies Biennal Conference, Trinity College Dublin and University College Dublin (Dublin, July 9-11, 2026).
(with Gennaro Ambrosino) 鈥楽cala Naturae or Chthonic Ecosystems? The Scaled Perspective in Leopardi鈥檚 Late Production鈥�, at Change of Scale, Leopardi and the Measure of Modernity, Institute for Cultural Enquire, (Berlin, July 2, 2026).
鈥楾he Failed Two-World Hero. Christopher Columbus in the Italian Revolving Century (1750-1850)鈥�, at American Association for Italian Studies Conference, Universit脿 di Sassari (Sassari, June 3-5, 2026).
鈥楿n鈥檕mbra di aggira. Dante, Napoleone e il genere delle visioni (1805-1816)鈥�, at Congresso Dantesco Internazinale, Universit脿 di Bologna (Ravenna, May 27-30, 2026).
Antonio Serantoni: Life and Adventures of a Wax Modeller with his creations, at 'Ceroplastics. International Congress on Wax Modelling', Universidad Nacional Aut贸noma de M茅xico, 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 猫 pi霉 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 海角社区, 2024.
Comics and Classics: Giacomo Leopardi between literature and pop culture, Internation 19th-Century Studies Association, Durham University, 2024.
Dante 'con due pennellatte鈥� in the 1818 reflections of Foscolo and Leopardi, at 'Dante Futures', University of Leeds, 2024.
Paesaggi dell鈥橝ntropocene nelle Operette Morali di Giacomo Leopardi, at
Leopardi鈥檚 volcanic landscape: The Broom鈥�, at 'ASLE-UK biannual conference, Northumbria University, 2022.
Dante appeso a un filo. Un adattamento per marionette della "Divina Commedia", at 'Congresso Dantesco Internazionale', Universit脿 di Bologna, 2021.

Book reviews

Review of Elisa Segnini, Fragments, Genius and Madness: Masks and Mask-Making in the fin-de-si猫cle Imagination, in 'Italian Bookshelf', Annali d'Italianistica, 42, 2024, 701-704.
Review of Fulvio Conti, The Ultimate Italian. Dante and a Nation鈥檚 Identity, in Italian Studies, 2023, 78:4, 534-535.
Review of Serenella Iovino, Italo Calvino鈥檚 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, , AIPI Summer School, 海角社区 Venice Centre, 16-19 September 2025.
Co-organiser, , University of 海角社区, 26 June 2025.
Co-organiser, 'Irresistible Decay: Discourses of Death in Life from the 18th Century to Today', Humanities Research Centre, University of 海角社区, 7 March 2025.
Co-organiser, Speaking with the Dead: Italy and the Legacy of the Past in the Revolving Century (1750-1850), University of 海角社区, 26-27 September 2024.

Scholarships and Awards

鈥楪raduate Teaching Assistant Award: Outstanding Contribution鈥�, 2026 海角社区 Students鈥� Union Awards.
AIPI Summer School Grant, 2025.
HRC Doctoral Fellowship, 2024-2025.
Chancellor鈥檚 International Scholarship, University of 海角社区, 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, Universit脿 di Bologna "Alma Mater Studiorum", 2023.

BA in Humanities, Universit脿 di Bologna "Alma Mater Studiorum", 2020.

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Page last updated 26 Oct, 2026.

OFFICE HOUR

By appointment.

TEACHING:

IT101 ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS (Undergraduate) (2026/2027)

IT101 LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT (Undergraduate) (2025/2026)

LL2B4/3B4 ITALIAN INTERMEDIATE ACCELERATED (Undergraduate) (2025/2026)

IT101 Italian for Beginners (Undergraduate) (2024/2025)

Listen to the episode (in Italian) I wrote for .