Transmedial Resonance (Paperback)

Robert A. Rushing

ISBN 10: 1531512690 / ISBN 13: 9781531512699

Editore: Fordham University Press, New York, 2026

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Paperback. Introduces a new way of understanding influence, reception, and adaptation via the work of Italys most famous modern writer In Transmedial Resonance, Robert A. Rushing addresses the remarkable and ongoing responses to the imagination of Italo Calvino, Italys most important modern writer. Since his death in 1985, Calvinos writing has served as a constant figure of inspiration for other artists, and tellingly, that inspiration has been "more outside than inside." Although Calvinos reputation as a writer is immense, his influence has in fact been vastly larger outside of literature, including in architecture, city planning, community organizing, design, visual arts, video games, the performing arts, and much more. That influence is not only transmedial. It has also been "more outside than inside" across national boundaries, particularly in the English-speaking world. Rushing thinks about Calvinos influence through the metaphor of resonance. When something resonates, he argues, it may be "inspired" to do so, but it does so in its own voice, singing its own song. In fact, resonance offers an entirely different way of thinking about influence and artistic reception, stressing the energy of the inspiration rather than fidelity to the original. In keeping with that underlying sonic metaphor, Rushing looks at specifically acoustic responses to Calvino. They include Chris Cerrones Pulitzer-nominated "opera in headphones" based on Invisible Cities, Lisa Mezzacappas Cosmicomics jazz suite, and Ashwini Ramaswamys multimedia dance performance of Invisible Cities, which combines traditional South Indian Bharatanatyam, urban breaking, and African American modern dance. These works, Rushing shows, tell the story of a very different Calvino, one who is (in Mezzacappas words) "nerdy and neurotic," playfully perverse, and profoundly political. Bringing together sound studies with literary studies and cultural reception, Transmedial Resonance argues for a radical re-imagination of how we think about artistic and cultural influence, calling for a completely new understanding of this major figure of modern Italian and world literature. Using the metaphor of resonance, this study redefines influence by showing how Calvinos imaginative legacy inspires responses beyond literature. Exploring responses in architecture, design, visual arts and performance, it unveils a vibrant interplay energizing cultural and artistic expression across boundaries. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Codice articolo 9781531512699

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Transmedial Resonance (Paperback)
• Editore: Fordham University Press, New York
• Data di pubblicazione: 2026
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1531512690
• ISBN 13: 9781531512699
• Rilegatura: Paperback
• Condizione: new

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

Introduces a new way of understanding influence, reception, and adaptation via the work of Italy’s most famous modern writer

In Transmedial Resonance, Robert A. Rushing addresses the remarkable and ongoing responses to the imagination of Italo Calvino, Italy’s most important modern writer. Since his death in 1985, Calvino’s writing has served as a constant figure of inspiration for other artists, and tellingly, that inspiration has been “more outside than inside.” Although Calvino’s reputation as a writer is immense, his influence has in fact been vastly larger outside of literature, including in architecture, city planning, community organizing, design, visual arts, video games, the performing arts and much more. That influence is not only transmedial. It has also been “more outside than inside” across national boundaries, particularly in the English-speaking world.

Rushing thinks about Calvino’s influence through the metaphor of resonance. When something resonates, he argues, it may be “inspired” to do so, but it does so in its own voice, singing its own song. In fact, resonance offers an entirely different way of thinking about influence and artistic reception, stressing the energy of the inspiration rather than fidelity to the original. In keeping with that underlying sonic metaphor, Rushing looks at specifically acoustic responses to Calvino. They include Chris Cerrone’s Pulitzer-nominated “opera in headphones” based on Invisible Cities, Lisa Mezzacappa’s Cosmicomics jazz suite, and Ashwini Ramaswamy’s multimedia dance performance of Invisible Cities, which combines traditional South Indian Bharatanatyam, urban breaking, and African American modern dance. These works, Rushing shows, tell the story of a very different Calvino, one who is (in Mezzacappa’s words) “nerdy and neurotic,” playfully perverse, and profoundly political.

Bringing together sound studies with literary studies and cultural reception, Transmedial Resonance argues for a radical re-imagination of how we think about artistic and cultural influence, calling for a completely new understanding of this major figure of modern Italian and world literature.

Informazioni sull'autore

Robert A. Rushing is Professor of European Languages and Transcultural Studies, as well as Film, Television and Digital Media, at UCLA. He is the author of Resisting Arrest: Detective Fiction and Popular Culture and Descended from Hercules: Biopolitics and the Muscled Male Body on Screen, winner of the 2016 AAIS (American Association for Italian Studies) Film/Media book prize.