A conference dedicated to Comics studies at the University of Bologna

The ‘Umberto Eco’ International Centre for Humanities has organised a meeting titled “Tra visibile e leggibile. Dal fumetto alla graphic novel." The meeting is dedicated to Umberto Eco, a passionate reader and collector, known for his insatiable love of comics.

The first session is scheduled for Thursday 21 March, at 9.30 a.m., in the Sala Rossa of the ‘Umberto Eco’ International Centre for Humanities (Via Marsala, 26 - Bologna). The session will be coordinated by Professor Isabella Pezzini and Professor Patrizia Violi, in the first part, and then by Professor Claudio Paolucci. It will also feature a discussion on Jean Marie Floch's book “Tintin in Tibet,” recently translated into Italian.

On Friday 22 March, in the Sala Rossa, at 9.30 a.m., the meeting will be coordinated by Professor Anna Maria Lorusso. Among the scheduled discussions, there will also be a moment dedicated to the Enrico Gregotti fund, entrusted by the collector to Umberto Eco and housed at the Bologna University Library - BUB.

The last session of the conference will be held in the Aula Magna of the BUB, on 22 March, at 4 p.m., and it will feature a dialogue between the comic artists Milo Manara and Igort, coordinated by semiologist Daniele Barbieri.

During these two days the topic will be addressed from different perspectives: namely a revisitation of Eco's studies on the subject and its developments; the relation between the visible and the readable, particularly present in comic books, fundamental to contemporary creativity; the evolution of genres in the graphic novel, including Milo Manara recent adaptation of The Name of the Rose.

In 1964, in "Apocalittici e integrati. Comunicazioni di massa e teorie della cultura di massa," Umberto Eco had already written three successful essays, on Steve Canyon, Superman and Charlie Brown. These essays elevated comics to texts worthy of "serious" study and inaugurated a field of research that has continued to develop in various disciplines, within the context of the current debates on mass culture.

The events are accessible both in presence and online. Reservation is only required for the event on 22 March, at 4 p.m.