{"id":275,"date":"2019-10-16T12:08:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T11:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/?p=275"},"modified":"2019-10-16T12:09:57","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T11:09:57","slug":"back-to-studying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to… studying!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
[scorri per leggere in italiano]<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
The Term has just started and I\u2019ve decided I will not be teaching for my first year of Marie Curie; I feel I just need to learn. I need to pause from the frenzied pace dictated by academia, where there’s no time left for ‘real’ study, and I want this Grant to be the opportunity to go back to being a student, in the best way. When I was at university, I used to be excited at the idea that, one day, I would have known all the things that the professor in front of me knew, or I was moved by a text which, in being explained to me, unfolded all its meanings. I remember the thrill of understanding things because I had built layers of knowledge that allowed me to make the right connections, to connect the dots and get the complete image. \u2018Only connect\u2019 says Forster in the subtitle of <\/span>Howards End<\/span>. I would have liked to utter these two words when <\/span>Madeleine Davies<\/span><\/a> asked us, during her seminar on <\/span>Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury<\/strong>, what Modernism was. I would have liked to answer \u2018Modernism is tolerating the obscure and only connect\u2019, but I want to be a silent auditor, so I didn\u2019t say anything. I said that to myself, though, I gave that answer to me, and it is such a useful and important exercise to find this kind of answers. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Woolf seminar started yesterday, then, and I was really looking forward to it, and I enjoyed my three hours observing and listening, not only to Maddie Davies telling us about Virginia with that passion I know so well, because it is the same I feel every time, but also observing and listening to the young women (and the young man) in the room. One thing struck me: when Maddie asked what we thought when we heard the name \u2018Virginia Woolf\u2019, the first answer was \u2018Feminist\u2019, the second \u2018Modernist\u2019. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Dr Davies added that Woolf is often associated to suicide, but not this time; the girls did not speak about her life but about what she did, about what she left behind. \u2018Feminist\u2019, this is what girls think today when they think of Woolf. We started reading <\/span>The Voyage Out<\/span>, that they\u2019ve all read, together with a good part of the other texts for the module: <\/span>Jacob\u2019s Room<\/span>, <\/span>Mrs Dalloway, A Room of One\u2019s Own, Three Guineas<\/span>, plus a series of essays (I could not help thinking that in Italy it would be difficult to give all those novels to read, nowadays\u2026 too many pages for the CFU. And how can you connect, if you only read one text?)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Today I attended the first class of the module <\/span>Materiality and Textuality<\/strong>, co-taught by <\/span>Mark Nixon<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Nicola Wilson<\/span><\/a>. Mark Nixon presented the seminar and introduced the archive and some <\/span>Beckett\u2019s<\/span> manuscripts to us. He gave us different types of \u2018documents\u2019: a book, a letter, a proof, a first version of <\/span>Not I<\/span><\/a>, diary pages, a scrapbook. We were divided in small groups and he gave to each a document and asked us to understand: 1- what it was; 2- what information we could get from it; 3- who might be interested in that information. F. \u2013 the young Italian student sitting next to me \u2013 and I got a book by H\u00f6lderlin that Beckett received as a Christmas present in 1936 \u2013 we understood that because on the frontispiece he had written \u2018SB 24-12-1936\u2019. When I read that annotation I got so exited, I looked at F. and I asked him \u2018do you know what this is?\u2019, and he realised the it was Beckett\u2019s writing, that Samuel had written on that book himself, and he smiled back. After so many years in the archive I might have got bored during this first introductory class but, on the contrary, it was electrifying, exciting, and I wandered how I have been able to do all the thing I did without receiving a \u2018proper education\u2019. Everything I wrote, everything I thought, I did it all by myself, groping my way through research, without a method, without a theory. I built my own method and my own theory and today, in listening to Mark, I realised how much labour I could have spared myself had I attended this seminar 10 or 15 years ago. But it doesn\u2019t matter: now I\u2019m here. I mapped my ground step by step, and even though I’m probably still missing the overall view \u2013 which I will acquire here, hopefully \u2013 I feel I have the experience of a mountaineer that reached the top just because she put one foot in front of the other and not because she had the right gear. What this Marie Curie is giving me is the right equipment, or better, I am discovering what the right equipment is, and how much more comfortable – and safe – it is to climb with boots instead of sneakers. And I plan to take full advantage of my brand-new gear!<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
\n

Ritorno… allo studio!<\/span><\/h1>\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Questa settimana sono iniziate le lezioni e io, per questo primo anno, ho deciso di non insegnare, voglio imparare e basta. Sento davvero il bisogno di prendere una pausa dal ritmo frenetico che l\u2019accademia impone e che non lascia pi\u00f9 tempo per lo studio vero, e voglio che questo Grant sia l\u2019opportunit\u00e0 per tornare studente nel senso pi\u00f9 bello del termine. Quando frequentavo l\u2019universit\u00e0, durante alcune lezioni mi emozionavo al pensiero che un giorno avrei saputo tante cose quante ne sapeva la persona davanti a me, oppure mi emozionavo leggendo un testo e sentendomi raccontare tutto quello che io, a una prima lettura, non avrei mai capito. Ricordo l\u2019emozione di capire le cose perch\u00e9 mi ero formata uno strato di conoscenze che mi permettevano di fare tutti i giusti collegamenti, di unire i puntini e formare l\u2019immagine. \u2018Only connect\u2019, dice Forster nel sottotitolo del suo <\/span>Casa Howard<\/span>, \u2018solo connettere\u2019. Avrei voluto dire queste due parole quando <\/span>Madelaine Davies<\/span><\/a> ci ha domandato, durante il suo seminario su <\/span>Virginia Woolf e Bloomsbury<\/span>, cosa fosse il Modernismo. Avrei voluto rispondere \u2018Modernism is tolerating the obscure and only connect\u2019, ma voglio essere un\u2019ospite silenziosa e quindi non l\u2019ho fatto. Per\u00f2 l\u2019ho detto a me stessa, mi sono data io la risposta, ed \u00e8 un esercizio utile e importantissimo questo di trovare le risposte. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Ieri dunque \u00e8 iniziato il seminario su Woolf e Bloomsbury, che ovviamente attendevo con ansia, e mi sono goduta quelle tre ore osservando e ascoltando, non solo Maddie Davies che raccontava Virginia con quella passione che conosco cos\u00ec bene perch\u00e9 \u00e8 la stessa che provo io ogni volta, ma osservando e ascoltando le ragazze (e il ragazzo) presenti nella stanza. Una cosa mi ha colpita molto: quando Maddie ha chiesto a che cosa pensiamo quando sentiamo il nome Virginia Woolf la prima risposta \u00e8 stata \u2018Femminista\u2019, la seconda \u2018Modernista\u2019. La Davies ha aggiunto che spesso \u00e8 associata al concetto di suicidio, ma questa volta no, le ragazze non hanno parlato della sua vita ma di quello che ha fatto, che ha lasciato. \u2018Feminist\u2019, questo pensano le ragazze oggi quando pensano a Woolf. Abbiamo iniziato ad affrontare la lettura di <\/span>La crociera<\/span>, che tutte avevano gi\u00e0 letto, e molte avevano gi\u00e0 affrontato gran parte dei testi in programma oltre a <\/span>La crociera<\/span>: <\/span>La stanza di Jacob<\/span>, <\/span>La Signora Dalloway, Una stanza tutta per s\u00e9, Tre ghinee<\/span> pi\u00f9 una serie di saggi (non ho potuto fare a meno di pensare che in Italia ormai sarebbe difficile dare tutti questi testi da leggere\u2026 troppe pagine rispetto ai CFU. E come si fa, poi, a connettere, se si legge solo un testo?)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Oggi invece c\u2019\u00e8 stata la prima lezione del seminario <\/span>Materiality and Textuality<\/span>, che sar\u00e0 tenuto da <\/span>Mark Nixon<\/span><\/a> e <\/span>Nicola Wilson<\/span><\/a>. Oggi Mark ha introdotto il seminario e ci ha introdotto alla consultazione dell\u2019archivio e a un po\u2019 di manoscritti di <\/span>Beckett<\/span>. Ci ha messo in mano diversi tipi di \u2018documenti\u2019: un libro, una lettera, una bozza, una prima versione di <\/span>Not I<\/span><\/a>, pagine di diario, un taccuino degli appunti. Ci ha divisi in gruppi da due affidando a ogni coppia un documento e chiedendoci di capire 1- cosa fosse, 2- che tipo di informazioni potevamo ricavarne, 3- a chi potevano interessare quelle informazioni. A me e a F., il giovane studente accanto a me, \u00e8 capitato un libro di H\u00f6lderlin che Beckett aveva ricevuto come regalo di Natale nel 1936 \u2013 lo abbiamo capito perch\u00e9 sul frontespizio, a matita, c\u2019era scritto \u2018SB 24-12-1936\u2019. Quando ho visto quell\u2019annotazione mi sono salite le lacrime agli occhi, ho guardato F. e gli ho detto \u2018hai visto cos\u2019\u00e8 questo?\u2019 e lui ha realizzato che era la scrittura di Beckett, che era Samuel ad aver scritto a matita in quel libro, e ha sorriso anche lui. Dopo tanti anni di ricerca in archivio avrei potuto annoiarmi in questa prima lezione introduttiva, invece \u00e8 stata entusiasmante, eccitante, e mi sono domandata come abbia fatto a fare tutto quello che ho fatto senza ricevere mai una \u2018istruzione adeguata\u2019. Quello che ho scritto, che ho pensato, l\u2019ho fatto tutto alla cieca, tastando il terreno passo per passo, senza un metodo, senza una teoria. Mi sono costruita il mio metodo e la mia teoria da sola e oggi, ascoltando Mark, ho pensato a quanta fatica mi sarei risparmiata se avessi frequentato questo corso 10 o 15 anni fa. Ma non importa, ora sono qui, ho mappato il terreno un passo dopo l\u2019altro e anche se forse mi manca la visione d\u2019insieme, che acquisir\u00f2 qui, sento di avere le conoscenze di una montanara che ha raggiunto la vetta solo perch\u00e9 ha messo un piede davanti all\u2019altro e non perch\u00e9 aveva l\u2019attrezzatura giusta. Quello che sta facendo questa Marie Curie \u00e8 darmi l\u2019attrezzatura giusta, anzi farmi scoprire che esiste una attrezzatura, che \u00e8 pi\u00f9 comodo salire con gli scarponi che con le scarpe da ginnastica. E ho intenzione di sfruttare al massimo il mio nuovo equipaggiamento. <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[scorri per leggere in italiano] The Term has just started and I\u2019ve decided I will not be teaching for my first year of Marie Curie; I feel I just need…Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":276,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"__cvm_playback_settings":[],"__cvm_video_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,12,17,16,13,3,15,11],"coauthors":[7],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-archives","tag-bloomsbury","tag-book-history","tag-manuscripts","tag-samuel-beckett","tag-seminar","tag-studying","tag-virginia-woolf"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBack to... studying! - Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The term has just started and I'm following two amazing seminars: Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury and Materiality and Textuality.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Back to... studying! - Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The term has just started and I'm following two amazing seminars: Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury and Materiality and Textuality.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-16T11:08:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-16T11:09:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/143\/Unorganized\/IMG_3465-1024x881.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"881\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Elisa Bolchi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Elisa Bolchi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/\",\"name\":\"Back to... studying! - Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-16T11:08:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-16T11:09:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#\/schema\/person\/fbedd045dd65303922e8b921cea46f23\"},\"description\":\"The term has just started and I'm following two amazing seminars: Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury and Materiality and Textuality.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Back to… studying!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/\",\"name\":\"Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers\",\"description\":\"A Marie Curie Individual Fellowship Project\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#\/schema\/person\/fbedd045dd65303922e8b921cea46f23\",\"name\":\"Elisa Bolchi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9fd297cc0ba4c5cb3c9d777435096ccf\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca6cfc4b836158ec0056a5f288ad4e6b10fb1c4c0be4c8ca911641ecc62e8b49?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca6cfc4b836158ec0056a5f288ad4e6b10fb1c4c0be4c8ca911641ecc62e8b49?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Elisa Bolchi\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/author\/e-bolchireading-ac-uk\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Back to... studying! - Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers","description":"The term has just started and I'm following two amazing seminars: Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury and Materiality and Textuality.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Back to... studying! - Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers","og_description":"The term has just started and I'm following two amazing seminars: Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury and Materiality and Textuality.","og_url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/","og_site_name":"Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers","article_published_time":"2019-10-16T11:08:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-10-16T11:09:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":881,"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/143\/Unorganized\/IMG_3465-1024x881.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Elisa Bolchi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Elisa Bolchi","Estimated reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/","name":"Back to... studying! - Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-10-16T11:08:28+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-16T11:09:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#\/schema\/person\/fbedd045dd65303922e8b921cea46f23"},"description":"The term has just started and I'm following two amazing seminars: Virginia Woolf and Bloomsbury and Materiality and Textuality.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/back-to-studying\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Back to… studying!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#website","url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/","name":"Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers","description":"A Marie Curie Individual Fellowship Project","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#\/schema\/person\/fbedd045dd65303922e8b921cea46f23","name":"Elisa Bolchi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/9fd297cc0ba4c5cb3c9d777435096ccf","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca6cfc4b836158ec0056a5f288ad4e6b10fb1c4c0be4c8ca911641ecc62e8b49?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ca6cfc4b836158ec0056a5f288ad4e6b10fb1c4c0be4c8ca911641ecc62e8b49?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Elisa Bolchi"},"url":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/author\/e-bolchireading-ac-uk\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":277,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275\/revisions\/277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/research.reading.ac.uk\/italian-woolf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}