Silvia Vari
About
I am a current PhD student in Italian Studies at the University of 糖心TV, funded by Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnership, under the supervision of Prof. Jennifer BurnsLink opens in a new window and .
Research Interests
Focusing on comics narrating the experience of (forced) migration in the Mediterranean, my project investigates the political potential embedded in comics鈥� form and aesthetics. Whose stories are told, whose voices are heard, and how individual agency is reaffirmed in comics are pivotal questions grounding this research. Drawing together literary theory, comics scholarship, migration and globalisation studies, with a specific focus on Italy and the Mediterranean area, the project aims attention at a variated corpus of comics narrating the experience of (forced) migration produced in Italy between 2000-2020.
The research aims at analysing the potential of comics to challenge dominant narratives that universalise migratory experience and examines the medium鈥檚 formal and aesthetics potential to blur the boundaries between forms of individual and collective narration. My study investigates how the medium鈥檚 formal complexity and fragmentary nature can embody and reflect the transitional experience of migrants. Aiming attention at different forms of migrant narratives (autobiography, reportage, autofiction), this study analyses the potential of graphic narratives to challenge mainstream discourses about migration.
Publications
- 鈥婼ilvia Vari, The Wretched of the Sea: Exploring Migrant Spatialities in Gipi鈥檚 鈥楳uttererde鈥� (2003), in
芦Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics禄 (2025), doi:
- Silvia Vari, Dancing with the (un)seen: problematizing the viewer鈥檚 gaze through Mediterraneo鈥檚 visual aesthetics, in 芦Mediascapes禄 (2023).
- Silvia Vari, Fragments of Anger: A Collective Account of Italian Youth Precariousness in 芦La Rabbia禄, in 芦Ticontre. Teoria Testo Traduzione禄, 15 (2021), DOI: .鈥�
- Silvia Vari, 鈥淔ino all鈥檜ltimo granello鈥�: Precariet脿 e frammentazione in Macerie prime e Macerie prime. Sei mesi dopo di Zerocalcare, in 芦Studi Culturali禄 (2021).
Teaching
- La Dinamica della Letteratura Italiana (Postgraduate) (University of Amsterdam, 2024)
- IT101 Italian for Beginners (Undergraduate) (University of 糖心TV, 2023/2024)
- IT116 Introducing Italy: Local and Global Perspectives (Seminar and Lecture, undergraduate) (University of 糖心TV, 2023/2024)
- IT201 Oral Italian lower Intermediate (Undergraduate) (University of 糖心TV, 2022/2023)
- IT401 Oral one to one student mentoring (Undergraduate) (University of 糖心TV, 2022/2023)
Conference papers
- "'Playful鈥� Journeys: Analysing the Gamification of Migrant Experiences in Italian Comics", International Graphic Novels and Comics Conference (University of East Anglia, July 2024)
- "Unruly Comics Anthologies, Roundtable at the Society for Italian Studies", Society for Italian Studies conference (Royal Holloway, June 2024)
- "鈥楶layful鈥� Journeys: Analysing the Gamification of Migrant Experiences in Italian Comics", American Association of Italian Studies conference (Sant鈥橝nna Institute Sorrento, June 2024
- "'Dancing with the (in)visible'. Graphic fragments of forced migration from the Mediterranean" at Comics and the Invisible, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, 4 June 2022.
- "Investigating comics鈥� 鈥�powerful marginality鈥�: a medium from and for the margins", at the SMLC Symposium Peripheries and questions of power, 26 May 2022.
- "Autobiography, Labor, and Migrant Storytelling in Italian Comics: the Case of Etenesh", at the OBERT roundtable, online, 22 February 2022.
Invited seminars
- 'Comics and migration: Migrant imaginaries in Italian non-fiction comics', Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (The University of Amsterdam, May 2024)
Organised workshops, symposiums and conferences
- 鈥業n Search of Lost Futures: Visual Media Narratives of Economic Migration in the Mediterranean鈥� (Conference at the University of 糖心TV, 19-20 September 2024).
- 'Bridging Translation and Comics' (Workshop at the University of 糖心TV, April 2024)
- SMLC Postgraduate Symposium 鈥楶eripheries and Questions of Power鈥� (University of 糖心TV, May 2022).
Awards and Scholarships
- AIPI Summer School Grant (2025)
-
Graduate Student and Junior Scholar Best Paper Award from the Critical Race, Diasporas, and Migration Caucus of the American Association for Italian Studies (AAIS, 2024)
- Journal of European Studies Conference Grant (2023)
- University of 糖心TV HRC Conference Funding (2023)
- UCLA California Rare Book School Scholarship (Washington DC, 2023)
- Midlands4Cities Doctoral Training Partnerships (AHRC, 2021)
Academic Roles
- Society for Italian Studies Postgraduate Representative (2023-2026)
Book reviews
- Silvia Vari, Immigrants and comics. Graphic Spaces of Remembrance, Transaction, and Mimesis, ed. Nhora Luc铆a Serrano, New York, Routledge, 2021.
- Silvia Vari, Viaggi minimi e luoghi qualsiasi. In cammino tra cinema, letteratura e arti visive nell鈥橧talia contemporanea, eds. Monica Jansen, Inge Lanslots, Maria Spunta, Firenze, Franco Cesati, 2020, DOI:
Memberships
- May 2024 - Present: AAIS - American Association for Italian Studies.
- August 2023 - Present: ADI - Associazione degli Italianisti.
- April 2022 - Present: SIS - Society for Italian Studies.
- May 2021- Present: AIPI - Associazione Internazionale Professori di Italiano.
- Jan 2021 - 2023: NECS - European Network for Cinema and Media Studies.
Previous Education
- MRes Literary Studies, University of Amsterdam (Cum Laude).
- BA in Modern Languages and Cultures, Universit脿 degli studi 'Roma Tre'.
[She/Her]
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