Call for papers

Call for papers Dimensione estetica 2026

Conflicts

Is there still space for conflict in today’s aesthetic and literary culture? This is the question that this call for papers aims to explore, as a new step in a broader reflection that began with the seminar “Exercises in Theory”, organized jointly by the Department of Humanities of the University of Naples Federico II and the Department of Literary, Linguistic and Comparative Studies of the University of Naples L’Orientale. The central issue is if it is still possible to create any form of conflict or “battle of ideas” within the aesthetic–literary field —engaging with the real tensions of our time and moving beyond the neutral, post-ideological, and apolitical attitudes that seem to define the crisis of modernity. What is at stake is the meaning of art and literature in relation to the contradictions that shape social life, and the possibility of restoring to them the critical and cognitive role that was so central to twentieth-century artistic practices and theories. At the same time, this call seeks to reflect on the role that intellectuals—critics, artists, or others—can still play within today’s cultural system. The question is if this role should remain that of guardians of an affirmative culture, or if it can instead open up to a critical stance that consciously positions itself in opposition to the dominant order. In the face of the widespread—and sometimes euphoric or spectacular—embrace of dominant cultural models, the aim is to search for a space in which a genuine battle of ideas may once again be possible: a space capable of opening the way to alternative forms of thought. By resisting integration, such a space might allow the utopian glimmer of the new to reappear—the same spark that once animated the finest art, its poetics, and its languages.

This call follows the seminar “Exercises in Theory” held in collaboration with the Italian Society for Aesthetics (SIE), curated by Francesco de Cristofaro, Leonardo Distaso, Giampiero Moretti, and Ugo M. Olivieri.

Articles (max 40,000 characters) must be submitted no later than 31 December 2025 to leonardo.distaso@unina.it and immacolata.depascale@unina.it; they must include a short abstract in English and five English keywords, and must follow the editorial guidelines available on the website. Accepted languages: Italian, French, English, German.