Contesto / 2

 

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The aim of the journal Contesto is to make theoretical popularization on two main topics that in recent decades, contrary to popular opinion, are showing a vitality and interest that we consider worthy of attention and in-depth study for students, scholars, and ordinary enthusiasts. On the one hand the phenomenon of independent publishing in all its forms, contemporary and otherwise, on the other the sociology of texts and more generally the book sciences, in their different approaches and subject areas.

 

In the face of a total absence of publishing in the Italian language, the journal Contesto aims to promote texts, studies and research, analyze the main phenomena and explore theoretical and practical aspects through an editorial product divided into eight sections. Shaping the content is an editorial staff composed of experts and experts in the field (Ariel Brandolini, Giorgia Di Carlo, Francesca Spiller, Francesco Ciaponi, Giorgia Fortunati, Guendalina Piselli, Valeria Foschetti, Vanessa Maran, and Federico Crociani) who contribute to each issue along with external contributors in the field by study or profession.

 

Within each issue Contesto, the "Textuality" section offers contributions that explore the themes of writing, orality and reading (both digital and analog), social aspects of publishing forms, cultural studies, History of the Book, and History of Culture. In "Fanzine," the section curated by Valeria Foschetti (La Fanzinoteca La Pipette Noir) and Vanessa Maran (Mecenate Povero), insights, analysis and interviews on the Italian and international panorama of Fanzine production and the related culture of self-publishing. Look toward the success of print periodicals in recent years with the "Magazine" section entrusted to Francesca Spiller (Reading Room, Milan) for insights, analysis and interviews on the Italian and international panorama of independent Magazine production and the cultural landscape that has developed around and thanks to them. Great attention is paid to the phenomena with "Surplus" and the characters with "Situations" that have made - and are making - publishing history. Running through all the contents of Contesto is attention to the international scene, which finds its greatest expression in the "Foreign" section by welcoming an Italian translation of essays, articles and unpublished texts produced by international scholars. Deepening the themes proposed by the magazine is a series of video interviews on independent publishing and culture available for free on the Center's YouTube channel.