Facing Narratives: Tales of the Visage across Cultures
FRIAS, Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies
Stemming from ERC Project FACETS (Face Aesthetics in Contemporary E-Technological Societies), led by
FRIAS 2020/21 Senior Fellow Massimo LEONE, the symposium revolves on how the human face acquires
specific cultural meaning in narratives, in literature, through visual means, and in present-day digital
simulacra. The visage is the most important communicative interface of the human species; many of its
features are determined by natural evolution. Yet, cultures constantly inflect the biological functioning
of the face, along patterns of meaning that societies disseminate through narrativity and story-telling.
Understanding the role of the face in narrative cultures is the main objective of the symposium.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82753265393?pwd=VWRpWUovT3pPOWtISUVyZ2grR2szdz09
Meeting-ID: 827 5326 5393
Code: 624897
Friday, January 29, 2021
8:45 – 9:00 – Welcome speech by the Director of FRIAS, Prof. Dr. Dr. Bernd KORTMANN
9:00 – 9:30 – Massimo LEONE, University of Turin
Introduction: The Face of the Other
9:30 – 10:00 – Maria GIULIA DONDERO, FNRS – University of Liège
Forces in Portraiture: Between Sensation and Narrative
10:00 – 10:30 – Javier Martínez TORRÓN – Complutense University of Madrid
The Face, the Veil, and the Law
10:30 – 11:00 – Virtual coffee break and discussion
11:00 – 11:30 – Simona STANO, University of Turin / New York University
Reading the Face across Cultures: Signs, Narratives, Ideologies
11:30 – 12:00 – Mattia THIBAULT, University of Tampere
Cosmetic Cyberware and Iris Patterns: Transhuman Facial Aesthetics in Cyberpunk 2077
12:00 – 12:30 – Antonio SANTANGELO, University of Turin
Faces of our Times: Self-Made Women, Revolutionaries, and Wanderers between Cultures
12:30 – 13:30 – Virtual lunch break and discussion
Saturday, January 30, 2021
9:00 – 9:30 – Gabriele MARINO, University of Turin
The Semiotics of the Iconic Face
9:30 – 10:00 – Silvia BARBOTTO, University of Turin
Façades of Faces in Transcultural and Dissonant Urban Facts
10:00 – 10:30 – Remo GRAMIGNA, University of Turin
The Face as Cultural Text: A Semiotic Appraisal
10:30 – 11:00 – Virtual coffee break and discussion
11:00 – 11:30 – Elsa SORO, University of Turin
(Un)Masking the Face and (Dis)Covering the City: Facial Cartographies beyond #Selfiecity
11:30 – 12:00 – Bruno SURACE, University of Turin
Agnès, JR and Tamasaburō: Cultural Semiotics of the Movies Visages, Villages and The Written Face
12:00 – 12:30 – Cristina VOTO, University of Turin
Archiving Faces, Performing Visages: A Peircean Perspective
12:30 – 13:00 – Marco VIOLA, University of Turin
Face Pictures in Science: From Darwin to Contemporary Databases
13:00 – 13:30 – Roberto GAMBONI, University of Turin
3D Interactive Exhibition
Leaflet image courtesy of Ah Xian.
This event results from a project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European
Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No 819649 – FACETS).
