ExTEMPORE · Extant Traces of Extemporaneous Modern Poetry and its Outspread and Reception in Europe

The encompassing objective of ExTEMPORE (Extant Traces of Extemporaneous Modern Poetry and its Outspread and Reception in Europe) is to provide the first in-depth account of the spread of the phenomenon of poetic improvisation throughout Europe between the second half of the eighteenth century and the third decade of the nineteenth century. Although recently there has been a rising interest regarding this topic, a systematic approach to its study has been largely neglected. By gathering travel accounts, letters, essays, articles regarding poetic improvisation between Italy, Germany, France and England in the years 1770s-1830s, ExTEMPORE aims at assessing its transnational nature, addressing questions surrounding national and European identity, gender, status class, aesthetics and cultural transfer. The study will benefit from a novel approach, combining archival research on selected cases with digital tools. To achieve its goals, the project intends to: a) gather, catalogue, and store references to poetic improvisers and poetic improvisations; b) conduct further research on performers, in terms of their identity, gender and status class; and on performances, in terms of people involved, venues, dates, texts (if transcribed), and so on; c) reconstruct the spread of poetic improvisation in Europe in space and time by providing an interactive map tracing both the performances and the circulation of performers, thus measuring the true extent of poetic improvisation in Europe in the years between the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth century and, at the same time, valuing the strong presence of women between the ranks of improvisers. The three-year MSCA-GF will bring me to the University of Toronto, the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and, during a five-month secondment, Universität Basel.