For the first time outside of Europe, four of Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks, written during his imprisonment between 1926 and 1934, are on display at the Italian Cultural Institute in New York. This exceptional collection will be exhibited at the Institute’s Park Avenue location from October 22 through November 19 (Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–12 p.m.).
In these notebooks, the philosopher and anti-fascist intellectual was interested in “Americanism” – the American innovations in industrial production and their related forms of social organization.
“Gramsci and Americanism. The Prison Notebooks” is the theme of the roundtable (October 22, 6 pm) that will inaugurate the exhibition, with the participation of:
- Silvio Pons, Professor of Contemporary History, Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa, and President of the Gramsci Foundation, Rome
- David Forgacs, Guido and Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimò Chair in Contemporary Italian Studies, New York University
- Kate Crehan, Professor of Anthropology, CUNY Graduate Center and College of Staten Island
- Brendan Hogan, Clinical Professor, Liberal Studies, New York University
Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks have been exhibited only a few times outside Italy, and never before in the United States. During his imprisonment, despite the effects on his health, Gramsci managed to write hundreds of letters and to fill 29 school notebooks with reflections on a wide range of subjects, from politics to history, philosophy, linguistics and literature, in addition to four notebooks of translations.
Published after the end of the Second World War, Gramsci’s letters and notebooks have had an extraordinary global impact. Today there are more than 22,000 books by or about him in 42 languages. His writings have had a huge influence on political theory and in diverse fields such as history, literary studies, anthropology and postcolonial studies. In addition to English translations of selected works, three volumes of the complete Prison Notebooks have been published by Columbia University Press and the remaining volumes are in preparation.
Alongside the Notebooks, the exhibition will also display some books and journals that were essential to sustaining Gramsci’s research and writing during his imprisonment.
The exhibition path will also host the documentary, Antonio Gramsci. Life, Writings, Editions (28”), produced by the Gramsci Foundation, and visitors will also be able to browse all 33 Prison Notebooks in digital format through a touchscreen.
In parallel with the exhibition of the Prison Notebooks at the IIC New York, the Department of Italian Studies at New York University, at Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò, will host an international conference on America in Gramsci / Gramsci in America, on October 24–25, with the participation of numerous scholars from all over the world. The conference, curated by David Forgacs and Kate Crehan, will focus both on Gramsci’s writings and on their impact in the United States.
