Mark Pietralunga

Mark Pietralunga (BA in English, UCLA; MA and PhD in Italian, UC Berkeley) specializes in 20th century Italian Literature and Culture, with a particular focus on post war novel and translation. His research interests include Italian American Studies. He served as Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics from 1993 to 2003 and 2013 to 2019. He has served as resident associate director and as summer director of Florida State University's study abroad program in Florence, Italy, as well as coordinator of the Italian Studies Program. He is a former long-serving book review editor for the journal Italica and is currently serving as one of its associate editors. He has served as a member of the Executive Committees of the American Association of Teachers of Italian (AATI), the American Association of Italian Studies (AAIS), and the South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA). He has served, or is currently serving, on the editorial board of several journals both in Italy and the US. He has also served as chair of the Modern Language Association's Honors and Awards Committee. He has received two Outstanding Teaching Awards and a Teaching Incentive Award from Florida State University.

In 2001, Professor Pietralunga was named the Victor B. Oelschläger Professor of Modern Languages and Linguistics. Victor B. Oelschläger was a professor of Spanish languages in the department for 21 years (1953-1974), who served as Chair from 1953 to 1968. During his tenure the department grew from a faculty of 8 to 40 and increased its student enrollment from 800 to over 4000. In addition to his outstanding service to the department, Professor Oelschläger was a nationally and internationally known Spanish philologist and Cervantes specialist.

Research Interests

Twentieth Century Italian Literature and Culture

Post War Italian Narrative

Italian American Studies

Translation Studies

Book Publishing

Courses Taught

20^th Century Italian Literature: Views from Abroad: America in Italian Literature and Film (ITW4480/5485r)

Italian Culture and Civilization (ITA4500/ITA5505)

Modern Italian Culture (ITT3501)

The Italian American Experience in Literature and Film (ITT3520)

The Culture is in the Cuisine: The Food of Italy (IFS3091)

Readings in Contemporary Italian Prose: Literature and Film of the "Boom" Years (ITW4481/ITW5486r)

Survey of Italian Literature: 19^th Century to Present (ITW3101)

Masterpieces of Italian Literature in Translation (ITT3430)

Selected Publications

Authored and Edited Books

• An Absurd Vice: A Biography of Cesare Pavese by Davide Lajolo (New York: New Directions Publishing, 1983)
• Beppe Fenoglio and English Literature: A Study of the Writer as Translator (Berkeley: UC Press, 1987)
• Beppe Fenoglio e l'esaltante fatica del tradurre (Turin: Allemandi, 1992)
• Prometeo slegato: Pavese traduttore di P. B. Shelley (Turin: Einaudi, 1998)
• Quaderno di Traduzioni: Beppe Fenoglio (Turin: Einaudi, 2000)
• Cesare Pavese and Anthony Chiuminatto: Their Correspondence (Toronto: U Toronto Press, 2007)
• Cesare Pavese's Long Journey: A Critical-Analytical Study by Giose Rimanelli (Bordighera Press, 2018).