Conference

The PRIN 2020 project DIETALY (Destination Italy in Tourism Translation Over the Years) has investigated how Italy has been represented, translated, and circulated as a destination for international tourists across languages and media over the past century. Focusing in particular on the period from the 1920s to the 1950s, the project has examined the role of language and translation in shaping Italy’s international image during years marked by Fascism, economic crisis, and post-war reconstruction. The analysis has drawn on brochures, booklets, magazines, and related materials produced for English-speaking audiences, placing institutional communication and multilingual mediation at the centre of historical inquiry.

A key outcome of the project is the DIETALY database, a digital resource that systematises the metadata of a dispersed body of materials. By indexing more than 600 brochures, magazines, and promotional texts, the database offers searchable and cross-referenced metadata that support customised research across bibliographic descriptions, tourism-specific categories, languages, and genres, enabling users to trace discursive patterns and reconstruct how Italy was presented to foreign publics. Beyond documenting Italy’s tourism promotion, the database also carries comparative potential: it opens avenues for cross-national studies and invites dialogue with similar collections relating to other countries, particularly within Europe, where parallel historical developments shaped the international promotion of national identities.

Tourism studies have gained renewed significance in recent years, not only because tourism remains a crucial economic and cultural sector but also because it offers a productive lens through which to examine processes of identity-making, cultural translation, mediation, and heritage communication. Understanding these dynamics requires perspectives that bring together linguistic, historical, and media-oriented approaches. Another area that has gained increasing importance relates to the legal frameworks and national and international regulatory contexts governing tourism and heritage communication, as well as their implications for research practices, cultural mediation, and cross-border circulation.

Call for papers

To submit your proposal, please send a 250-300-word abstract, including references, through the following application form.

The submission deadline is March 15, 2026. Authors will be notified of acceptance on April 1, 2026.

Registration will be open from April 1 to April 30, 2026.

Team