Conference Information

This two-day interdisciplinary, international conference on diaristic writing in the 20th century has been possible thanks to generous funding from the UCD Humanities Institute, the College of Arts and Humanities, the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, and the Foundation for Italian Studies.

The diary proved an important form of writing during the 20th century, particularly for its engagement with self-definition and memory. In the early decades of the century, it enabled a new exploration of individual personality influenced by late-nineteenth-century psychology and philosophy. It can thus be read as an introspective prism displaying the author’s psychological, moral, and physical evolution in a different light from what would have been conceivable before. Around mid-century, it offered diarists a powerful tool to document and elaborate the trauma of the two wars, the self-threatening policies of totalitarian regimes, and the very physical threat of genocide. This kind of diary is a testimonial object of and against war. In the final decades of the century, diaries were written in an individualistic and expressivist society which increasingly blurred the boundaries between reality and fiction. They could thus become the chosen medium for postmodernist literary experimentation and invite a form of self-construction which is a precursor of (but remains very different from) the instantly public self-accounts of present-day blogs and vlogs. The conference aims to observe these and other evolutions of the twentieth-century diary, exploring their interplay with traditional assumptions about the diary as a repository of memories, an outlet for feelings, an embodiment of the self, and a concrete means for its preservation.

The conference is held in person at UCD to facilitate interaction among panellists and streamed online to allow for wider attendance.

For further information please contact the organisers, Dr Mara Josi and Dr Valeria Taddei, at (opens in a new window)ucdiaries2023@gmail.com