Edoardo Gerlini is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow at the Department of Asian and North African Studies with a 3-years research project titled “World Heritage and East Asian Literature – Sinitic Writings in Japan as Cultural Heritage (WHEREAL)” (supervisor: Bonaventura Ruperti). He spent the first two years of the project as a visiting scholar at the Faculty of Letters, Arts and Sciences of Waseda University (supervisor: Kimiko Kono).

Edoardo specialized in Japanese premodern literature of the early Heian period (9th century), with a focus on poetry, canon formation, and the relationship between Japanese and Chinese literature, and taught Japanese language at Ca’ Foscari and at the University of Florence. His other interests are cultural heritage, world literature, and Sinitic writings in Japan. He is also active as a translator from Japanese to Italian.

EDUCATION
 
2011 – Ph.d in East Asian Studies (Doctoral School of Languages, Cultures, Societies, XXIII cycle, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice). Dissertation thesis: Uno studio comparato sulla poesia in giapponese e in cinese nel Giappone del periodo Heian - Il caso di Sugawara no Michizane e Ōe no Chisato (A Comparative Study of Poetry in Japanese and in Chinese dureing Heian period Japan: The case of Sugawara no Michizane and Ōe no Chisato).
Supervisor: Bonaventura Ruperti.

2008 – Diploma of teacher of Italian Language as Foreign Language (DITALS), first level. Student profile: adult/immigrant (Università per Stranieri di Siena).

2006 – Bachelor Degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures (Japanese and Chinese) - Università degli Studi di Firenze. Graduation thesis: Lune riflesse – un confronto tra la poesia classica cinese e giapponese sul tema della luna (Reflecting Moons – a comparison between CLassical Chinese and Japanese poems about the moon). Director: Ikuko Sagiyama; co-director: Luca Stirpe. Final graduation 110/110 magna cum laude.

October 2006 –  February 2007 Tunghai University (Taichung, Taiwan), Chinese Language Center, Intensive course of Chinese language (Mandarin).
 
 
PRIZES AND OTHER CERTIFICATIONS

2014 – Winner of the “Primo Bando Aistugia per per l’internazionalizzazione di un’opera scientifica”(1st competition for the internationalization of a scientific work, AISTUGIA association).
2013 – JLPT (Japan Language Proficiency Test) level 1.
 
 
WORKING EXPERIENCE (TEACHING)
 
a.a 2014-2018
Università degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Lingue Letterature e Studi Interculturali.
Hired professor for the following courses: Conoscenza di Lingua Giapponese (magistrale) (60 hours); Laboratorio di Lingua Giapponese (triennale) (30 hours).
 
a.a 2013-2018
Università di Venezia “Ca’ Foscari”, Dipartimento di Studi sull’Asia e l’Africa Mediterranea.
Hired professor for the following courses: Lingua Giapponese triennale (1st and 3rd year); Lingua Giapponese magistrale (1st and 2nd year).
 
a.a 2007/2008
Assistant teacher to the Japanese language courses at the Centro Linguistico di Ateneo (University of Florence); organization of seminars on Japanese culture (30 hours).
 
a.a 2007/2008
Italian teacher for chinese students of the “Marco Polo program”, at the Polo Scientifico di Prato (University of Florence) (30 hours). 
 
April - December 2007 – Italian teacher for foreigner students, Centro Internazionale Studenti “Giorgio La Pira”, Firenze.

 
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
 
Fellowships and scholarships
 
June 2018 – May 2021
“Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action” fellow, Global Fellowship (3 years). Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Title of the project: “World Heritage and East Asian Literature – Sinitic Writings in Japan as Cultural Heritage”. Supervisor: prof. Bonaventura Ruperti.
giugno 2018 –

June 2018 – May 2020. Visiting fellow at Waseda University (Japan), Department of Literature. Supervisor: prof. Kono Kimiko.
 
March 2017 – August 2017
Hakuho Foundation “Japanese Research Fellowship”, at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (Nichibunken), Kyoto (6 months). Research topic: “Is literature useless, or is it an “imperishable glory”? The social role of “writings” in the early Heian period and their position in world literature”. Supervisor: prof. Araki Hiroshi.  
 
November 2011 – October 2013
Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellowship at University of Tokyo (24 months). Research topic: A comparative study of Heian period Japanese literature and Italian medieval literature.Supervisor: prof. Fujiwara Katsumi.  
 
April 2008 - March 2010
Japanese Ministery of Education (MEXT) scholarship for research students at Tokyo University (24 months). Supervisor: prof. Fujiwara Katsumi. Research topic: Sino-Japanese literature of the Heian period.
 
September 2005 – March 2006
Student Services Organization (JASSO) scholarship (6 months) at Gunma University. Students exchange program with the University of Florence.

CONFERENCES AND LECTURES

Invited presentations (peer reviewed)

1. “Can Classical Literature be considered World Heritage? An interdisciplinary dialogue between Japan Studies and Heritage Studies (Koten bungaku wa sekai isan ni nariuru ka. Nihon kenkyū to bunka isangaku no gakusaitekina kokoromi)”. National Institute of Japanese Literature, International symposium of Japanese literature studies, 11/17-18/2018

2. “Is Literature useless, or is it «an imperishable great task»? The social role of bun (letters) in early Heian court and its place in world literature” (Bungaku wa muyō ka “fukyū no seiji” ka. Heianchō zenki ni miru “bun” no shakaiteki yakuwari to sono sekai bungaku ni okeru ichi). International Research Center for Japanese Studies, international conference: Kanbungaku kenkyū ga tsunagu “sekai” – kodai kindai (Kanbun studies connecting the world – old and modern), 8/2/2017

3. “Court poetry as World Literature – the case of Kokinwakashū and the Sicilian School of poetry”. 14th EAJS 2014 (Ljubljana), 8/28/2014.

4. “La poesia Heian come World Literature - un confronto con la poesia italiana medievale”, XXXVIII Conference of AISTUGIA, University of Salento, Lecce, 9/18-20/2014.

5. “«Come schiuma d’acqua». L’introduzione di espressioni buddiste nella poesia Heian.”, XXXV conference of AISTUGIA, University of Bologna, 9/2011.

6. “Poetry creates memory: Sugawara no Michizane’s kanshi re-elaboration during Heian period”, international workshop, Literary Theory from the Perspective of Japanese Literature: Memories, Evocations, Ghosts, Tallinn university, Estonia, 9/2010.

7. “Un ponte tra la poesia cinese e giapponese - Il kanshi di Sugawara no Michizane”, XXXIV conference AISTUGIA, Università Orientale di Napoli, 9/2010.

8. “Kanshi no eikyō: ibunka to taiketsu suru waka”, Internazional symposium, Ekkyō suru waka / La poesia oltre i confini, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice 9/2007.

Other invited lessons and presentations

1. “Kenryoku no kotoba: Heian-chō to chūsei Itaria ni okeru uta, gishiki, ōken (Words of Power: songs, rites, kingship in Heian court and medieval Italy)”. Kansai University, Osaka, July 2017.

2.  “Uta wa asobi janai! Itaria chūsei to Heian-chō ni okeru utayomi to sono kōrisei (Songs are not a game! Poetry composition in medieval Italy and Heian court and its utility)”, Global Challenge Series, Kanazawa University. June 2017.

3. “La poesia di corte come “World literature”: il periodo Heian e il Duecento italiano (Court poetry as World Literature: Heian period and the 13th century in Italy”, MA seminar, Department of Asian and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice, 13 nov. 2012.

4.  “Heian-chō kyūtei bungaku to Itaria chūsei kyūtei bungaku to no hikaku kenkyū (A comparative study on Heian court literature and court literature in medieval Italy)”, Kodai bungaku kenkyūkai, University of Tokyo, 28 july 2012.

5.  “Teoria occidentale su testi giapponesi: Ipotesti e ipertesti nella poesia di Sugawara no Michizane (Western theory on Japanese texts: hypotexts and hypertexts in Sugawara no Michizane’s poetry)”; symposium “Prospettive sull’estremo oriente”, University of Florence; 25 nov. 2015.

6. “Nichii no ren’aishi – ai o sakebu Itariajin, koi o omou nihonjin (Love poems in Japan and Italy – Italians sing about love, Japanese thinks about love)”, seminars Itaria no sōzōryoku – dezain, geijutsu, sangyō, Shizuoka University of Art and Culture (SUAC), Hamamatsu, 2012.

7. “La poesia di corte medievale come “World Literature”. Un confronto fra la Scuola siciliana e la poesia giapponese Heian. (Medieval court poetry as World Literature. A comparison between the Sicilian School and Heian Japan poetry)”, seminar at the Doctoral School of Languages, Literatures and Comparative Culture; University of Florence. 25 feb. 2014.