"C’era una volta una figliastra"… Distanziamenti e riavvicinamenti tra studi letterari e linguistica nella Germanistica italiana ovvero "un" resoconto

In this paper I try to answer the question if – and if so, how – the dialogue between Literary Studies and Linguistics can (still) be enriching for both disciplines. The aim is to reflect briefly on those events that brought about a distancing between Linguistics and Literature in German Studies in Italy, with regard to theory, methodology and empiricism. In addition, it will explore the causes of their recent – albeit timid though nevertheless present – encounter. The theme is discussed using German Studies as an example within the general scholarly area of “Foreign Linguistics and Literature”.