A MATTER OF GLANCES, THE JOURNEY AND ITS DETOURS
Conversation with Piero Dorfles, Marco Aime and Cees Nooteboom
In one of his travel books, Nomad’s Hotel, Cees Nooteboom wrote, borrowing the XII century Arabian
philosopher Ibn al – Arabi’s words. «Movement is the origin of existence. Immobility cannot exist in it,
because if existence were motionless, it would go back to its origin, which is the “Nothing”. This is why
the journey never ends, neither in the upper, nor in the lower world ». The journey and its implications
have always taken up a mythical dimension, widening the knowledge of “the other and the elsewhere”,
but also of ourselves. But is all this still possible?
Marco Aime is a professor of Cultural Anthropology at the University of Genoa.
Among his books we mention:
Taxi Brousse. Sulle strade d’Africa (Taxi Brousse. On the roads of Africa), Le radici nella
sabbia (Roots in the sand), 1999; Diario Dogon (Dogon diary), 2000; La casa di nessuno. I mercati in Africa Occidentale
((Nobody’s home. Markets in Western Africa), 2002; Eccessi di culture (Excess of culture), 2004; L’incontro mancato (The
missed encounter), 2005; Sensi di viaggio (Senses of the journey), 2005; Il primo libro di antropologia (The first book on
anthropology), 2008; Timbuctu (Timbuktu), 2008; Il lato selvatico del tempo (The wild side of time), 2009; Una bella
differenza. Alla scoperta delle diversità nel mondo (A nice difference. At the discovery of diversities in the world), 2009
with Anna Cossetta; Il dono al tempo di Internet (The gift at the time of Internet, 2010).
Piero Dorfles is a journalist and literary critic. He is in charge of cultural reports for Giornale
Radio Rai (national radio news programme), for which he produced several successful radio programmes, among which Il
baco del millennio (The Millennium Bug). He supported Patrizio Roversi and Neri Marcorè in hosting the successful
television program Per un pugno di libri. (For a Handful of Books). His books are dedicated to the world of television and
radio communication, like Carosello and l’Atlante della radio e della televisione (Radio and television atlas). His latest
book, Il ritorno del dinosauro. Una difesa della cultura (The return of the dinosaur. A defence of culture), was published by
Garzanti in 2010.
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