Ann Webb

Ann Webb’s research investigates the applications of queer and feminist theory in an Italophone context, with specific focus on gender-neutral language and the translatability of theory across borders – cultural, national, religious, etc. Ann’s research has largely been divided into two time periods.

One half of the puzzle of Ann’s research lies in their desire to investigate the possibilities for queer and feminist readings of medieval lyric poetry and literature more broadly. Ann has conducted various research projects focused on the Middle Ages, including research for a conference paper investigating the gendered model of vision present in Petrarch’s poetry – a project which they hope to expand to include other Medieval poets, such as Dante and Guido Cavalcanti. Ann has also applied a disability studies lens to understanding the phenomenon of accidia in Petrarch’s Secretum as it relates to clinical depression.

Ann is also interested in contemporary music and literature in the Italophone sphere. Ann’s undergraduate senior thesis project examined queer representation in Italian pop music originating at the Sanremo Festival. Moving forward, Ann is interested in continuing to investigate queer (in)visibility in European pop culture through media such as music and television. Ann is also interested in questions of linguistic inclusion of gender non-conforming identities in Italian and other grammatically gendered languages.