Mimma Congedo

Vita

Mimma Congedo develops her researches mainly in the field of aesthetics and of Indian and comparative philosophy. She obtained her degree in Philosophy in 2002, at the University of Milan, discussing a thesis entitled "A.K. Coomaraswamy: Arte e Filosofia Perenne" (supervisor Prof. Giuliano Boccali). In 2007 she fulfilled all the requirements for her PhD in Indological and Tibetan Studies at the Universities of Turin-Milan, submitting and successfully discussing a dissertation on "The Indian Sources of the Aesthetics of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy". In the context of the Core Project Tension/Spannung developed by ICI, she organized an International Workshop entitled "Reflecting on Images", during which the participants discussed the theme of tension between visible and invisible in images. Her main research areas include image and imagination, the encounter and interaction between India and the West, the evolution of Indian philosphy - particularly aesthetics - and its interpretation in the West.

ICI-Project

The Concept of Imagination between India and Europe: Comparing the Yoginī-hṛdaya and Giordano Bruno's Works
The project focuses on the notion of imagination as shaped in the Yoginī-hṛdaya and in Giordano Bruno's works; such a notion presents many parallels in the texts analyzed. The core of the comparison is represented by the role of imagination, which makes possible a communication between man, cosmos and divine, in a constant tension between immanence and transcendence. In such a communication, three fundamental aspects are involved: a gnoseological one - inasmuch imagination allows man to acquire new knowledge -, a psychological one - inasmuch imagination allows man to change his own inner world -, and a transformative/practical one - as imagination allows man to intervene in the outer world and magically change it.

Publications

• "Indian Traces: Aracoeli, Pasolini's L'odore dell'India, Moravia's Un'idea dell'India", in The Power of Disturbance. Elsa Morante’s Aracoeli, edited by Manuele Gragnolati and Sara Fortuna, Legenda, Oxford 2009, pp. 161-176.
• "Immagine e immaginazione nello Yoginī-hṛdaya e nell'opera di Giordano Bruno. I termini di un confronto, i risultati preliminari", in Simplegadi/pensieri d’Oriente, "Vie per un’estetica interculturale", vol. 13, n. 29, novembre 2008, , Mimesis, Milano, pp. 87-122.
• "The Interpretation of Natural Elements as Metaphysical Symbols in the Aesthetics of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy", in Pandanus'06, Prague 2006, pp. 11-22.
• "The Transformation of Nature in the Aesthetics of Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy", in Cracow Indological Studies, vol. 7, Jagiellonian University, Institute of Oriental Philology, Krakow 2005, pp. 195-205.
• "Il concetto di natura nell'estetica di Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy", in Oltrecorrente, "Presenze della natura", 11, dicembre 2005, Mimesis, Milano,  pp. 153-171.
• "A Oriente del pensiero: Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy voce e interprete della cultura indiana", in Monografia di Quaderni Asiatici, Atti del convegno "Per conoscere gli altri: India oltre il mito" del 16 ottobre 2004, ottobre 2005, pp. 91-108.
• "L'arte come yoga: un possibile percorso all'interno dell'opera di Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy", in Quaderni Asiatici, 70, giugno 2005, pp. 5-30.