We hereby publish the comments of Professor Sergio Guerra's students at the Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo." Sergio Guerra (1956-2020) passed away one year ago because of Covid, but left indelible memories in everybody who met him even briefly, myself included. The comments were written after the presentation of his posthumous collection of essays Cultura futura:
Sergio Guerra, Cultura Futura. Saggi 2003-2020, edited by Alessandra Calanchi and Ya-Fang Chang, Aras, 2021.
Here you can find a description of the book, whereas here is the Facebook streaming of the online presentation of March 25.
Cultura Futura is a collection of essays published by Sergio Guerra during the last 17 years of his life in various reviews and collective volumes. The editors, professors Alessandra Calanchi and Ya-Fang Chang of the University of Urbino (Italy), think this is the best way to remember their colleague and friend, one of the first casualties of the pandemics. As the title goes, the focus of the book is on culture, especially on its being plural and dynamic.
Professor Guerra taught British literature and culture at the University of Urbino and wrote extensively in the fields of cultural studies and post-colonial theory. His novel It hadn’t to be love, written in English after a period he spent in the USA and in Australia as a young man in order to avoid military service, is now available in e-book format. His previous books, Figli della diaspora and Il potere della cultura, both published by Aras, came out respectively in 2014 and 2017.
What follows are some of the comments written by the students attending the class in American Culture after the book launch on March 25, 2021.
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Albert Einstein used to say: “Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation”. I never met Sergio Guerra, however it's enough to listen to Alessandra Calanchi's words or look at Ya-Fang Chang's eyes to understand what an amazing person he was. The event I am referring to is the book launch of Cultura Futura by Sergio Guerra. Sergio’s heirs gave their permission to publish this book that collects his main essays published from 2003 to 2020, plus two unpublished ones on which he was working when he fell ill and was hospitalized. This book is the best way to face a horrible loss. On the one hand the book gives the younger generation the chance to open their minds, and on the other hand it is an everlasting proof of Sergio's multicultural soul. Sergio was a welcoming, friendly and humble person. Sergio was a professor, a musician, and a writer. Sergio was basically a kind soul. I think there is nothing better than a person that helps you when you feel like a stranger. We easily take kindness for granted, but only few people in the world make you feel at home as soon as you see them – well, Sergio did precisely that: he gave people a reason to stay. Nowadays it’s extremely easy to chat with a friend who lives on the other side of the world and it's even easier to buy fruits from Colombia, cookies from the US, or salmon from Alaska. In the globalization era, however, we usually spend our free time in front of a smartphone but forget to take care of people who are next to us: our families and friends. Sergio was in love with intercultural communication, but he never neglected his beloved friends who can't stop thinking about him nor can stop weeping. (Sara Martinelli)
I have never had the chance to meet Sergio Guerra, but I could definitely see him through the eyes of those who loved him and shared his day-to-day life on campus. Cultura Futura was obviously an occasion to make Sergio’s numerous essays available to the public, but first and foremost an opportunity to remember and honor a unique man’s life. Sergio combined his many interests in a remarkable and original way throughout his academic and personal life. He looked at the world with the wonder of a child and, notwithstanding his remarkable culture, never stopped learning. He radiated kindness and cared deeply about those who crossed his path. I have never met Sergio Guerra, but I wish I had. (Elisa Orsetti)
During the online conference organized by the publishing house Aras Edizioni, professors Alessandra Calanchi, Ya-Fang Chang and Anna Maria Medici presented Cultura Futura and paid homage to Sergio Guerra, a great professor, author, musician and composer who died last year, during the first wave of the pandemic. With warm words, the speakers remembered Sergio’s profound sense of humanity, cosmopolitanism, wisdom, knowledge, and modesty. I found this conference very moving, not only because I could see deep emotion in the participants’ eyes and words, but also because I actually met this outstanding professor. Two years ago, I attended some lectures he gave about the music festival Woodstock in his course of Anglo-American Literature. I remember how captivated I was by his powerful words, his endless knowledge, and his immense passion. His interdisciplinary explanations connected history, politics, music and cinema with some amusing anecdotes about the famous festival. I remember how he left us with our mouth and eyes wide open and sparked our interest and enthusiasm. What stuck in my mind the most were his precious words at the end of the last class, when he exhorted us to study topics in depth because that was the only way to understand them fully. I embraced these words as a life lesson about the importance of having the courage and the perseverance to look for the real meaning of things. I didn’t have the chance to meet him again after those few classes, but they were enough to realize what a noble spirit he was. (Silvia Franca)
Two issues of this meeting impressed me most. First of all, I was stunned by the strong emotional burden, which I think was the fil rouge that characterized the event. The second aspect that grabbed my attention concerns cultural studies, a field so deeply loved by Sergio Guerra, who believed knowledge to be crucial to the future for all of us. Sergio did not like to show off but preferred to stay humble and encourage people to improve and learn as much as possible. That is how he became a guide and a role model for those who knew him. Furthermore, at the end of Cultura futura, the two editors decided to add an essay handwritten by Sergio Guerra back in 1966. I found this choice so meaningful that I decided to write down this report by hand myself: I made this choice because Sergio worked so hard while teaching at the University of Urbino, that I think a small effort to thank him for what he did is the least I can do. (Giulia Radi)
When I saw the flyer of the event Non doveva essere amore, I thought to myself: “That guy in the picture reminds me of a young rockstar”. It was not just his looks, but also his demeanor that had something about it that instantly made me wonder if I was not looking at a Bruce Springsteen repertoire picture. Self-evidently that young man walking the streets of Melbourne was Sergio Guerra, but, still, I could not get that image out of my head. And now I know why.
Non doveva essere amore (It hadn’t to be love is the original title) tells the story of a young man– Sergio himself– who leaves his small town to escape military service and protest against an institution he does not believe in. Our young protagonist does not fit the typical archetype of the boy who fights the authority just for the sake of it. Indeed, he is a free spirit who refuses restrictions and wants to live on his own terms. He is a young man who leaves his hometown, collects memories, travels the world to stay true to himself and, eventually, to build a deeper relationship with the other. That man is that irreverent and passionate rockstar I first saw in the picture. (Elisa Orsetti)
A free spirit that cannot be constrained by regulations, conventions or boundaries. A free spirit has the courage to believe in his values and act accordingly. A free spirit is guided by a profound idealism. This was Sergio Guerra. As professor Roberto Vecchiarelli said during the conference organized by the publishing house Ventura Edizioni for the book launch of Non doveva essere amore, da Pesaro a Melbourne (via L.A.), Sergio’s life was characterized by a very personal view of space. He lived his life between two spatial polarities: Australia (and, in particular, Melbourne) and Pesaro. On the one hand, Australia satisfied his desire for escape, on the other Pesaro was his small hometown, his comfortable place. Between these two polarities, we find a third place, England, meaningful for his studies and his life experiences. Thanks to his pursuit of freedom, his curiosity and his moral integrity, he was able to find his place(s) in the world. Moreover, the balance between a far and immense Australia and a near and intimate Pesaro gives me the idea of a need to give an order to his life.
As professor Vecchiarelli highlighted, another way in which Sergio expressed his need for freedom was his tendency to leave things uncompleted. However, at the same time, this incompleteness was balanced by Sergio’s accuracy in his studies and by his meticulous writing of playlists, shopping lists, word lists, … again, we could say that the balance between these two opposites underlines Sergio’s need to organize his existence. I’m grateful because this conference gave me another opportunity to meet Sergio. And I’m grateful because I realize that every time I read something about this great professor, author and musician, or I attend an event about him, my fondness and esteem for him multiply. And this is powerful. (Silvia Franca)
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