Preface
The challenge of organizing the fourth International Conference on Science and Literature in a post-pandemic scenario, after multiple postponements, meetings, videoconferences and other inconveniences, finally became a reality on 30 June to 2 July 2022 in Girona. The effects of the pandemic on webinars, zooms, etc. were felt when it came to confirming the participation of speakers, with a certain tendency to avoid travel and consequent expenses, which made the organization’s task more arduous. In spite of everything, we went ahead to achieve the objective we had set ourselves. Fortunately, the quality of the speakers provided ‘the pillars of wisdom’ that supported and gave shape to the edifice we had sketched out. When the level of the participants is so high, it is difficult to single out the best of the best.
After 3 days of intense work and grateful for the invaluable collaboration and understanding of all the participants, we are satisfied with the result obtained, despite a certain bitter taste due to the perception that the pandemic situation has changed the soul of the Congresses. We hope that videoconferences will remain a type of scientific communication but not the way of communication.
The other great concern or question is how to make the university community, especially the new generations, interested in a multidisciplinary, let us say, Renaissance education, which does not lead them to super-specialization and the creation of isolated worlds without seeing or knowing the relationship between the scientific world and the humanistic world.
In any case, the high quality of the participants at the conference and the depth and complexity of the themes have left a hope of better times and, as Leonard Cohen sings:
We hope that, together, we have created ‘another break in the wall’ (to echo Pink Floyd) to make it more permeable to new ideas and future successful Conferences.
EDITOR’S NOTE: In addition to the articles included in this issue, a further six pieces were recognized by the organizing committee as the most attractive, innovative or surprising, as a sample of the high quality of communications presented. The gifted participants received a painting by José Benítez Montilla (Antequera, Spain, 1963):
Perceptual-literary relation in the meditative poetry of Dominique Sampiero: phenomenon and cognition. Lorenzo Piera Martin (Salamanca University)
Narrative empathy and the fight against gender violence. Isabel Jaén-Portillo (Portland State University)
Parallel universes in superhero comics. Francisco Saez de Adana (Instituto Franklin, Universidad de Alcalá)
Deprivation and attachment in William Faulkner’s Pylon: a Darwinian alternative to the Freudian family. Michael Wainwright (Royal Holloway, University of London)
The idelogical power of blending in Zurita’s Sueños para Kurosawa. Benito García-Valero (Alicante University)
Processes of empathy in Olvido García Valdés’ Poetry. Friederike Foedtke (Christian-Albrechts–Universität zu Kiel)
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Humbert Massegur
Humbert Massegur Solench (Hostalets d’en Bas-Girona, 1955) holds a Medicine and Surgery degree from Barcelona University (1981) and a PhD from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (1989). He was Associated Professor at the School of Medicine of Girona. He is Endoscopic Sinus and Skull Base surgery expert (Team member of the Skull Base Unit of Neuroinstitute Oliver-Ayats Teknon Medical Center and Corachan Medical Center, Barcelona). He was ENT specialist since 1985 working at the Sta Caterina Hospital, Girona (Until 2001) and Hospital Sta Creu i St Pau, Barcelona until 2013. He is also an ENT private practictioner in Teknon Medical Center (Barcelona) and Clínica Bofill (Girona). He has written several articles and book chapters related to the ENT speciality. He has become a guest speaker in many national and international meetings. He has awards from Sociedad Española de ORL, Sociedad Catalana ORL and the ‘Caja de Madrid’ award for the best Doctoral Thesis 1989. He is Honorary Chair of Sciences, Bofill, University of Girona.