Acknowledgements

I consider myself very lucky. The list of names that appear in this section demonstrates how lucky I am to have such a great network of colleagues, friends and family members who made this editorial project possible. Let me thank all of them.

I am very grateful to several amazing colleagues: Tommaso Caselli, Pia Sommerauer, Phil Wicke, Francesca Strik Lievers, Valentina Cuccio, Francesca Citron and Ludovica Serratrice, for the fruitful discussions, exchanges of ideas and materials, which helped me developing the arguments and ideas in.

I am thankful to two anonymous reviewers who provided very helpful and constructive feedback throughout the process, and to the CELCR series editors, Ninke Stukker and Kris Heylen for their collaboration and kindness, as well as to Esther Roth from the Editorial Staff at Benjamins, for her constant support.

I am thankful to my creative and skillful friend Nate Laffan, excellent graphic designer, for realizing the elegant figures in Chapters 2, 4 and 5. And to my friend Eliza Jane Nash, who patiently proofread the whole manuscript.

Moreover, as I am writing I am 8.5 months into my second pregnancy. I am very thankful to Nora Grace, my daughter, soon due. I thank her for her patience in listening to endless tracks of Brian Eno and other instrumental music in the past weeks, while I finalized this manuscript. I look forward to meeting her soon. I am also very grateful to Sean Giordano, my first son, who will be a protective, respectful and fun older brother. His patience (as 5 years old) and understanding are admirable. Finally, I am immensely thankful to Mike, my love.