Acknowledgments

These acknowledgements are at the beginning of the book, but they are the last thing I wrote. In a sense, they are the conclusive act of the process that led to the book you are now reading. As in the final scene of 8½ by Federico Fellini, there is a multitude of people who whirl around this project and variously contributed to its advent. So let this miscellaneous carousel begin.

There are two people who mainly shaped my gaze and my ways of thinking. From them I learned to be something that resembles an academic researcher. These two intellectuals are Letizia Caronia and Asta Cekaite. Thank you for the time you dedicated to my development and apprenticeship period. My ways of being a researcher were also influenced by many other scholars. I would like to thank Rosa Pugliese and Rachele Antonini for their engaging ideas, their enthusiasm, and their help throughout the projects I was involved in. More broadly, the whole research consortium of the NEW ABC project made me feel welcome and appreciated. It is a pleasure to work with these easy-going and warm people.

The analytical insights and reflections that you’ll find in this book were also conceived within the data sessions of the Child Interaction Group, which includes Asta Cekaite, Ann-Carita Evaldsson, Matt Burdelski, Mandy Bateman, Polly Björk-Willén, Annukka Pursi, Vivien Heller, Friederike Kern, Younhee Kim, Magnus Karlsson, Olga Anatoli Smith, and Marie Rickert among many others. I also had the pleasure of discussing with Amy Kyratzis and of participating in the Co-operative Action Lab, led by Candy Goodwin – thank you all for your insights and expertise. Eventually, I would like to thank Edda Weigand and the editorial team at John Benjamins for accepting the ‘bet’ of publishing this book.

Being a young researcher in contemporary academia is at times a challenging endeavor. As this book will show, the joys and perils of everyday life are best shared with peers. So, many thanks to my colleagues and friends Vittoria Colla, Federica Ranzani, Monica Simone, Pietro Corazza, Lucilla Tutone, Alessandro D’Altoè, Chiara Montà, Federica Ceccoli. I enjoy working and spending time with you.

And now we come to the real protagonists of the book. The people I owe the greatest debt are the teachers and children who agreed to be vexed by my presence and by an intrusive video camera. Therefore, heartfelt thanks to all teachers who participated in my research projects, and especially to Fernanda Italiano, Nicola Zuccherini, and Sara Alessandro. Thanks to all children who amused us with their wit and energy, Ramil, Ying, Ahsan, Yassin, Kate, Elke, Nora, and all the others. These pseudonyms won’t make me forget your real names and your enthusiasm. Good luck with your life and thank you for letting us understand something about your world.