The view from Vesuvius : Italian culture and the southern question / Nelson Moe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Moe, Nelson, 1961-

Series:

Studies on the history of society and culture ; 46.

Studies on the history of society and culture ; 46

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Public opinion--Italy, Northern.

Public opinion.

Stereotypes (Social psychology)--Italy.

Stereotypes (Social psychology).

Italy, Southern--Civilization--Public opinion.

Italy, Southern.

Italy, Southern--Social conditions--19th century--Public opinion.

Italy, Southern--Politics and government--19th century--Public opinion.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 349 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, Calif. : University of California Press, c2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The vexed relationship between the two parts of Italy, often referred to as the Southern Question, has shaped that nation's political, social, and cultural life throughout the twentieth century. But how did southern Italy become "the south," a place and people seen as different from and inferior to the rest of the nation? Writing at the rich juncture of literature, history, and cultural theory, Nelson Moe explores how Italy's Mezzogiorno became both backward and picturesque, an alternately troubling and fascinating borderland between Europe and its others. This finely crafted book shows that the Southern Question is far from just an Italian issue, for its origins are deeply connected to the formation of European cultural identity between the mid-eighteenth and late nineteenth centuries. Moe examines an exciting range of unfamiliar texts and visual representations including travel writing, political discourse, literary texts, and etchings to illuminate the imaginative geography that shaped the divide between north and south. His narrative moves from a broad examination of the representation of the south in European culture to close readings of the literary works of Leopardi and Giovanni Verga. This groundbreaking investigation into the origins of the modern vision of the Mezzogiorno is made all the more urgent by the emergence of separatism in Italy in the 1990's.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction: How Did Southern Italy Become "the South"?

I. Imagining the South. 1750-1850

II. Representing the South in the Risorgimento. 1825-1861

III. Representing the South in Postunification Italy. 1870-1885

Conclusion: What the South Enables Us to Say

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 301-335) and index.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9780520939820

0520939824

9781597349789

159734978X

OCLC:

475928156