- Rewriting and Rereading the XIX and XX-Century Canons
- Edited by Samuele Grassi, Brian Zuccala
Italy and George Gissing: A Geocritical Approach
- Luigi Gussago
- © 2022 Author(s) |
- CC BY 4.0
- DOI: 10.36253/978-88-5518-597-4.10
Victorian novelist George Gissing (1857-1903) was a devotee of ancient Roman culture and visited Italy three times between 1888 and 1897. In spite of this admiration, his relationship with Italy was problematic, largely due to personal mishaps. In light of these conflicting views, my essay considers Gissing’s portrayals of mostly Southern Italian locations through his fiction, letters, and travelogues. The focus lies here not so much on the narrator but on the narrated space, with Bertrand Westphal’s notion of “geocriticism” at its theoretical core. Far from being a utopian haven, Gissing’s Italy emerges as a trans-cultural meeting point where the perception of an “interiorised place” can reshape reality, alter horizons, and redefine established values.
- Keywords:
- Geocriticism,
- Gissing,
- Place,
- Spatiotemporality,
- Westphal,
La Trobe University, Australia - ORCID: 0000-0002-2448-3743
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Chapter Information
Chapter Title
Italy and George Gissing: A Geocritical Approach
Authors
Luigi Gussago
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-597-4.10
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2022
Copyright Information
© 2022 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Bibliographic Information
Book Title
Rewriting and Rereading the XIX and XX-Century Canons
Book Subtitle
Offerings for Annamaria Pagliaro
Editors
Samuele Grassi, Brian Zuccala
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2022
Copyright Information
© 2022 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-597-4
eISBN (pdf)
978-88-5518-597-4
eISBN (xml)
978-88-5518-598-1
Series Title
Biblioteca di Studi di Filologia Moderna
Series E-ISSN
2420-8361