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Towards a Unified Italy

Historical, Cultural, and Literary Perspectives on the Southern Question

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Salvatore DiMaria

    1. University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

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  • Examines the cultural and socioeconomic divide between Northern and Southern Italy from unification in 1860 to the present day
  • Re-evaluates the narratives that have fueled the North-South divide from cultural, literary, and historical perspectives
  • Offers new insight into post-unification Italy and Italian national identity

Part of the book series: Italian and Italian American Studies (IIAS)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
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  2. Introduction: The Southern Question

    • Salvatore DiMaria
    Pages 1-27

  3. In Defense of Garibaldi

    • Salvatore DiMaria
    Pages 29-54

  4. Brigands: Criminals or Patriots?

    • Salvatore DiMaria
    Pages 55-84

  5. The Underdeveloped South

    • Salvatore DiMaria
    Pages 85-109

  6. Emigration

    • Salvatore DiMaria
    Pages 111-138

  7. Italy’s Scourge: The Four Mafias

    • Salvatore DiMaria
    Pages 139-171

  8. A Failed Reconstruction

    • Salvatore DiMaria
    Pages 173-199

  9. Toward Making the Italians

    • Salvatore DiMaria
    Pages 201-227

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 229-263
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Keywords

About this book

Since unification in 1860, Italy has remained bitterly divided between the rich North and the underdeveloped South. This book examines the historical, literary, and cultural contexts that have informed and inflamed the debate on the Southern Question for over a century. It brings together analysis of cinema, literature, and newspaper archives to reconsider the myths and stereotypes that both Northerners and Southerners deploy in their narratives. Salvatore DiMaria offers a masterful assessment of the entangled issues that have produced the South’s image as impoverished and backwards, such as organized crime, illiteracy, and mass emigration. Documenting the state’s largely failed efforts to bring the South into its socio-economic fold, DiMaria also points to the future, arguing that the European Union and globalization are transformative forces that may finally produce a unified Italy.

Reviews

“This book brings deep scholarship and insight to bear upon the Southern Question as no previous work has done before. A groundbreaking study that moves between North and South and between culture, history, cinema, and politics to address complex cultural issues such as criminality, emigration, and illiteracy.” (Michael Lettieri, Professor of Italian Studies, University of Toronto, Canada)

“A much-needed reassessment of the long-held myth that Italy is an irredeemably divided nation. In deft, captivating prose, Salvatore DiMaria offers insights into a number of key issues in post-unified Italy and its political economy.” (Eugenia Paulicelli, Professor of Italian Studies and Comparative Literature, Queens College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, USA)

Authors and Affiliations

  • University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

    Salvatore DiMaria

About the author

Salvatore DiMaria is Professor of Italian at the University of Tennessee, USA.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Towards a Unified Italy

  • Book Subtitle: Historical, Cultural, and Literary Perspectives on the Southern Question

  • Authors: Salvatore DiMaria

  • Series Title: Italian and Italian American Studies

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90766-6

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-90765-9Published: 31 July 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-08094-5Published: 19 January 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-90766-6Published: 18 July 2018

  • Series ISSN: 2635-2931

  • Series E-ISSN: 2635-294X

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 263

  • Number of Illustrations: 8 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: History of Italy, Modern History, Cultural History, Social History

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