Italian Gothic
An Edinburgh Companion
Edited by Marco Malvestio, Stefano Serafini
- Offers a new account of the historical developments of Gothic narratives in the Italian context from the second half of the eighteenth century to the present day
- Explores how, and with what implications, the Gothic has infiltrated a variety of media, including poetry, periodicals and magazines, cinema, comics, and music
- Examines some of the major themes of the Italian Gothic, such as the Gothic body, the female Gothic, Gothic criminology, and folk horror and the ecogothic
This companion constitutes the first, systematic theorisation of the Italian Gothic. Through an interdisciplinary, trans-medial approach that encompasses prose fiction, poetry, journalism, film, music, and comics, it explores the varied and complex metamorphoses of the Gothic in Italy from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Although the last thirty years have seen a burgeoning in the academic study of the Gothic at college and university levels and in related publications, scholars have long struggled to even acknowledge the very existence of this mode in the Italian context. This companion does not only fill in a historical and critical gap in the scholarship, but it also contributes to revitalising the field of Gothic Studies, opening new channels of communication, and paving the way to the exploration of the fruitful interchanges between Italian and other European and American configurations of the Gothic.
Acknowledgements‘Introduction. “A systemic disorder, an extravagant research, and an abjuration of common sense”: Defining the Italian Gothic’, Marco Malvestio and Stefano Serafini
Part I: History1. ‘Gothic Beginnings: 1764–1827’, Fabio Camilletti2. ‘The Gothic and the Historical Novel: 1828–1860’, Morena Corradi3. ‘Early Developments: 1861–1914’, Stefano Serafini4. ‘The Age of Permutations: 1915–1956’, Fabrizio Foni5. ‘The Golden Age of the Gothic: 1957–1979’, Roberto Curti6. ‘The Decline of the Gothic: 1980–2020’, Marco Malvestio
Part II: Media7. ‘Gothic Poetry’, Simona Di Martino8. ‘The Gothic in Periodicals and Magazines’, Fabrizio Foni9. ‘Gothic Cinema’, Giulio Giusti10. ‘Comics and the Gothic’, Fabio Camilletti11. ‘Gothic Music’, Eduardo Vitolo
Part III: Themes12. ‘The Gothic Body’, Catherine Ramsey-Portolano13. ‘The Female Gothic’, Francesca Billiani14. ‘Gothic Criminology’, Stefano Serafini15. ‘Ecogothic and Folk Horror’, Marco Malvestio.
This imaginatively conceived volume is impeccable in its scholarship, and opens up new ways of thinking about Italian culture in the past two centuries. It does so with great critical insight and panache, dispelling long-held critical prejudices against the Gothic as genre and mode, and unsettling canonical views and critical frameworks. The volume makes for rich and compelling reading.
