Gothic Italy

“In this superb book, Stefano Serafini reconstructs the intimately Gothic fibre of Italian modernity, viewing the Gothic not only as an abjection-related discourse, but also - and primarily - as Italy’s true abject, whose very existence, negated for decades, still haunts our present with the sinister tenacity of spectres. Walpole’s and Radcliffe’s Italy, Serafini suggests, was perhaps not that fictional: thanks to this book, the Gothic is coming home.”–Fabio Camilletti, Professor of Italian Studies, University of Warwick
“Impeccably researched and highly innovative in its conception, Gothic Italy looks afresh at modern Italian culture and narrative production foregrounding the presence of the Gothic in both canonical and marginalized texts. Stefano Serafini reinscribes the Gothic in the Italian literary tradition: crime, violence, horror, and the supernatural intersect in a heady hybrid mix of genres, styles, and narrative modes. The links between the Gothic and the paradoxes of the new Italian nation take centre stage and make for compelling reading.”–Giuliana Pieri, Professor of Italian and the Visual Arts, Royal Holloway University of London
“Gothic Italy is simultaneously a pioneering work in his innovative analysis of hitherto marginalized sources, and the culmination of a resurgence of interest in the Gothic in the field of Italian Studies. By taking into account a vast corpus of literary texts as well as scientific and juridical sources, Stefano Serafini’s book is a journey into the dark, ambiguous cultural roots of contemporary Italy.”–Marco Malvestio, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature, Università degli Studi di Padova
“Stefano Serafini’s engaging study picks up on a renewed critical interest in Gothic literature in the Italian context and, crucially, puts this literature in conversation with medical, legal, and sociological texts as well as police reports - with illuminating results. Focusing on Gothic discourses and representations of the city, of (male) criminal minds and of (inevitably female) criminal bodies, Serafini fashions a new tale of generic cross-contagion. This is, in part, the story of Italy’s troubled process of modernization.”–Ursula Fanning, Professor of Italian Studies, University College Dublin

Stefano Serafini is an assistant professor of comparative literature at the University of Padua.

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