Writing Colonisation: Violence, Landscape, and the Act of Naming in Modern Italian and Australian Literature

by Sabina Sestigiani

Overview

The book investigates the relation between language, violence, and colonialism through comparing and contrasting selected texts in the Italian and Australian tradition (Dino Buzzati, Ennio Flaiano, Guido Ceronetti, Patrick White, David Malouf, Randolph Stow, and Barbara Baynton) and submitting them to a close analysis.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781433123986
Publisher:	Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
Publication date:	07/31/2014
Series:	Currents in Comparative Romance Languages and Literatures , #220
Pages:	254
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Sabina Sestigiani recived her PhD in Comparative Literature from Monash University. She has published in scholarly journals such as Orbis Litterarum, The Italianist, Studi buzzatiani and Colloquy: Text, Theory, Critique. She lectures in Italian Studies at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.

Table of Contents

Contents: Landscape – The Frontier That Frames the Desert: Dino Buzzati’s Il deserto dei tartari and Patrick White’s Voss – Apparitions in the Desert: Drogo and Voss Meet the Unknown – The Act of Naming – «Silence, the Virtue of Speaking:» David Malouf’s An Imaginary Life – «An Angelic Rape»: Guido Ceronetti’s Difesa della luna e altri argomenti di miseria terrestre – «Le colonie si fanno con la Bibbia alla mano:» Ennio Flaiano’s Tempo di uccidere –Visionaries and Prophets in Barbara Baynton’s «The Chosen Vessel» and Randolph Stow’s Tourmaline.

Editorial Reviews

«This book is a major contribution to the study of a set of selected texts in modern Italian and Australian literature, and to the use of language as an accessory to a positive and ultimately ordained representation of colonialism, hiding issues of conquest, dominion, and exploitation. The great merit of this book is not only that it produces innovative readings of significant literary texts but that it also positions them at the cutting edge of a reappraisal of literature as a useful epistemological instrument to gain access to experiences of colonisation. This is achieved through a critical discourse which is sustained but also engaging, rich, and textured.» (Paolo Bartoloni, Head of Italian Studies, National University of Ireland, Galway)

From the Publisher