The Geopoetics of Catastrophe
Russian Modernism on Italian Terrain
Seiten
2026
University of Toronto Press (Verlag)
978-1-4875-8325-5 (ISBN)
University of Toronto Press (Verlag)
978-1-4875-8325-5 (ISBN)
- Noch nicht erschienen (ca. Oktober 2026)
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The Geopoetics of Catastrophe presents an alternative view of Russia’s Italy – one that unsettles its reputation as “another motherland” and as a site of art and culture, not nature.
For the Russian modernists, Italy’s cataclysmic terrain proved no less arresting than its art and culture. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and the ruinous effects of tourism: these are the disasters that haunt their writings on Italy. Situated at the nexus of ecocriticism and aesthetics, The Geopoetics of Catastrophe posits that environmental upheaval was a potent force in the artistic engagement with Italy.
Following an itinerary that spans from Etna to Vesuvius, this study uncovers the devastated Italy found in the works of such writers as Alexander Blok, Joseph Brodsky, Zinaida Gippius, Maxim Gorky, Vladislav Khodasevich, and Vladimir Nabokov. Subject to the vagaries of Russian and world history, these authors were drawn to the many disasters that ravaged the Italian landscape. Italy became a critical site for mapping Russian cultural anxieties amid the social and political upheavals of the twentieth century. It inspired a transnational strain of writing rooted not in Europe’s metropolitan centres but rather in the destructive energies of the continent’s southern periphery.
By focusing on this realm of the imagination, this work shows that many of the key features of modern Russian literary culture were shaped by Italy’s perilous and imperilled terrain. The book expands the scope of Russian environmental criticism beyond the borders of the nation, outlining a geopoetics that reflects the breadth of geography, the depth of geology, and the creativity of poetics.
For the Russian modernists, Italy’s cataclysmic terrain proved no less arresting than its art and culture. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and the ruinous effects of tourism: these are the disasters that haunt their writings on Italy. Situated at the nexus of ecocriticism and aesthetics, The Geopoetics of Catastrophe posits that environmental upheaval was a potent force in the artistic engagement with Italy.
Following an itinerary that spans from Etna to Vesuvius, this study uncovers the devastated Italy found in the works of such writers as Alexander Blok, Joseph Brodsky, Zinaida Gippius, Maxim Gorky, Vladislav Khodasevich, and Vladimir Nabokov. Subject to the vagaries of Russian and world history, these authors were drawn to the many disasters that ravaged the Italian landscape. Italy became a critical site for mapping Russian cultural anxieties amid the social and political upheavals of the twentieth century. It inspired a transnational strain of writing rooted not in Europe’s metropolitan centres but rather in the destructive energies of the continent’s southern periphery.
By focusing on this realm of the imagination, this work shows that many of the key features of modern Russian literary culture were shaped by Italy’s perilous and imperilled terrain. The book expands the scope of Russian environmental criticism beyond the borders of the nation, outlining a geopoetics that reflects the breadth of geography, the depth of geology, and the creativity of poetics.
Jenifer Presto is an associate professor of comparative literature at the University of Oregon.
Illustrations
Note on Transliteration
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Italy and Grounds for a Modernist Geopoetics
Chapter 1: Slow Catastrophe: Taormina and Staging Ruin
Chapter 2: Fault Lines: Messina and the Decadent Sublime
Chapter 3: Global Tectonics: Italy and World Revolution
Chapter 4: Unsettling: Sorrento and the Exilic Uncanny
Chapter 5: Afterglow: Pompeii and the Nuclear Romance
Coda: Lingering Impressions on Italian Terrain
Bibliography
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 27.10.2026 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 35 illustrations |
| Verlagsort | Toronto |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Gewicht | 1 g |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Anthologien |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte | |
| Technik ► Umwelttechnik / Biotechnologie | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-4875-8325-7 / 1487583257 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-4875-8325-5 / 9781487583255 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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