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World Literature and Its Times World Literature and Its Times Profiles of Notable Literary Works and the Historical Events That Influenced Them Volume 7: Italian Literature and Its Times Joyce Moss, Editor Product Manager Meggin Condino Editorial Sara Constantakis, Michael L. LaBlanc, Gillian Leonard, Ira Mark Milne Permissions Margaret Abendroth, Kim Smilay Imaging and Multimedia Lezlie Light, Michael Logusz, Dan Newell, Christine O’Bryan Image Acquisition Denay Wilding Manufacturing Rhonda Dover Copyright © 2005 by Joyce Moss Gale, an imprint of Cengage Learning, Inc., a division of Cengage Learning Inc. Gale and Design and Cengage Learning are trademarks used herein under license. ISBN 0-7876-3725-4 For more information, contact The Gale Group, Inc. 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, Ml 48331-3535 Or you can visit our Internet site at http://www.gale.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. For permission to use material from this product, submit your request via Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions , or you may download our Permissions Request form and submit your request by fax or mail to: Permissions Department Gale, an imprint of Cengage Learning, Inc. 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, Ml 48331-3535 Permissions Hotline: 248-699-8006 or 800-877-4253, ext. 8006 Fax: 248-699-8074 or 800-762-4058 While every effort has been made to ensure the reliability of the information presented in this publication, Gale, an imprint of Cengage Learning, Inc. does not guarantee the accuracy of the data contained herein. Gale, an imprint of Cengage Learning, Inc. accepts no payment for listing; and inclusion in the publication of any organization, agency, institution, publication, service, or individual does not imply endorsement of the editors or publisher. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Moss, Joyce, 1951Italian literature and its times / Joyce Moss. p. cm. – (World literature and its times; v. 7) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7876-3725-4 (hardcover: alk. paper) 1. Italian literature–History and criticism. 2. Literature and history–Italy. I. Title. PQ4038.M67 2005 850.9’358–dc22 2005015914 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 Contents Preface vii Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii Chronology of Relevant Events xvii Contents by Title xxxi Contents by Author Image Credits Entries Index xxxiii xxxv 1 503 v General Preface T he world at the dawn of the twenty-first century is a shrinking sphere. Innovative modes of transmission make communication from one continent to another virtually instantaneous, quickening the development of an increasingly global society, heightening the urgency of the need for mutual understanding. At the foundation of World Literature and Its Times is the belief that within a people's literature are keys to their perspectives, their emotions, and the formative events that have brought them to the present point. As manifested in their literary works, societies experience phenomena that are in some respects universal and in other respects tied to time and place. Italo Calvino's The Path to the Spiders' Nest, a novel set in Italy during the Second World War, and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, a play set at an unspecified time and place but reflective of events in World War II France, both draw on popular Resistance movements to the Nazi war effort. Yet while they reflect the same phenomenon, a close look at the two works and the related historical developments reveals differences that are indeed tied to time and place. In much the same way, Rosario Fere's "The Youngest Doll," a short story set in mid-twentieth-century Puerto Rico, and Furugh Farrukhzad's "The Mechanical Doll," a poem set in mid-twentiethcentury Iran, both concern the limitations placed on the female population of their respective societies. While even the titles suggest a similarity, in this case too an informed reading of the two works reveals illuminating differences. World Literature and Its Times regards both fiction and nonfiction as rich mediums for recognizing the differences as well as the similarities among people and societies. In its view, full understanding of a literary work demands attention to events and attitudes of the period in which it takes place and of the one in which it is written. The series therefore examines novels, short stories, biographies, essays, speeches, poems, and plays by contextualizing a given work within these two periods. Each volume covers some 50 literary works that span a mix of centuries and genres. The literary work itself takes center stage, with its contents determining which issuessocial, political, psychological, economic, or cultural—are covered. The entry on a literary work discusses the relevant issues apart from the work, making connections to it when merited and allowing for comparisons between the literary and the historical realities. Close attention is given to the work as well, in the interest of extracting historical understandings from it. Of course, the function of literature is not necessarily to represent history accurately. Nevertheless, the images and ideas promoted by a powerful literary work—be it Marco Polo's narrative The Travels of Marco Polo (set in China and Southeast Asia), Jose Hernandez's poem The Gaucho Martin Fierro (set in Argentina), Isak Dinesen's memoir Out of Africa (Kenya), or William Shakespeare's play Macbeth (Scotland)—leave impressions commonly taken to be historical. In taking literature as fact, one risks acquiring a vii I Preface viii mistaken notion of history. The gaucho of Argentina is a case in point, having inspired poetry by non-gauchos whose verse conveys a highly romanticized image of these cowboylike nomads, albeit one that includes some realistic details. To adjust for such discrepancies, this series distinguishes between fact and its literary reworkings. On the other hand, literary works can broaden our understanding of history. They are able to convey more than the cut-and-dried record by portraying events in a way that captures the fears and challenges of a period or that draws attention to groups of people who are generally left out of standard histories. Many of the literary works covered in this series—from Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote (Spain) to Nelson Mandela's "The Rivonia Trial Speech" (South Africa)—draw attention to elements of society that have been neglected in standard histories. This is well illustrated by writings about women in wartime, from Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate (Mexico) to Isak Dinesen's Out of Africa (Kenya), Elizabeth Bowen's The Heat of the Day (Britain), Hanan alShaykh's The Story of Zahra (Lebanon), and Elsa Morante's History: A Novel (Italy). As illustrated by these works, literature in various societies engages in a vigorous dialog with mainstream texts, offering alternative perspectives. In fact, many of the works covered in this series feature characters and ideas that counter deeply ingrained stereotypes, from Friar Bartolome de las Casas's A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (mid-1500s Latin America) to Mongo Beti's Mission to Kola (mid-1900s Cameroon Republic). Even nonfiction must be anchored in its place and time to derive its full value. Jose Ortega y Gasset's set of essays Meditations on Quixote concerns itself with the search for Spanish identity in light of recent imperial losses and in relation to a European philosophy of the day. Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz is the memoir of a victim of Fascist anti-Semitism in Italy, trying to process his experience as a survivor of the Holocaust. A third entry, on Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth (about the merits of violence), considers his views as an outgrowth of the ravages in colonial Algeria. The task of reconstructing the historical context of a literary work can be problematic. An author may present events out of chronological order, as Mexico's Carlos Fuentes does in The Death of Artemio Cruz, Or a work may feature a legendary character that defies attempts to fit her or him into a strict time slot. The heroic queen in The Arabian Nights, who puts a stop to her king's execution of an unfortunate series of wives, is one such character. In the first case, World Literature and Its Times unscrambles the plot, providing a linear rendering of events and associated historical developments. In the second, the series profiles customs and background information particular to the culture at the times the epic is set and written, arming the reader with details that inform the hero's adventures. The approach sheds light on the relationship between fact and fiction, both of which are shown to provide insight into a people and their epic heritage. As always, the approach is taken with a warm appreciation for the beauty of a literary work independent of the related historical facts, but also in the belief that ultimate regard is shown for that work by placing it in the context of pertinent events. Beyond this underlying belief, the World Literature and Its Times series is founded on the notion that a command of world literature bolsters knowledge of the writings produced by one's own society. Long before the present century, writers from different locations influenced one another through trends and strategies in their literatures. In our postcolonial age, such crossfertilization has quickened. Latin American literature, having been influenced by Spanish trends, among others, itself influences Chinese writers of today. Likewise, Italy's and Africa's literary traditions have affected and been affected by France's, and the same relationship holds true for the writings of Spain and Germany, and of India and Great Britain. The degree of such literary intermixture promises only to multiply given our increasingly global society. In the process, world literatures and their landmark texts gain even greater significance, attaining the potential to promote understanding not only of others, but also of ourselves. The Selection of Literary Works The works covered in World Literature and Its Times 7: Italian Literature and Its Times have been carefully selected by professors in the field at the universities listed in the Acknowledgements. Keeping the literature-history connection in mind, the team chose titles for inclusion based on a combination of factors: how frequently a literary work is studied, how closely it is tied to pivotal events in the past or present, and how strong and enduring its appeal has been to readers in and out of the society that produced it. Attention has been paid to literary works that have met with critical and/or popular acclaim, from the inception of Italian literature in the thirteenth century to the present. There has also been a careful effort to represent female as well as male authors, to cover a mix of genres, and to treat literary works that depict the experiences of different regions of the country and elements of the population, including recent immigrants from, for example, Africa. The literary works were furthermore limited to those that have been already translated into English. There are, of course, many more valuable works of Italian literature than one could include in the volume. The inclusion of the selected list of works at the expense of these others has been made with the above-detailed concerns in mind. Format and Arrangement of Entries The volumes in World Literature and Its Times are arranged geographically. Within each volume, the collection is arranged alphabetically by title of the literary work. The setting of a literary work appears at the beginning of the entry. Each entry is organized as follows: 1. Introduction—provides identifying information in three parts: The literary work—specifies the genre of a work, the place and time period in which it is set, when it was written and/or first published, and when it was first translated into English; also provided is the title of the work in its original language. Synopsis—summarizes the storyline or contents of the work. Introductory paragraph—introduces the literary work in relation to the author's life. 2. Events in History at the Time the Literary Work Takes Place—describes social and political events that relate to the plot or contents of the literary work. The section may discuss background information as well as relevant events during the period in which the work is set. The subsections in this section vary, depending on the particular literary work. In general, the section takes a deductive approach, starting with events in history and telescoping inward to events in the literary work. 3. The Literary Work in Focus—summarizes the plot or contents of the literary work in detail, describes how it illuminates history, and identifies sources used to generate the work and the literary context sur- rounding it. The section begins with a detailed plot or contents summary, followed by a subsection on an aspect of the work that illuminates our understanding of events or attitudes of the period. This subsection takes an inductive approach, starting with the literary work and broadening outward to events in history. A third subsection specifies sources that inspired elements of the work and discusses its literary context, or relation to other works. Preface 4. Events in History at the Time the Literary Work Was Written—describes social, political, and/or literary events in the author's lifetime that relate to the plot or contents of a work. Also discussed in this section are the reviews or reception accorded the literary work. 5. For More Information—provides a list of all sources that have been cited in the entry as well as sources for further reading about the issues or personalities that have been highlighted in the entry. If a literary work is set and written in the same time period, sections 2 and 4 of the entry on that work ("Events in History at the Time the Literary Work Takes Place" and "Events in History at the Time the Literary Work Was Written") are combined into the single section "Events in History at the Time of the Literary Work." Additional Features Relevant primary-source material appears where appropriate in the text and in sidebars. Other sidebars provide historical details that amplify issues raised in the text and anecdotes that promote understanding of the temporal context. At the front of the volume is a set of timelines that presents a historical overview of the society or societies featured in a volume. The timelines are correlated to the literary works treated in the volume. Timelines also appear within entries to summarize intricate periods of history. Finally, historically relevant illustrations enrich and further clarify information in the entries. Comments and Suggestions Your comments on this series and suggestions for future editions are welcome. Please write: Editors, World Literature and Its Times, Thomson Gale, 27500 Drake Road, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331-3535. IX Acknowledgments orld Literature and Its Times 7: Italian Literature and Its Times is a collaborative effort that evolved through a series of stages, each monitored by experts in the fields of Italian literature and history. Deep appreciation is extended to Professor Barbara Zecchi of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for her invaluable guidance at every stage of the development, from the selection of literary works to the review of entries, illustrations, and front matter. A special note of gratitude is also extended to Professors Geoffrey Symcox of the University of California at Los Angles and Claudio Fogu at the University of California at Santa Barbara for their monitoring of the accuracy of historical details throughout the volume. Professor with expertise in particular authors and literary works reviewed the manuscripts of the selected entries. The editors express appreciation to the following professors for their examination of the entries to insure accuracy and completeness of the information conveyed. Andrea Baldi, Rutgers University, Department of Italian Franco Betti, University of California at Los Angeles, Department of Italian Susanna Ferlito, University of Minnesota, French and Italian Department Claudio Fogu, University of California at Santa Barbara, Department of French and Italian Stephanie Jed, University of California at San Diego, Department of Italian Studies W Carol Lazzaro-Weis, University of MissouriColumbia, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures Edwin McCann, University of Southern California, School of Philosophy Karen Pinkus, University of Southern California, Departments of French and Italian and Comparative Literature Lucia Re, University of California at Los Angeles, Department of Italian Franco Ricci, University of Ottawa, Modern Languages and Literatures Margaret F. Rosenthal, University of Southern California, Department of French and Italian Risa Sodi, Yale University, Italian Department Geoffrey Symcox, University of California at Los Angeles, Department of History Barbara Zecchi, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures For their painstaking research and composition, the editors thank the writers whose names appear at the close of the entries they contributed. A complete listing follows: Robert D. Aguirre, Professor, Wayne State University Loredana Anderson-Tirro, Senior Language Lecturer, New York University Sarah Annunziato, Ph.D. candidate, Gilman Fellow, Johns Hopkins University ^ AcknowledgI ments Andrea Baldi, Associate Professor, Rutgers University Amy Boylan, Visiting Assistant Professor, Colorado College Carlo Celli, Associate Professor, Bowling Green State University Gary Cestaro, Associate Professor, DePaul University Elena Coda, Assistant Professor, Purdue University Terri DeYoung, Associate Professor, University of Washington at Seattle Jacqualine Dyess, Lecturer, University of North Texas Flora Ghezzo, Assistant Professor, Columbia University Nicoleta Ghisas, Ph.D. candidate, Johns Hopkins University Martin Griffin, Lecturer, Pomona College Margherita Heyer-Caput, Associate Professor, University of California at Davis Rebecca Hopkins, Ph.D. candidate, University of California at Los Angeles Martha King, Lecturer, University of Maryland— European Division Pamela S. Loy, Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara; professional writer Diane R. Mannone, M.A. candidate, California State University at Dominguez Hills Paolo Matteucci, Ph.D. candidate, University of Southern California Jorge Minguell, Ph.D. candidate, Johns Hopkins University Valerie Mirshak, Ph.D. candidate, Johns Hopkins University I xii Letizia Modena, Ph.D. candidate, Johns Hopkins University Maria Laura Mosco, Ph.D. candidate, University of Toronto Arndt Niebisch, Ph.D. candidate, Johns Hopkins University Courtney K. Quaintance, Ph.D. candidate, University of Chicago David D. Roberts, Albert Berry Saye Professor of History, University of Georgia Federica Santini, Lecturer, University of California at Los Angeles Tiziana Serafini, Ph.D. candidate, University of California at Los Angeles Risa Sodi, Senior Lecturer and Italian Language Program Director, Yale University Elissa Tognozzi, Lecturer/Director of Italian Language Studies, University of California at Los Angeles Cristina Villa, Ph.D. candidate, University of California at Los Angeles Colin Wells, M.A., Oxford University; professional writer Petra Wirth, Adjunct Lecturer, University of Arizona Laura Wittman, Assistant Professor, Stanford University A final note of gratitude is extended to Michael L. LaBlanc of Thomson Gale for his careful editing and co-ordination of copy and illustrations, and to Anne Leach, who indexed the volume with great sensitivity to readers and subject matter. Lastly the editors thank Lisa Granados, Danielle Price, Lorraine Valestuk, and Monica Riordan for their skillful execution of the editing, proofreading, and word processing. Introduction 7 Italy" chants a despairing Petrarch in a poem that he penned some 500 years before Italy became a unified nation. Then the area was just a collection of separate regions with a common memory. Resounding from Tuscany, his lament invoked a single name for the already long-disunited regions— Italia—an ancient appellation for territory that once formed the heart of the Roman Empire and that roughly corresponds to Italy today. Remarkably, for 1400 years, from the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 C.E. to unification in 1861, the regions remained separate yet conceived elements of a national identity. Fundamental to this achievement was a common literary language in a land of multiple dialects. Italy's is a history of dramatic extremes. Its regions continually sought to recapture the cultural and political heights scaled by the Roman Empire even as they suffered invasions and domination by outsiders. After the Empire's definitive fall as a result of the Ostrogoth invasion in 476, the area succumbed to centuries of devastating warfare, including battles between the Goths and the Byzantine Empire, and invasions from the north by the Lombards, a semi-nomadic people who conquered the northern and central Italian Peninsula in 569. The Lombards mostly respected local custom, even assimilating with the surrounding populace, but they never conquered the whole territory. The Byzantines remained in Sicily, in much of the South, and in Venice, while the popes kept Rome and its environs under "M Church control. Italia fell subject to a fragmented existence that would ensue for centuries. In the North, the Lombards established somewhat centralized political structures on the foundation of those left by the Romans, and a degree of stability ensued. Meanwhile, the Arabs began to conquer the far less stable South in 827. Under Arab rule, Sicily in particular prospered for a time. New technical and cultural inventions were introduced, and Palermo became a vibrant intellectual and artistic center. From his vantage point in the country's center, the pope kept a worried eye on the Arab threat, responding to both it and renewed Lombard expansion by calling in the Franks to defend papal interests. The Prankish leader, Charlemagne, went on to claim the northern peninsula, attaching it to his empire, and becoming an absentee ruler, a common role in the northern and central regions. All of the fragmentation and absentee rule helped render northern and central Italy ripe for the growth of independent urban centers in the tenth and eleventh centuries. These regions saw the rise of the communes, self-governing, republican cities, ruled not by foreigners but by influential families of insiders, with a role for representative councils and popular assemblies. The communes faded in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as large cities incorporated smaller ones—Milan swept Pavia into its fold; Venice conquered Padua. Some of the prominent cities grew into states, which often fell under the xiii I Introduction xiv sway of local notables who turned despotic. By the end of the fourteenth century, a still fragmented Italy boasted five major states—the Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Florence, the Papal States, and the Kingdom of Naples—with large stretches of land falling outside their domain. It was in one of these outside areas that literature in an Italian vernacular was born. Sicily had by this time passed from Arab rule to Norman (French) domination, then to Aragonese (Spanish) rule. The Normans had isolated the Italian South from foreign contact, stymieing trade while the North engaged in it, turning into the more prosperous region. The two regions developed along separate, interdependent paths, with the agrarian South furnishing raw materials (wool, grain, etc.) to an increasingly urban and commercial North. When the Normans had the South re-instate the feudal system, which had been dying out in the North, they only widened the regional gap, which still plagues Italy today. On the other hand, for a glorious half century, a Norman descendant, Frederick II (1194-1250), ruled Sicily in intellectual style, his court at Palermo drawing an energetic circle of writers and thinkers from the immediate vicinity, from the North, and from other European lands, giving rise to the first poets to write in an Italian vernacular. Called the Sicilian School, their verse centered on refined love. It is these early-thirteenth-century Sicilian poets whom scholars credit with the start of the Italian literary tradition. Some 20-odd court poets established a common literary language based on the Sicilian dialect with a few Tuscan and French influences. Their activities greatly affected the next step forward in the emergence of a distinctly Italian literature, the poets of the dolce stil novo (sweet new style), represented in this volume by Guido Guinizzelli and Guido Cavalcanti. Guinizzelli and Cavalcanti brought fresh direction to love poetry, writing in their own vernaculars (the dialects of Bologna and Florence, respectively). Soon after, in the early fourteenth century, Dante Alighieri codified a literary language based on the Italian vernaculars, blending together elements from various dialects (mainly Tuscan and Sicilian) in his Divine Comedy, a multifaceted poem on earthly and spiritual matters that far exceeded its predecessors in style and content. Dante is credited not only with establishing a standardized literary language but also with setting a new standard for a literature preoccupied at once with the local and universal, with fleeting Italian events and perennial religious/philosophical concerns. From then on, Italy developed a cultural preoccupation with recalling and sorting out its historical experiences through literature. Writers produced works about timely experiences, from the first crusade (Jerusalem Delivered), to the bubonic plague (The Betrothed), domination by Napoleon Bonaparte (The Last Letters ofjacopo Ortis), Unification (The Leopard), Fascism (The Conformist), and latetwentieth-century immigration (Moor Harlequin's 22 Misfortunes). Also they generated poems, novels, plays, epistles, and essays that treated intimate, timeless human questions and emotions. The two preoccupations resulted in a mix of the universal and the particular worthy of Dante, as shown by a listing of some of the issues that resurface across the seven centuries of Italian literature and suggest other elements (beyond language) of a national identity: The power of love (sacred and profane) Guinizzelli's and Cavalcanti's Stil Novo Poetry (late 1200s); Stampa's Rime (1554); D'Annunzio's Child of Pleasure (1889); De Cespedes's The Secret (1952) Gender relations, feminism and sexuality Franco's Poems in Terze Rime (1575); Goldoni's Mirandolina, or The Mistress of the Inn (1753); Aleramo's A Woman (1906) Political and social behavior Castiglione's The Book of the Courtier (1528); Machiavelli's The Prince (1532); Moravia's The Conformist (1957); Martinelli's Moor Harlequin's 22 Misfortunes (1993) Resistance and protest (priests, foreigners, Fascists) Manzonfs The Betrothed (1840), Gramsci's Letters from Prison (1947); Fo's We Won't Pay! We Won't Pay! (1974); Calvino's The Path to the Spider's Nest (1947) The relationship between art and life Cellini's My Life (1728); Boccaccio's The Decameron (1349-51); Pirandello's 5bc Characters in Search of an Author (1921); Band's Artemisia (1947) The Church, the Inquisition, and religion Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered (1560-81); Levi's Survival in Auschwitz (1947); Eco's The Name of the Rose (1980); Maraini's The Silent Duchess (1990) Self-scrutiny and the search for meaning Svevo's Zeno's Conscience (1923); Croce's History as the Story of Liberty (1938); Leopardi's Canti (1845); Ungaretti's Life of a Man (1916-1970) South versus North/Southern life Verga's House by the Medlar Tree (1881); Deledda's Ashes (1904); Camillieri's Excursion to Tindari (2000) Patriotism and heroism/Unification Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1516); Foscolo's The Last Letters ofjacopo Ortis (1802); Collodi's The Adventures of Pinocchio (188283); Tomasi di Lampedusa's The Leopard (1958) Literature as documentation Polo's The Travels of Marco Polo (1299); Vico's New Science (1744); Casanova's The Duel (1780); Morante's History: A Novel (1974) Innovations in language and form Dante's The Divine Comedy (1315); Marinetti's The Futurist Manifesto (1909); Ungaretti's Life of a Man (1916-1970); The Poetry of Eugenio Montale (1925, 1939, 1956); Gadda's Acquainted with Grief (1963) The age-old issue of Italian political life comes to the fore in Machiavelli's The Prince, written during the Renaissance. Italia, this country that was not yet a country, led the European way in the rebirth of classical thought during the late fourteenth century, "rediscovering" artistic and philosophic treasures of antiquity, which the Byzantines had been preserving in the East. The efforts of Petrarch and a few other Italians touched off the humanist movement, which reoriented the worldview in the West. Though deeply Christian, the early humanists shifted intellectual enquiry away from theology, which had dominated medieval thinking, to the works of ancient Greece and Rome. The quest was for guidance from the ancient works on how to live an active, fully engaged life rather than one steeped in contemplation, as had been espoused in the Middle Ages. Also the humanists sought to recover a linguistic elegance in Latin expression, which the medieval writers appeared to have lost. Humanism stressed grammar, rhetoric, moral philosophy, history, and poetry, as well as faith in human potential and will. The focus gave rise to innovative artistic and scientific works in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, commissioned to enhance the status of a family or city and appreciated as wondrous human creations in themselves. Individual Italians reached new artistic heights, designing the world's largest dome (Brunelleschi, 1434), sculpting a David (Michelangelo, 15011504) in marble and a Persus (Cellini, 1545-54) in bronze, painting the Mona Lisa (Da Vinci, 150306), and writing epic poetry such as Ariosto's Or- lando Furioso (1516) or a revolutionary essay like Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632), which, to the horror of Church censors, argued that the solar system was sun- and not earth-centered. Galileo was forced to recant. From the early 1500s to the mid-1800s, Spain, Austria, France and then again Austria dominated various parts of the peninsula. Italians were at first heartened by the French Revolution and Napoleon's subsequent 1796 invasion of their territory, then crushed by the disappointments of his rule, his fall in 1814, and the Restoration of Austrian control over key parts of the North (Lombardy and Venetia). All the turmoil nurtured an intense patriotism, aided and abetted by literary works that prompted interest in a unified Italy and that addressed the unhappy developments. Italian literature entered its Romantic age, which featured poetry and fiction that took a self-critical look at events of the present and past (Foscolo's The Last Letters ofjacopo Ortis, Leopardi's Canti, Manzonfs Betrothed). After the fall of Napoleon, Italy entered into the long process of unification known as the Risorgimento. Progressing in fits and starts, it lasted for more than half a century, from 1815 to 1871. But only in the final decade did Italy actually become a unified kingdom, when a major northern state, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, annexed six other states—Lombardy-Venetia, the Duchy of Parma, the Duchy of Modena, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Papal States, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Sicily and the southern mainland)—to form the Kingdom of Italy. The infant nation became a constitutional monarchy under Piedmont-Sardinia's King Victor Emmanuel II, and there began a difficult synthesis of political, social, and cultural life in the longdisunited regions. Key was the reconstruction of a common past that all of the newly incorporated Italians could point to with pride, a task for the infant nation's intellectuals. Rising to the occasion, Francesco De Sanctis published a History of Italian Literature (1870), which presented Unification as an event long foreshadowed in the works of such cultural heroes as Dante, Petrarch, Machiavelli, Leopardi, and Manzoni. The language question resurfaced. While literary Italian, based on the Florentine dialect used by Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, had been formally established in the sixteenth century, there was no common spoken language. Dialects were still the primary mode of communication. Manzoni, author of The Betrothed, lobbied for the Florentine dialect of his day to serve as the basis of Introduction xv Introduction xvi the national language, and indeed it became the official spoken language, but dialects persisted, entering print and visual media (as Sicilian dialect does in Excursion to Tindari). Besides constructing a common language and cultural history, the nation's founders set out to instill general values into the citizenry, especially the youth, a primary goal of Carlo Collodfs Pinocchio (1881). Others despaired over the failed promise of female liberation from the domestic sphere (Teresa [1886]), over the stubbornly persistent divide between life in the North and South (The Leopard [1958]), and over political corruption and organized crime in Italian life (Excursion to Tindari [2000]). Still others struggled to free the land from its ancient Roman legacy and past glories enough to establish a modern presence. In The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism (1909), F. T. Marinetti rejects tradition and introduces a new genre—the manifesto—touching off a movement that spread beyond Italy's borders, exhibiting the same penchant for innovation that his literary forbears demonstrated. Taken far more seriously, Italy's leading thinker of the day, Benedetto Croce, wrote essays that were likewise heeded beyond Italian borders. Italy meanwhile participated in global developments: the labor movement, feminism, socialism, nationalism, empire building, and a world war. In the post-World War I era, Italy became a polarized society. Conflict erupted between Bolshevik-style revolutionaries and Fascists led by Benito Mussolini, with the conflict being resolved in his favor. From 1922 to 1943, Mus- solini ruled Italy, his Fascist government developing into a dictatorial regime that kept a tighthold on power through censorship, violence, and propaganda. Writers with anti-Fascist sympathies were imprisoned (Antonio Gramsci, Cesare Pavese) or forced into hiding (Alberto Moravia and Elsa Morante). After the ventennio new— "black twenty years" under Mussolini-the nation strove to overcome its humiliation by hailing the anti-Fascist Resistance movement as quintessentially Italian in its defiance of tyranny. Modern writers stepped in to furnish a corrective, with novels like The Path to the Spiders' Nests by Italo Calvino, whose stylistic innovations and exposure of the less praiseworthy aspects of the Resistance upheld the tradition of honest scrutiny found in Dante's poetry and in Manzoni's fiction. Soon female writers stepped in to furnish a different corrective (Maraini's The Silent Duchess, Deledda's Ashes, and Morante's History: A Novel), setting out to balance his-story (the story of the dominant male writer) with tales of their own. The Italian literary continuum became more representative of the medley of voices in real life, expanding even further to encompass some of the land's most recent immigrants, as in Moor Harlequins 22 Misfortunes (1993). A testimony to the existence and dynamism of an Italian literary continuum, this Marco Martinelli play is an update of a comic scenario by Carlo Goldoni (c. 1738). While the later play is adjusted to accommodate end-of-thetwentieth-century realities, both works center on an unwelcome stranger in a culture in flux, an Italia undergoing transformation—with the help of its literature. Chronology of Relevant Events Italian Literature and Its Times MEDIEVAL ITALY AND THE DAWN OF HUMANISM From the eleventh century onward, Italian cities in the northern and central parts of the pefchsula acquired increased independence. They developed their own artistic and political spheres, forming communes—communities with republican governments controlled by influential families. Several of these communes evolved into powerful centers of banking and foreign trade, but not without conflict. All the urban growth gave rise to political feuds—most notably, a rift between the Guelphs (party of the pope) and the Ghibellines (party of the emperor)—which led to wars between cities and invasions by foreign powers. Religious controversies flared too, leading to a major schism when the pope moved from Rome to Avignon (in what is now France), where the papacy remained for most of the fourteenth century (13051376). Meanwhile, southern Italy and Sicily suffered repeated invasion and conquest by foreign powers, among them, the Normans from France and the Aragonese from Spain. The political strife was compounded by natural disasters, most devastatingly the mid-fourteenth century bubonic plague, which was followed by economic depression and peasant rebellions. Yet the period also gave rise to unifying factors: a common literary language (derived from the Tuscan dialect of Italian), a revival of classical literature and art, and the dawn of the intellectual movement called humanism, all of which presaged the magnificent cultural flowering to come. Historical Events 1000-1100 Church reforms establish papal supremacy; conflicts arise between Pope Gregory VII and Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, laying groundwork for later claims to papal temporal power l$8Q$~1300 Rise of independent communes—notably the maritime republics of Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, and the cities of Florence, Milan, Ferrara, and Siena 1025-10#1 Normans conquer Sicily and southern Italy, ousting Saracens (Arabs), who had invaded during the ninth century Related literary Works m WLA1T 7 xvii Historical Events 1076 1095-108$ First crusade to retake the Holy Land from the Saracens results in the Christian conquest of Jerusalem Roger II crowned King of Sicily, Calabria, and Apulia 1176 Battle of Legnano: having formed the Lombard League, joint forces of the northern communes fend off German Emperor Frederick I of Hohenstaufen, maintain their independence 1183 Peace of Constance confirms the autonomy of Italian cities 1194 German emperor Henry VI conquers southern Italy and Sicily c. 1200s~ 1300s Flowering of Florence and northern and central communes; struggles between Guelphs (pope's supporters) and Ghibellines (emperor's supporters) results in many Florentines being expelled 1220-1250 XVIII Pope Gregory VII excommunicates Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV for insisting on lay investiture, or assignment of Church position by a lay person 1130. 1204 Related Literary Works in WlAIT J Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso Venetians sack Constantinople, ultimately gaining three-eighths of the Eastern city Frederick II Hohenstaufen, half Norman but born and bred in southern Italy, rules the South, presiding over a brilliant court; court life gives rise to Sicilian school of poetry, originators of Italian lyric poetry 122$ Pope Gregory IX founds the Inquisition, the tribunal to suppress deviation from the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church 1256-11§fy King Manfred, son of Frederick II, rules Sicily and the South 1265-1166 Charles of Anjou becomes king of Naples and Sicily after his forces defeat Manfred at Battle of Benevento; his dynasty consolidates influence of French aristocratic culture in southern Italy 1271-1295 Marco Polo, his father, and his uncle set off for the court of Kublai Khan in China, where they remain for more than 20 years The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo 1230-1300$ Development of the dolce stil novo (sweet new style) of Italian lyric poetry; Tuscan vernacular begins to gain currency as a literary language Stil Novo Poetry by Guido Guinizzelli and Guido Cavalcanti 1282 Charles of Anjou loses Sicily to Aragonese invasion; Angevins retain control of southern Italian mainland 12§Cte Conflicts between Black and White Guelph factions in Florence 1295 Visconti family assumes power in Milan 1301 White Guelphs exiled from Florence, including Dante Alighieri 130$ Papacy moves from Rome to Avignon 1306 Giotto di Bondone paints frescoes in Arena Chapel in Padua 1309-1343 Robert of Anjou rules as King of Naples 1310-1313 Dante shows allegiance to new Holy Roman Emperor, Henry VII of Luxembourg; Henry dies suddenly; Dante abandons hopes of returning to Florence 1333 Petrarch rediscovers text by ancient Latin writer Cicero, Pro Archia, which refers to poetry and related subjects (e.g., history) as studia humanitatis, preferring them to physics or logic and giving rise to new intellectual movement known as humanism 1348= The Black Death ravages Europe, claiming about a third of the population The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio; The Canzoniere by Francesco Petrarch Related literary Works in WAIT 7 Historical Events 1350s1400s1376-138$ 137$ Spread of humanist movement bolsters interest among Italians in classical ideas and creative works; cities of Florence, Venice, and Milan grow into states St. Catherine of Siena works for peace between Italian cities and the papacy, tries to restore unity of the Church, dictates letters that help make her "first Italian women writer" Ciompi revolt in Florence; the beginning of the Great Schism, in which two popes are elected, one at Rome, the other at Avignon RENAISSANCE ITALY Many fifteenth-century Italian writers used the term Renaissance, meaning "rebirth/' to distinguish their age from the preceding, medieval era. But the Renaissance actually spans more than one century, though scholars disagree over even its approximate boundaries. While many date the Renaissance from the 1380s to the 1520s, a number argue that culturally it reaches to the end of the sixteenth century. Either way, the age was one in which literature, history, philosophy, and science flourished and individuals produced stunning works of art. While intellectuals focused on rediscovering and the art and literature of classical Greece and Rome, the Italian communities suffered economic recession. A number of families and cities prospered nonetheless, and some of the cities grew into states: Florence, Milan, Venice, Genoa, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Papal States (territories surrounding Rome). At first, Florence, under the Medici family, emerged as the center of the Renaissance, but by the early sixteenth century, the nexus had shifted to Rome. This urban competition characterizes an era that, while blessed with extraordinary cultural achievements, was also fraught with political rivalry, corruption, and violence. The late fifteenth century saw the onset of invasions by foreign powers—most notably, France and Spain. From 1494 to 1559 these invasions cost all the above-named states except for Venice their political independence, and they lost much cultural freedom too. The Roman Catholic Church expanded its authority by way of the Inquisition and the Counter-Reformation movements. Yet despite these forces, Italians produced some daringly bold artistic and literary works throughout the Renaissance era. 1397 Founding of Medici banking network in Florence 1400s Italian states continue to enjoy close business, diplomatic, and cultural ties with Byzantine or Eastern Greek society, whose scholars teach Greek to Italians and introduce them to Greek works unknown to the West 1405 Venetian conquest of Padua and Verona 14Q$ Florence acquires Pisa 140$ Attempt to solve problem of two popes (at Rome and Avignon) leads to election of third pope; Great Schism continues, with three popes ruling simulatneously 1417 Great Schism resolved at the Council of Constance c, 1430 Donatello sculpts his bronze David, the first large scale free-standing nude statue of the Renaissance 1442 Alfonso V recognized as king of Naples 1453 Constantinople falls to Ottoman Turks 1454 Peace of Lodi: formation of the Italian League, stabilizing relations between the warring Italian states xix Historical Events 1462-14$2 Appearance of first books printed in Italy 14?& The Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici of Florence claims life of Giuliano de' Medici and results in rioting, bloodshed, and punishment of culprits Botticelli paints Primavera and Birth of Venus, works often regarded as related to the poetry of Poliziano 14&4 Marsilio Facino publishes Plato's dialogues in Latin, including De amore, which becomes central to Renaissance discussions on love I486 Pico della Mirandola writes An Oration on the Diginity of Man, famous for picturing Adam/mortal man as a being who is free to move up or down the ladder of creation 1494 Charles VIII of France invades Italian peninsula; Medici are expelled from Florence Stanzas on the Tournament by Angelo Poliziano 1494-1512 Republican rule in Florence; Dominican monk Savanarola leads moral crusade there, denounces Rome's temporal power, dying at hands of angry Florentines (1498) The Prince by Niccol6 Machiavelli 1494-1559 Age of Invasions: foreign forces enter Italy to lead factions, seize power and territories; France and Spain vie for dominance in Italy Orlando Furioso by Lodovico Ariosto 1495-1506 Leonardo da Vinci paints The Last Supper and Mona Lisa 1496-1501 Reign of King Frederick of Naples, who is forced into exile after French forces invade Naples Arcadia by Jacopo Sannazaro early to rokMSODs Salon society (homes serving as artistic and musical centers) flourishes in Venice. Rime by Gaspara Stampa; Poems in Terze Rima by Veronica Franco 1503-1513 Julius II is pope; Rome becomes center of Renaissance 1504 1505-1509 Michelangelo completes his sculpture of David Michelangelo paints Sistine Chapel ceiling 1507 Baldesar Castiglione assigned to the court of Urbino 1$2<0 Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther c. 15201600 1520s1700s 1527 The Book of the Courtier by Baldesar Castiglione Mannerist period: new generation of artists rebel against Renaissance classical restrictions, favor, for example, elongated, unnatural, and elegant forms Counter-Reformation restores greater power and authority to the Catholic Church Army of Charles V of Spain sacks Rome; the Church and Inquisition develop a stronger foothold in Italian states 1535-1706 Spanish govern duchy of Milan c 1S38 Titian paints Venus of Urbino 1542 XX Lorenzo de' Medici is the effective ruler of Florence 1460s €* 14781432 (tefeted literary Wort® In WIAIT ? Pope Paul III establishes the Roman Inquisition 1$4$~1547 The Council of Trent convenes for the first of three sessions to define Catholic doctrine; second (1551-1552) and third (1562-1563) sessions held over the next 20 years 1556 Philip II becomes ruler of Spanish empire, which includes kingdoms in Italy, Spain, the Low Countries, and the New World 155$ Treaty of Cateau-Cambr6sis affirms Spanish control over Italy; Emanuel Philibert of Savoy restored to throne 1565 Tintoretto paints Crucifixion 1571 Battle of Lepanto: Holy League of Western Powers defeats Turkish fleet My Life by Benvenuto Cellini Historical Events 1573 Turks capture Cyprus from Venice 1575 Venice suffers severe outbreak of bubonic plague that claims a third of the city's population 1582 Pope Gregory XIII introduces the Gregorian calendar 159B Jacopo Peri composes Dafne, the first opera C 1600 Caravaggio produces his masterful cycle of paintings on Saint Matthew's life 1600 The philosopher Giordano Bruno is executed by the Inquisition fettled literary Warte m WIAIT7 FROM THE BAROQUE PERIOD TO THE NAPOLEONIC INVASION Several Italian states experienced a decline in the seventeenth century, the first half of which was one of the most troubled periods in Italian history. The region suffered the plague, economic recession, and military conflict. European invaders continued to vie for Italian territory, which became a bone of contention in several continental wars. The Spanish dominated the peninsula, ruling Milan, Sardinia, Naples, Sicily, and part of Tuscany, and exerting indirect control elsewhere. Local government was in the hands of the nobility (just 1 percent of the population). Later in the eighteenth century Austria held sway in northern Italy while the Spanish Bourbons ruled the South. There were attempts at reform, but they met with only limited success. The French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte's subsequent invasion of the Italian peninsula at the end of the eighteenth century inspired hopes of independence from outside powers, which were soon dashed. Meanwhile, scientific discoveries like those by Italy's Galileo Galilei and the European philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment began to change how Italians saw themselves and the world. Artists and intellectuals of the Baroque period questioned authority, rejecting old ways, favoring experiment and personal experience, which led to a renewed interest in European travel and the creation of some innovative artistic works. 15$0s^4610 Caravaggio invokes new realistic style of painting, using dramatic contrast of light and shadow; style gains followers Artemisia by Anna Banti 1&0C&1790$ Venice enters lengthy period of political and economic decline; the city becomes notorious for decadence, pleasure-seeking, and immorality but remains culturally vital, contributing greatly to Italian theater, painting, and music The Duel by Giacomo Casanova; Mirandolina, or The Mistress of the Inn by Carlo Goldoni 1&05--1606 Judicial dispute between papacy and Venice results in papal interdict against the latter 161$ Galileo Galilei publishes Sidereal Messenger, announcing discovery of first four moons of Jupiter with his telescope 1&1S-1&48 Northern Italy becomes directly involved in Thirty Years' War between France and Spain 1622-1&25 Gian Lorenzo Bernini sculpts Apollo and Daphne 1623 Giambattista Marino publishes Adonis, the chief Italian baroque literary work Adonis by Giambattista Marino 163® Severe outbreak of plague in Lombardy and Milan The Betrothed by Alessandro Manzoni l€32~1633 Galileo's Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems introduces revolutionary ideas on science and cosmology; placed under house arrest by the Inquisition, Galileo is forced to recant xxi Historical Events 164? Revolt of Masaniello (Naples) 1655 Massacre of religious disciples known as Waldenesians in Piedmont 1708s1790s Enlightenment, a philosophical movement emphasizing people's ability to govern themselves and reason independently of divine revelation, takes hold in Europe; historians Voltaire, Edward Gibbon, and Giambattista Vico refine their discipline, weigh sources in pursuit of objectivity 1701-1714 War of the Spanish Succession: Italian possessions of Spanish Habsburg ultimately pass to Austrian Habsburgs 1725 Italian musician Antonio Lucio Vivaldi composes The Four Seasons 1729 Corsica revolts against Genoa 1733*173$ War of the Polish Succession: Charles of Bourbon conquers Naples and Sicily 1740-1748 War of the Austrian Succession: French invade Piedmont but are ultimately defeated by Austrian-Piedmontese forces 1748-17% Period of relative peace and acceptance of Austrian rule, which includes progressive legislation t75$~1/7£ Jesuits begin to be expelled throughout Europe 1763 Severe famine, especially in Naples, Rome, and Florence 176$ Genoa cedes Corsica to France 1773 Pope Clement XIV suppresses the Jesuit order 178€te~ 1820s Neoclassical movement in Italian literature gradually yields to Romanticism 1789 French Revolution spreads republican sympathies across Europe 1792 Pro-Revolution Jacobin movement spreads to the Italian states 1794^1795 Repression and dispersal of Jacobins in the Italian states 1796-1815 Napoleon invades northern Italy, defeats Austrians, establishes Cisalpine Republic in Milan 1797 Napoleon signs Treaty of Campoformio, ceding Venice to Austria and ending Venetian hopes of independence 1799-1600 French armies defeated in Italy by Austro-Russian invasion 1800 Napoleon returns to Italy, defeats Austrian army at Marengo 1802 Napoleon establishes Italian Republic, which becomes Kingdom of Italy under his rule in 1805 1806 French armies conquer Naples; French domination extends to most of northern and central Italy 1814 Napoleonic regime falls; old rulers return Related Literary Works in WLAIT ? The Silent Duchess by Dacia Maraini; The New Science of Giambattista Vico by Giambattista Vico Myrrha by Vittorio Alfieri; The Canti (Songs) by Giacomo Leopardi The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis by Ugo Foscolo RESTORATION AND RISORGIMENTO xxii After Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, the victor nations attempted to restore the pre-war political situation in Europe. Italy was once again divided into territories governed by Austria and Spain. Nationalist sentiment was growing, however. In the early nineteenth century, secret societies formed, intending first to rid their country of its foreign rulers and then to achieve unity and independence as a nation. The process of unification, known as Risorgimento, gained momentum first under Giuseppe Mazzini and then under Victor Emmanuel II; Camille Benso, Count of Cavour; and Giuseppe Garibaldi. At last in 1861, after two wars of independence, Historical Events Related literary Worb i» WIAIT 7 unification was achieved, and the Kingdom of Italy proclaimed with Victor Emmanuel as monarch. Meanwhile, the new nation faced the daunting task of unifying a populace tied to separate regions with disparate dialects and historical experiences. In subsequent decades, Italy strove to forge a common language, educational system, and more. The North outpaced the South in industrial development, which only aggravated perceptions of the South as backwards. Meanwhile, with an eye on the rest of Europe, Italy began to implement social reforms and boost economic productivity in order to take a respectable place among the modern nations of the West. 1&06~18$8 New laws (e.g., division of the common lands) dismantle feudal practices in the South $$14-1815 Napoleon is overthrown; Congress of Vienna grants LombardyVenetia to Austria; Bourbons regain control of Naples, form alliance with Austria, the power that dominates peninsula; only state to retain large measure of independence is Piedmont, under Victor Emmanuel I 1815 Final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo; Holy Alliance formed by Emperor Francis I of Austria, Frederick William of Prussia, and Tsar Alexander I of Russia, beginning the Restoration, a reactionary era in Europe 1816 Reorganization of Italian states; Naples and Sicily are reunited into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies under Ferdinand I 1820-1821 182$s~ 1830s Revolution in Naples; Palermo, Sicily, declares its independence from Naples; Holy Alliance sanctions suppression of revolution; Austria intervenes against revolutionary government in Naples Italian nationalist sentiment grows, secret societies dedicated to ousting foreign rulers develop throughout Italian peninsula 1821 Spanish constitution proclaimed in Piedmont; King Victor Emmanuel I abdicates; Charles Albert becomes regent 1831 Founded abroad by Giuseppe Mazzini, Young Italy movement strives to turn Italy into a unified republic established by the people; insurrections in Italy 1B3M861 The Risorgimento, a unification and independence movement, gathers momentum under Victor Emmanuel II (king of Piedmont), Count Cavour (prime minister), and Giuseppe Garibaldi (revolutionary republican general) IB32-1833 Failed insurrection by Young Italy movement; Mazzini flees to Switzerland 1842 Giuseppe Verdi composes opera Nabucco, centered partly on theme of nationhood 1843 Vincenzo Gioberti publishes Del primato morale e civile delgi Italiani (Of the Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians), calling on Pope Pius IX to lead the risorgimento (means "resurgence") of the Italian nation 1847-1840 Liberal wind sweeps peninsula: King Ferdinand grants a constitution in Kingdom of Two Sicilies; Charles Albert concedes to a constitution in Piedmont; Pope Pius IX reforms censorship in the Papal States 1#4$~184# Uprisings in Palermo, Lombardy, Venice, Naples, and Rome; Piedmont fights Austria in first War of Independence but loses; Mazzini and Garibaldi lead insurrection in Rome, drive out pope and organize Roman Republic but are later defeated by French forces; Bourbon kings retake Naples and Sicily; only Piedmont retains a constitution XXI Historical Events 1853 Related Uterary Works in WA/r 7 Uprising in Milan 1855 ' Piedmont joins Anglo-French alliance against Russia in Crimea—at peace talks, possible independence and unification of Italy is discussed by Piedmont, England, and France 1856 • Austrian forces withdraw from the Italian region of Romagna but retain garrisons in Bologna and Ancona 1859 1KMM061 Second War of Independence results in northern Italian states being incorporated into the Kingdom of Sardinia The Casati law requires local authorities to provide elementary schools and teachers 1860 Garibaldi marches on Sicily, crosses to mainland and advances as far as Naples; Kingdom of Sardinia annexes central Italian states The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa 1864 Anna Maria Mozzoni publishes Women and Her Social Relationships, helps initiate women's movement in Italy A Woman by Sibilla Aleramo 1861 First Italian parliament meets in Turin and establishes the Kingdom of Italy with Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont as king 1861-187$ The conservative right dominates the political scene 1864-1070 Florence serves as the national capital 1865 New Civil Code of 1865 makes husband head of the household in newborn Italy, obligates wife to recognize his authority 1866 Secret alliance made between Italy and Prussia against Austria in Austro-Prussian War; Austria cedes Venice to Napoleon III of France, who cedes it to Italy t§?0 Italian troops occupy Rome, achieve further unification; Pius IX denounces occupation, excommunicates Victor Emmanuel; parliament transfers capital to Rome; end of papacy's temporal power 1871 Francesco De Sanctis writes first history of Italian literature— Storia delta ietteratura italiana WM880J Rome, new Italian capital, gains 80,000 people, undergoes vigorous development 1S?6"t88? J878 1$70$188<k Child of Pleasure by Gabriele D'Annunzio Left-wing government comes to power with Prime Minister Agostino Depretis, who implements limited social reforms, including compulsory education and extension of the voting franchise Death of King Victor Emmanuel II, succession of Umberto I to Italian throne Intellectuals conduct studies on life in southern italy, highlighting differences between the North and South; primary education becomes compulsory (1888), but law is Ashes by Grazia Deledda; The House by the Medlar Tree by Giovanni Verga often ignored; South perceived as backward, North as obligated to civilize it xxiv 1880S-* 1W0& Italian political leaders show increasing concern for educating the lower class and creating model citizens; middle-class women begin entering the workforce 1885-1890 Italian troops land in Eritrea in East Africa; Italy creates a protectorate in Somalia, makes Eritrea an official Italian colony 1887-18W Francesco Crispi becomes prime minister, initiates some domestic reforms and adopts ruinous foreign policies 189! Pope Leo Xlll's encyclical Rerum novarum affirms the belief that women are made for domestic duties 1892 Socialist party is founded The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi; Teresa by Neera Historical Events 1593-10% Second Crispi government; unrest in Sicily; Crispi government dissolves workers' associations in Sicily 1S9& Italian army suffers defeat by Abyssinians (Ethiopians) at Adua; 5,000 Italian soldiers killed; Ethiopia declares independence I&96~19d0 Giacomo Puccini composes his major operas, La Boheme and Tosca 1898 Rioting in Milan and elsewhere to protest cost of food; 80 killed and 450 wounded in official count of casualties in Milan 1&9$ Founding of Fiat automobiles in Turin; government under Luigi Pelloux limits freedom of press and rights of people to assemble and go on strike Related Iiterary Works In WLAIT 7 FROM GIOLITTI TO THE FIRST WORLD WAR After the unpopular King Umberto I was assassinated by anarchists, his son took the throne as Victor Emmanuel III. The new king's liberal prime minister, Giovanni Giolitti, became the dominant figure in Italian politics, implementing moderate social reforms, encouraging labor unions, and extending the voting franchise. Under Giolitti, foreign trade doubled, wages increased, and the standard of living improved. But this general condition is somewhat deceptive. While Italy underwent remarkable industrial growth from 1901-1914, most of the people still labored in agriculture and failed to benefit from the economic boom. The age brought with it an emphasis on materialism, and intellectuals objected, turning to new philosophical and psychological ideas. Meanwhile, Italian workers were organized into labor unions and conducted strikes, clashing with the police; between 1900 and 1904, violent strikes killed or wounded more than 200, and additional casualties followed A view circulated that violence was necessary to achieve change, a notion embraced by the Futurist movement. Rejecting the past, its followers championed progress, technology, and conflict with a vehemence that helped propel Italy into the First World War. In the end, this war proved disastrous for the country. A vic tor, Italy scored some territorial gains but less than the country hoped for, and its military defeats were staggering. An estimated 680,000 Italians perished in the First World War. 1908 King Umberto I of Savoy is assassinated by anarchists; Victor Emmanuel ill accedes to the throne 1900-1901 In German, Sigmund Freud publishes The Interpretation of Dreams and the abridged On Dreams, inaugurating psychoanalysis 19QM914 Giovanni Giolitti dominates Italian politics 1904 Zeno's Conscience by Italo Svevo General strike Founding of La Voce, an influential Florentine journal that discusses new European philosophies Ghisola by Federigo Tozzi 1909 From Paris, Italians launch Futurism movement, which celebrates experimentation, technology, and aggressive action; Guglielmo Marconi develops wireless telegraph, becomes one of two winners of Nobel Prize in Physics The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti 1911 Giolitti expands voting franchise to include all men; Italy declares war on Ottoman Empire and annexes Libya 1912 Benito Mussolini becomes editor of Socialist Party newspaper Avanti!; Italy renews Triple Alliance with Austria and . Germany; peace with Turkey ends Libyan War 1$NQ8~191& XXV Historical Events 1913 Giolitti makes Gentiloni Pact—provides Catholic support in elections to candidates who oppose divorce and socialism but favor the priesthood and private education; pact alienates Giolitti from leftists 1914 Giolitti resigns, is replaced by Antonio Salandra; First World War breaks out; Mussolini is expelled from Socialist Party for advocating intervention in World War I; he launches // Popolo d'ltalia, a newspaper dedicated to war and revolution 1915 Italy signs Pact of London and enters World War I on the side of Britain and France against Austria and Germany 1917 Italians suffer crushing defeat at Caporetto; 300,000 Italian soldiers are taken prisoner 1916 Italian army forces Austrians to retreat at Vittorio Veneto; First World War ends 1919 Italy gains less than it hopes for at World War I peace conference—wins Trent, South Tyrol, and Istria, not Dalmatia or Italian part of Fiume; Trieste becomes part of Italy Related Literary Works in WLA1T 7 Life of a Man by Giuseppe Ungaretti FASCIST ITALY AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR In the years after World War I, Italy faced severe economic depression. Heavy wartime casualties, ineffective government, socialist insurrection, and widespread dissatisfaction with the terms of the peace treaty only exacerbated the country's problems. Out of this environment arose the Fascist movement, led by Benito Mussolini. In its initial phase, Fascism attracted former soldiers, disgruntled intellectuals, small landowners, workers, and peasants. The movement changed over time, growing openly violent and repressive, stifling strikes and labor unions. Gathering momentum, the Fascists marched on Rome in 1922, a bold move that propelled Mussolini into the position of prime minister and then dictator. Mussolini formed an alliance with the Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler, and when civil war broke out in Spain in the mid-1930s, both Germany and Italy sent troops to support the future Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. World War II followed, with Italy entering into the global conflict as an Axis power on the side of Germany. The invasion by enemy Allied troops of Sicily in 1943 spelled the end of Mussolini's regime. Supported by Hitler's troops, he formed a breakaway republic in northern Italy, which led to an Italian civil war during the last two years of the global war. In 1945 Mussolini and his mistress, Claretta Petacci, were captured and executed by Italian partisans. The joint efforts of Allied and partisan forces won back territory he had seized, and the war ended, leaving a maimed population to recover from years of crippling destruction and loss. YYVI 1918-1922 Italy struggles with crippling economic depression; Socialists dominate parts of central Italy 1919 Gabriele D'Annunzio seizes Fiume, an act disavowed by the Italian government; formation of first Fasci di Combattimento (fascist paramilitary groups) by Benito Mussolini; formation of Italian Popular Party, first Catholic political party 1919-1922 Fascist squads employ violence, beat up Socialist union members in Central Italy, after which laborers go back to work; Fascists seen as restoring law and order 1920-1922 Railway and postal workers go on strike; Fascists break strikes, continue to use strong-arm tactics—commit murders, seize towns and occupy official offices 1921 Fascist Party is officially founded; Communist Party is founded; mass rally of 40,000 Fascists in Naples, October 24