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Literary Criticism General

Reading & Writing the Mediterranean

Essays by Vincenzo Consolo

edited by Norma Bouchard & Massimo Lollini

Publisher
University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
Initial publish date
Dec 2007
Category
General, Italian
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802092106
    Publish Date
    Feb 2007
    List Price
    $71
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442684737
    Publish Date
    Dec 2007
    List Price
    $86.00

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Description

Vincenzo Consolo is counted by many critics among the most significant voices in contemporary world literature. This volume makes available for the first in English an edited and annotated volume of Consolo's short stories, essays, and other writings pertaining to the diverse cultures and histories of Sicily and the Mediterranean basin.

The Mediterranean region holds a particular fascination for Consolo, who seeks through his writing to recover the memory of a Sicilian and Mediterranean history, which he feels is presently being threatened by the forces of late-capitalist Western culture. His writings about the region also voice a commitment to questions of ethics and human rights, which have been brought to the fore by recent tensions dividing this area and forcing a mass exodus of its people. At a time when this part of the world is under threat from unbridled globalization as well as dangerous forms of ethnic and religious fundamentalism, Consolo's words offer an insightful rethinking of regionalism within a global hierarchy of values. They remind us of the necessity of moderation and contingency, and in so doing, attempt to recover a moral and ethical dimension for our collective life.

About the authors

Norma Bouchard is a professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of Connecticut.

Norma Bouchard's profile page

Massimo Lollini is Hatzantonis Distinguished Professor in Italian in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Oregon.

Massimo Lollini's profile page