Naples and the Nation

“In a brilliant and innovative exploration of Naples's historical and cultural complexities, the author sharply illuminates its critical challenges and the often unruly but biting questions it poses about modern identity formations, urban politics, and the making of the nation-state.” - Iain Chambers, University of Naples, L’Orientale, Italy

This book addresses Naples’ relationship with Italy, since the introduction of direct mayoral election in 1993 and as articulated in cultural production. It deploys theoretical frameworks pertaining to postcolonialism and cultural accentedness to challenge the historical framing of Naples as Italy’s internal ‘other’ and to reposition the city at the very heart of the Italian cultural imaginary. The book showcases the breadth of texts and media addressing the city-nation relationship, analysing less renowned works of journalism, literature, fashion and film alongside celebrated texts such as Roberto Saviano’s Gomorra, Elena Ferrante’s ‘Neapolitan Novels’ and the soap opera Un posto al sole. It highlights how such works contest perceptions of Naples as diverging from a national norm by emphasising the continuities that align the city with the nation. Though developed with the specificities of Naples in mind, the approach is intended as a model for the study of city-nation relations in other cultural contexts.

Ruth Glynn is Professor of Modern Italian Culture at the University of Bristol, UK. Her research addresses modern and contemporary Italian culture. Recent work focuses on critical and cultural engagements with Naples, from the 1920s to the present. Prior research addressed Italy’s experience of political violence in the anni di piombo.