World Literature And Its Times, Volume 7: Italian Literature And Its Times

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 Fran