Baldi, Elio (2016) Italo Calvino, ovvero the author in criticism : Calvino's authorial image between metaphors and reading conventions in Italy, the United States and the United Kingdom. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Italo Calvino is a writer who metamorphoses, but also a highly recognizable writer, whose signature is almost a trademark, whose style is unmistakably his own. This thesis traces some of the reasons for this recognizability of the authorial image of Calvino, an image that has been produced and sculpted over time through different means and media, co-created by critics, readers and Calvino himself. Calvino’s presence in media and paratext, publishing houses and intellectual circles, journals and newspapers forms an intrinsic part of the studied material. This material is explicitly put into dialogue with critical volumes and the way academics arrive at, formulate and circulate knowledge: this enquiry into the form(ul)ation of critical discourses is a crucial part of what is explored in this dissertation. Because Calvino’s circulation is transnational, a comparison is made between the American, British and Italian reception of his works, focusing both on differences and similarities. The question as to what happens to an authorial image in translation and circulation forms a spine throughout the thesis and a conscious effort is made not to separate critics and readers, editorial and academic contexts, high and low literature, Italian and non- Italian readings.

A discussion along canonical fault lines is therefore a central part of the dissertation: what has propelled Calvino to the status of ‘modern classic’? Resistance to Calvino’s canonization is discussed in order to get a better sense of the canonical negotiations that surround Calvino. The ‘essential Calvino’ that has been distilled in criticism is put alongside a range of possible, parallel ‘minor Calvini’, that have been less visible because of cultural, material or historical reasons. Ample room will be reserved for a ‘science fiction’ Calvino, who is much more visible in the Anglo-Saxon readings. Other alternative Calvini which are investigated include a feminist Calvino, a posthuman Calvino and an ecologist Calvino.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PQ Romance literatures
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Calvino, Italo -- Criticism and interpretation, Calvino, Italo -- Influence, Italian literature -- Appreciation -- Great Britain, Italian literature -- Appreciation -- United States
Official Date:	October 2016
Dates:	Date Event October 2016 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Modern Languages and Cultures
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Burns, Jennifer
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	278 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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