Italian Gothic : An Edinburgh Companion (Edinburgh Companions to the Gothic)

The first critical study that theorises the Italian Gothic and examines its main forms and manifestations across arts, media, and disciplines. Offers a new account of the historical developments of Gothic narratives in the Italian context from the second half of the eighteenth century to the present day Explores how, and with what implications, the Gothic has infiltrated a variety of media, including poetry, periodicals and magazines, cinema, comics, and music Examines some of the major themes of the Italian Gothic, such as the Gothic body, the female Gothic, Gothic criminology, and folk horror and the ecogothic This companion constitutes the first, systematic theorisation of the Italian Gothic. Through an interdisciplinary, trans-medial approach that encompasses prose fiction, poetry, journalism, film, music, and comics, it explores the varied and complex metamorphoses of the Gothic in Italy from the late eighteenth century to the present day. Although the last thirty years have seen a burgeoning in the academic study of the Gothic at college and university levels and in related publications, scholars have long struggled to even acknowledge the very existence of this mode in the Italian context. This companion does not only fill in a historical and critical gap in the scholarship, but it also contributes to revitalising the field of Gothic Studies, opening new channels of communication, and paving the way to the exploration of the fruitful interchanges between Italian and other European and American configurations of the Gothic.