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This book provides a historical cultural sociological analysis of cultural representations of Italy in England and later Britain, from the period of the Italian Renaissance to the present day. Rooted in a critical account of orthodox social scientific approaches to thinking and theorising cultural representation, the study combines analytical frames and conceptual apparatus from Bourdieu's Field theory and Yale School cultural sociology. Drawing from a wide range of empirical data and studies, the book demonstrates the significance of representations of the Italian peninsula and its people for exploring a range of cultural sociological phenomena, from the 'classing' and 'commodification' of Italy to the role of Italian symbolism for negotiating cultural trauma, identify formation, and expressions of cultural edification, veneration, and emulation. As such, it will be of interest to scholars of (cultural) sociology, history, anthropology, Italian studies as well as scholars in international studies interested in intercultural exchange and representations of other nations, national cultures, and otherness.
List of contents
Introduction: Cultural Sociology of Cultural Representations of Italy
1. Methods, Theory, Data
2. Italy as Paradise and Hell
3. Republican Rome and Imperial Britain
4. Italy as Re-enchantment and Refuge
5. Italy as Salvation and Liberation
6. Multiple Italys Past; Multiple Italys Present
7. Italy as Illusion and Paradox
Conclusion
About the author
Christopher Thorpe is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Exeter. He is a historically oriented sociologist of culture and cultural sociologist. He has written in the areas of classical and modern social theory, cultural representations, food, and cultural translation. His specialist research interests focus on Anglo-Italian cultural representations relations, and interchange.
Summary
This book provides a historical cultural sociological analysis of cultural representations of Italy in England and later Britain, from the period of the Italian Renaissance to the present day.
