Corporeality and Performativity in Baroque Naples
The Body of Naples
Contributions by Clorinda Donato, Marino Forlino, Lara Harwood-Ventura, Marcella Salvi, Carmela Benedetta Scala Edited by Alessandro Giardino
Not available to order
Publication date:
08 November 2017Length of book:
158 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksISBN-13: 9781498563994
This book provides an interdisciplinary introduction to the Neapolitan Baroque, through original and in-depth interpretations of pivotal masterpieces of Neapolitan art, literature, philosophy, theater. The book also presents the city of Naples as a cultural space in which the body functions as a visual, literary, and urban metaphor. By examining the works of Giordano Bruno, Caravaggio, Giambattista Basile, Silvio Fiorillo and Raimondo di Sangro, Principe di San Severo, the essays comprising this volume show the contribution of these world renowned figures to the Baroque imagery of Naples, but also highlight the impact the city had on their work. Finally, the book stirs reflection on the enduring presence and current revival of the Neapolitan Baroque, by looking at contemporary culture and the cinematic adaptation of baroque works, such as Matteo Garrone’s Tale of Tales.
Alessandro Giardino has gathered together several fascinating and well-documented essays by scholars interested in the connection between the Baroque and the city of Naples. Ranging from Caravaggio to Matteo Garrone, from Giordano Bruno to Giambattista Basile, Corporeality and Performativity in Baroque Naples offers an interdisciplinary and compelling perspective on Naples as a cultural space through the prism of the body. Equally thought-provoking is its insistence on the popular notion of ‘the body of Naples’ regarded as a visual, sexual, and urban metaphor. This volume will be of great interest to readers concerned with the particular baroque aesthetic that characterizes all Neapolitan cultural expressions.