Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The 19th Century Onwards
After its stellar start during the Renaissance, Tuscany took a literary break in the 17th and
18th centuries. It wasn't until the 19th century that the scene started to regain some mo-
mentum.
Giosue Carducci (1835-1907) was one of the key figures of 19th- century Tuscan liter-
ature. Born in the Maremma, he spent the second half of his life in Bologna. The best of
his poetry, written in the 1870s, ranged in tone from pensive evocations of death (such as
in 'Pianto antico') or memories of youthful passion ('Idillio Maremmano') to a historic
nostalgia harking back to the glories of ancient Rome.
Florence's Aldo Palazzeschi (1885-1974) was in the vanguard of the Futurist move-
ment during the pre-WWI years. In 1911 he published arguably his best work,
Il codice di
Perelà (Perelà's Code),
an at times bitter allegory that in part becomes a farcical imitation
of the life of Christ.
Another Florentine, Vasco Pratolini (1913-91), set four highly regarded Neorealist nov-
els in his birthplace:
Le ragazze di San Frediano
(1949),
Cronaca familiare
(1947),
Cronache di poveri amanti
(1947) and
Metello
(1955).
Tuscan-born Dacia Maraini (b 1936), for many years the partner of author Alberto
Moravia, is one of Italy's most lauded contemporary writers, with novels, plays and po-
etry to her credit. Her best-known works include
Buio
(1999), which won the Premio
Strega, Italy's most prestigious literary award, and
La lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa
(pub-
lished in English as
The Silent Duchess;
1990).
Food forms the subject of many Tuscan memoirs. Two good examples are
A Culinary Traveller in
Tuscany: Exploring & Eating Off The Beaten Track
(Beth Elon; 2006) and
The Tuscan Year: Life and
Food in an Italian Valley
(Elizabeth Romer; 1985).
Through Foreign Eyes
The trend of setting English-language novels in Tuscany kicked off during the era of the
Grand Tour, when wealthy young men from Britain and Northern Europe travelled around
Europe to view the cultural legacies of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, completing
their liberal educations and being introduced to polite society in the process. The Grand
Tour's heyday was from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century.
