Social unrest, secret conspiracies and open rebellions were the unavoidable corollaries of the Risorgimento, the cultural and political movement that culminated in the unification of Italy, in 1861. A large number of British citizens expressed sympathy and support for the Italian cause, which they were thoroughly familiar with, given the significant number of Italian exiles in London and their intense propaganda activities. Nonetheless, the stereotypical perception of the Italians as a people who actually lacked both the will and the capacity for self-rule was still deeply-ingrained and widespread. This paper sets out to explore the ambiguous and controversial way two British writers, namely Theodosia Garrow Trollope and Amelia Louisa Vaux Gretton, described the Italian scenario, for the sake of their readers back home, in the years immediately before the Italian unification. Gretton published The Englishwoman in Italy, Impressions of Life in the Roman States and Sardinia during a Ten Years’ Residence (1860), while Trollope released her Social Aspects of the Italian Revolution, in a Series of Letters from Florence in 1861. As will be shown, the two accounts were seemingly tailored to match the expectations of the British readership: on the one hand, they displayed genuine understanding and compassion for the sufferings of the oppressed; on the other hand, however, they also exhibited an inbred sense of superiority that prompted the authors to replicate inveterate biases and misconceptions.
Marino, E. (2023). Through British Eyes: The Italian Risorgimento in the Travel Narratives of Amelia Louisa Vaux Gretton and Theodosia Garrow Trollope. In War in Travel Literature (pp. 63-85). Newcastle Upon Tyne : Cambridge Scholars.
Through British Eyes: The Italian Risorgimento in the Travel Narratives of Amelia Louisa Vaux Gretton and Theodosia Garrow Trollope
Elisabetta Marino
2023-01-01
Abstract
Social unrest, secret conspiracies and open rebellions were the unavoidable corollaries of the Risorgimento, the cultural and political movement that culminated in the unification of Italy, in 1861. A large number of British citizens expressed sympathy and support for the Italian cause, which they were thoroughly familiar with, given the significant number of Italian exiles in London and their intense propaganda activities. Nonetheless, the stereotypical perception of the Italians as a people who actually lacked both the will and the capacity for self-rule was still deeply-ingrained and widespread. This paper sets out to explore the ambiguous and controversial way two British writers, namely Theodosia Garrow Trollope and Amelia Louisa Vaux Gretton, described the Italian scenario, for the sake of their readers back home, in the years immediately before the Italian unification. Gretton published The Englishwoman in Italy, Impressions of Life in the Roman States and Sardinia during a Ten Years’ Residence (1860), while Trollope released her Social Aspects of the Italian Revolution, in a Series of Letters from Florence in 1861. As will be shown, the two accounts were seemingly tailored to match the expectations of the British readership: on the one hand, they displayed genuine understanding and compassion for the sufferings of the oppressed; on the other hand, however, they also exhibited an inbred sense of superiority that prompted the authors to replicate inveterate biases and misconceptions.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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