Les ressorts fictionnels d’une ville. Le cas de Naples

Abstract

Often writers have contributed to shape the imaginary of a city. The cultural vivacity of Naples can indeed be measured by the interest that it has aroused and by the « discourses » it has generated. This southern destination has always attracted northern writers as an islet of freedom inclined to poetic licence. Montesquieu or Dumas, first perplex and then fascinated by of the imposture of San Gennaro’s miracle, the Marquis de Sade using his own travel guide as a pretext for unseen depravity, Stendhal eager for lyric opera, and more recently Jean-Noël Schifano writing a Dictionnaire amoureux de Naples, all these authors have on their own way reinvented the city. It’s between initial ostracism and almost superstitious idolization that the imaginary of Naples develops itself, fed by texts, History and cultural products. If a city can be rehabilitated by texts, we may claim that literature has still some value and legitimacy.

Keywords

• Naples imaginary
• Cross-cultural gaze
• Artistic licence