Matilde Serao, Il paese di Cuccagna [The Land of Plenty]

Ursula Fanning (Dublin City University)

Ed. by Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.1: Italian Writing and Culture, 453-present.
Vol. editors: Carla Bregman (Independent Scholar - North America), Jo Ann Cavallo (Columbia University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1891

Places

Italy (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Gothic & Ghosts
Novel
Realist (as literary mode)

Resources

Il paese di cuccagna [The Land of Cockayne] is generally considered to be Matilde Serao’s most significant novel. It is closely linked to, and develops many of the characters and ideas from, her series of articles on Naples in the immediate aftermath of the cholera epidemic of 1884 collected in the volume Il ventre di Napoli [The Belly of Naples]. Generally considered something of a masterpiece in Italian realism (Henry James certainly viewed it as such), it sets out to offer a panorama of Neapolitan society through the filtering lens of the lotto: gambling is the dominant feature in the lives of many of the characters it portrays (if not directly, then indirectly, as i…

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930 words

Citation: Fanning, Ursula. "Il paese di Cuccagna". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 July 2010 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=28445, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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