“Whenever once imagines an ‘Other’, one starts with categories and images which reflect the culture of the society in which one was born and lives.” (Gribaldi, Images of the South, 72). Before unification, historical agents like Madame De Stael, Montesquieu, Charles-Victor De Bonstetten, and Gribauldi describe the images of South emphasized through nature and climate to illustrate a picturesque image seen as beautiful yet backwards. Similarly, post-unification, Trevellini and Levi give a similar perspective of backwardness through nature to represent the national identity of the South, yet Verga and Breda argue that through its nature the South has positive aspects.
Before unification the “Piedmontese administrators had a positive image of the south. The South was a happy land, kissed by the gods, favoured by the climate and the fruitfulness of the soil (Gribauldi, The Images of the South, 75), however this changed when Southerners began to rebel and reject them and now they viewed the South as the “idea of paradise inhabited by devils” (Garibaldi, The Images of the South, 75). The North changed their perception of the South after not cooperating and was automatically seen as backwards, yet natural in a geopolitical aspect. From a Europe perspective, Italy was the weak link, the inferior and Europe’s South. We find these perspective’s in Madame De Stael’s Corinne, through the character of Oswald as he describes his experience in Italy as a “wasteland surrounding…a land weary of glory, which seems to despise being productive is only uncultivated, neglected area” (Stael, Corinne, 19). His negative view on Italy, particularly the South, makes it unwanted in its nature and alludes to a lazy environment. This description defines how Northerners viewed the South.
Similarly, Montesquieu introduces nature in relation to climate to represent the South. He reasons, “Different climates, indeed, “make very different characters” (Moe, Views of Vesvious, 24) and describes how cold makes for more confident and stronger person, indicating a person from the North and as for the South he says, “Draw near the southern countries, and you will think you have left morality itself far behind: the liveliest passions proliferate crimes; each person seeks to take advantage of everyone else in ways that favor these same passions” (Moe, Views from Vesuvius, 24). As he makes these distinction of the North vs. South, he clearly gives the South a bad reputation and suggests their characters as different, a depraved different. Climate being part of nature is how its connected to the South by suggesting it is in their nature to act the way they do, as criminals.
Another historical agent who bluntly makes distinctions of the North and South is Charles-Victor de Bonstetten who touches on climate in relation to the South, in his “The Man of the South and The Man of the North” by stating the North “lives in a monotonous environment” vs. “the man in the south lives in an abundant and varied environment” Moe, Views of Vesuvius, 28) It seems as the South is always being compared to the North which is viewed as better and just from this distinction it can be observed how undesirably the South was imaged. In this comparison, it also shows how the South lacks modernity, something needed in order to be like the North because the South is the past living in the present.
Moreover, national character is another aspect in relationship to nature and it plays a big role in the South. Naples was seen as the center because it represented the aesthetic quality in nature (picturesque), particularly in paintings. The view of the outside was made into paintings, take, for example (Figure 1. Bay of Naples) as shown below. This painting was a depiction of nature per the rule of beauty and a fundamental element being connected to climate and geography. The dark shadows and dead tree, shows a clear indication of an unpleasant environment. Naples was seen as ugly and similarly Sicily was another place which represented the South, as it was always missing on the map and was not included in the imagination of Italy. It is important because Sicily forms the foundation of southernness and shows the part of being marginalized by the North.
Figure 1.
Claude-Joseph Vernet, The Bay of Naples Seen from the Marinella. C. 1740 (Lecture 3)
Picturesque is about finding the beauty in nature like volcanos—Vesuvius and Ethna –that show the power of nature being beautiful and picturesque (check citation) and as Moe says “The force of nature, which is a commonplace of Italy as a whole, has a special significance in relation to the Mezzogiorno” (Moe, The View from Vesuvius, 43). Still however foreigners share their disapprovals rather than its beauty and view the nature of Southerners to be backward and inhumane. For instance, Madame De Steal says, “how laziness and ignorance, combined with the volcanic air you breathe in the place, are bound to produce ferocity when passions are aroused, but the people here are no more vicious than others” (Steal, Corinne, 192) so hence implies that the nature in the South reflects their national character, just like the environment they live in.
Now transitioning into post-unification, the images the North portrayed strengthened the view of backwardness of the South. As nature is beautiful, the North found a way to use the nature of Southerners as an excuse for the way they were. The South was made to fit the stereotype of backwardness, criminals and savages. They create this image of the south being ill-body of Italy and that the North must cure and heal it as if they were doctors to prevent this infection (Franchetti in Moe, Views from Vesuvius, 246). As seen before unification, picturesque was seen as something unreal but beautiful in nature, but for that same reason Northerners now used it to imply backwardness, for instance they interpret the ocean coming towards the land as the water being the nemesis, the reason for something to go backwards such as the boat that is repelled enabling it for progress. This viewpoint was used to represent the South as to how they are the water, that gives no progress for Italy. The North created this new picturesque of using nature/animal-like qualities to characterize the South by demonstrating poverty and targeting lower classes. This supports Cassano claim of, “identification seems irreversibly: the word ‘south’ has become synonymous with backwardness, hunger—images of pain and poverty” (Cassano, Southern Thought, 1). He uses negative connotations to describe the South and how there is no going back because they are living in the past.
Then, it took a shift to Verism, being the naturalism where authors create the disfigure of a detached world, it was a reminder of how the south live. The author is now an objective observer between the North being the bourgeoisie society vs the popular class being the South. However, they would describe the conditions in the south as a problematic place. This can clearly be seen in the description of Levi’s book, Christ Stopped at Eboli, that states, “They live submerged in a world that rolls on independent of their will where man is in no way separate from his sun, his beast, his malaria, where there can be neither happiness, as literary devotes of the land conceive it, nor hope, because these two are adjonts of personality and here there is only the grim passivity of a sorrowful Nature. (Levi, Christ Stopped at Eboli, 78). He expresses the South as a problematic place with miserable climate conditions.
More importantly this is also shown in the magazine, Illustrazione italiana made in 1874 where the south was rarely on topic and “about once every six weeks” and whenever the south did come up it was about problematic issues and however one day the South did make the first page with an illustration yet it alluded to “squalid” and “filthy” neighborhoods to show portrayal of poverty to show lack of progress. This article was published by Trevellini and he illustrates how “If you have visited Potenza, the capital of Basilicata, one of the filthiest cities in Italy, I'm sure you were nauseated by the sight of both men and women relieving themselves in the streets, which serve as sewers and turn the whole city into a swamp, whose stench even penetrates houses.” (Moe, Views of Vesuvius, 208) this description gives undesired characteristic of a city that would cause the reader to think of it as savagery.
As mentioned before, Naples was an important aspect of the South and in a different illustration that depicts Italy, Naples is not shown, no other city from the South is shown other than the North, still Vesuvius is displayed (Moe, Views from Vesuvius, 205) From this small interpretation, it can be conveyed that the magazine represented the South through nature. Comparing before and after unification the South is still identified through its nature and only its nature. Unfortunately, nature is the only form of identification for the South through geography. In a sense, it reveals Northern identity as stronger and dominant as the volcano being the association to the south and nothing else which shoes how little they think if them. This is an example of how the south is excluded from the nation and seen through nature.
However, eventually there are historical agents who have constructive aspects of the South. Giovanni Verga is one who calls attention to the South and gives a new perspective of to appreciate landscape and says picturesque is a good thing, so unreal that it is fascinating. He gives a positive attitude towards the South. His view towards the South is valued whereas in Illustrazione italiana it was seen as the only form of identification implying that it was belittle but Verga says it should be proud to be characterized by landscape because it is beautiful and picturesque as expressed in Across the Sea.
Figure 2. View of the Channel of Ischia at Piedigrotta from Illustrizaione italianana 1876 from (Moe, Views from Vesuvius, 218)
In Figure 2, this was a different depiction from before clearly seen in the painting as now this picture shows nature and its people together compared to before how it only showed landscape. Which shows integration and a shift from how geography and nature was its only identification. The shift is shown as in Breda, one of the authors who took part of the magazine who writes about how he saw peasants who were well-dressed he called it “pleasant popular costumes” (Moe, Views from Vesuvius, 215) to see how perspective plays a major role when describing the south and imaging it for others.
Ultimately, although Southern images from before and after unification involve both nature and climate. The North described unpleasant conditions from the South and they interpret the environment in relation to the South’s national identity and its people. During both times, the South was viewed as backwards even with its beautiful nature state. Still there were the positivists who saw the good in the South, through its nature.