Postal culture : writing and reading letters in post-unification Italy

Resource Information

The work Postal culture : writing and reading letters in post-unification Italy represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in European University Institute. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

Postal culture : writing and reading letters in post-unification Italy

Title remainder

writing and reading letters in post-unification Italy

Statement of responsibility

Gabriella Romani

Creator

• Romani, Gabriella

Subject

• Epistolary fiction, Italian -- History and criticism
• Italy -- Civilization -- 19th century
• Italy -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
• Letter writing -- Italy -- History -- 19th century
• Literature and society -- Italy -- History -- 19th century
• Postal service -- Italy -- History -- 19th century
• Serao, Matilde, 1856-1927 -- Criticism and interpretation
• Verga, Giovanni, 1840-1922
• Written communication -- Italy -- History -- 19th century
• Communication and technology -- Italy -- History -- 19th century

Language

• eng
• ita
• eng

Summary

The nationalization of the postal service in Italy transformed post-unification letter writing as a cultural medium. Both a harbinger of progress and an expanded, more efficient means of circulating information, the national postal service served as a bridge between the private world of personal communication and the public arena of information exchange and production of public opinion. As a growing number of people read and wrote letters, they became part of a larger community that regarded the letter not only as an important channel in the process of information exchange, but also as a necessary instrument in the education and modernization of the nation. In Postal Culture, Gabriella Romani examines the role of the letter in Italian literature, cultural production, communication, and politics. She argues that the reading and writing of letters, along with epistolary fiction, epistolary manuals, and correspondence published in newspapers, fostered a sense of community and national identity and thus became a force for social change.--

Member of

• Toronto Italian studies

Assigning source

Provided by Publisher

Cataloging source

NLC

Dewey number

945.084

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

bibliography

Series statement

Toronto Italian studies