The Marble Wilderness: Ruins and Representation in Italian Romanticism, 1775-1850 by Carolyn Springer (review)

260Rocky Mountain Review here are both searching literary and historical analyses of the specific themes and issues that one encounters in the literature of black women writers of this era and a rationale for ending the anthology in 1933 instead of extending the coverage to the 1980s. However, given the absolute wealth of information and the importance ofthe anthology's undertaking, these are very small problems, and the book should soon become a standard text in American literature courses that claim sensitivity to the writings of women of color. LAURA NIESEN DE ABRUNA Ithaca College CAROLYN SPRINGER. The Marble Wilderness: Ruins and Representation in Italian Romanticism, 1775-1850. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987. 198 p. Though the title, The Marble Wilderness, is borrowed from Lord Byron's romantic notion ofthe eternal city, Carolyn Springer actually proves that there is very little "wilderness," if any at all, for the modern reader to see among the ruins ofItalian Romanticism in the Risorgimento. Springer's very original theory is that the monuments of the Italian Risorgimento portray and mirror either one of two political outcomes already clearly defined in literature: a classical papal restoration (Monti, for instance) versus a more democratic and nationalist movement (Mazzini and Manzoni). As the European Romantic approach to literature progressed from philosophical and aesthetic to political, so did archaeology mirror the rising hopes of a new political generation in Italy. Springer's analysis is far from being exclusively literary. By examining and meticulously describing complex ideological structures which permeated papal and lay governments in the Italian late Settecento and Ottocento, the author enters a comparative realm seldom treated by literary scholars. Her interdisciplinary approach (urbanism, architecture, poetry, politics, economics) forms the pivotal strength ofthis book which, after a somewhat slow beginning, develops a clearer and tighter pattern for the second part. The volume moves chronologically, beginning with the papacy of Pius IV (1775). Here the author analyzes Monti's ideology ofthe Pio-Clementine Museum, as understood through the lines of his Prosopopea. After treating the poetry of papal encomium in its classical dramatic form, and viewing some of its characteristics as a warning signal for the maturing political crises ofthe papacy, Springer deals with the rhetoric ofRestoration, represented by the contributions of Canova and of Angelo Mai. The fourth chapter treats Belli's interest in archaeology, as it appears in his sonnets. It should be pointed out that throughout the volume, Springer shows remarkable skill in her translation of excerpts of Italian poetry and prose into English: her witty and vivacious renditions of Belli in English are especially noteworthy. Book Reviews261 The second part of the book is devoted to Foscolo's democratic ideology, as it transpires through his Dei Sepolcri (1807) and his archaeological search thereof; to the role of archaeology in the Risorgimento debate, represented by the contrasting conceptions ofMazzini and Gioberti; and to the archaeological imagery immediately preceding and following the 1848 revolutions in Italy: "The changing view of the monuments, and of their value in political propaganda, is reflected in the patterns of archaeological patronage of Pius IX in the years that follow his restoration" (169). The lack of a conclusive chapter and of a separate comprehensive bibliographical list at the end of the volume is partially compensated for by copious endnotes for each chapter. Springer's extensive background research is evident throughout her work. A table of selected chronology (1768-1871) which guides the reader through European political milestones of those years is also very helpful. Printed with welcome paucity of rivers, The Marble Wilderness will interest Italianists, art historians, historians, and specialists in comparative literatures. A fresh interdisciplinary approach to Romanticism is always welcome, and Springer is able to explore her theme effectively from a new point of view. ILONA KLEIN Loyola College in Maryland H. MEILI STEELE. Realism and the Drama ofReference: Strategies of Representation in Balzac, Flaubert, and James. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1988. 162 p. H. Meili Steele'swork stands as a significant contribution to the way in which we read the works of three major novelists who have been somewhat loosely classified as "realists" by traditional criticism. Steele should be applauded for applying a rigorous...