Overview

The Mediterranean region of Liguria, where the Maritime Alps sweep down to the coasts of northwest Italy and southeast France, the Riviera, marks the intersection of two of Europe's major cultural landscapes. Remote, liminal, compact, and steep, the terrain has influenced many international authors and artists. In this study, Martina Kolb traces Liguria's specific impact on the works of three seminal German-writing modernists - Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Gottfried Benn - whose encounters with Ligurian lands and seas led to an innovative geopoetic fusion of word and world. Kolb examines each of these authors' acquired affinities with Ligurian and Provencal landscapes and seascapes, revisiting and reassessing the long tradition of northern longing for a Mediterranean south. She also shows how Freud and Benn followed in the footsteps of Nietzsche in his most prolific years, a topic which has received little critical attention to date. Nietzsche, Freud, Benn, and the Azure Spell of Liguria offers a fresh approach to these writers' groundbreaking literary achievements and profound interest in poetic expression as cathartic self-liberation.

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9781487558260

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Reviews

"'Highly recommended.' 'A very thought-provoking book for anyone in the fields of comparative literature and cultural studies, as well as scholars of linguistics and the history of languages... Expertly competent and meticulously researched.' 'Fascinating study merging Italian geography with German letters ... Kolb's book is a most valuable reading for scholars of German studies, comparatists, and those interested in geopoetics and its possible applications to the field of Comparative Literature.' 'This book is exemplary for its meticulous scholarship, comparative scope, and rigorous geopoetic analysis while remaining accessible to wide readership. Highly recommended for those interested in German and comparative literary studies.' ""Nietzsche, Freund, Benn, and the Azure Spell of Liguria is an erudite and scintillating study by a masterful comparatist. Its scope is extensive; its scholarship fastidious; and its parallels between disciplines drawn consistently and skilfully. A serious contribution to state-of-the-art research, this study fits right in with a form of literary analysis that promises to become even more prominent."" ""A book whose idiom beautifully and effectively intersects with the material, Nietzsche, Freud, Benn, and the Azure Spell of Liguria is exemplary in its demonstration that any true reading of a national literature is necessarily comparative. It is grounded in genuine learnedness and distinguished by a seasoned style in which an insistent and easy elegance is never the enemy of clarity. I relished reading this innovative and carefully executed study."" ""Martina Kolb's book is erudite and wide-ranging, but it is above all a virtuosa performance because it manages to describe the issues involved in the field of geopoetics while at the same time avoiding the heaviness of self-conscious theoretical expositions. Liguria, a concrete geo-historical region, is at the same time, as Kolb shows, a lyrical complex of images."" moving fluidly between texts and sources... It is recommended not only for those working in German studies, but for comparatists more generally and for those interested in geopoetics and in its application to comparative literature in particular.'"

“Martina Kolb’s book is erudite and wide-ranging,  but it is above all a virtuosa performance because it manages to describe the issues involved in the field of geopoetics while at the same time avoiding the heaviness of self-conscious theoretical expositions. Liguria, a  concrete geo-historical region, is at the same time, as Kolb shows, a lyrical complex of images.” - Paolo Valesio, Giuseppe Ungaretti Professor in Italian Literature, Columbia University “Nietzsche, Freund, Benn, and the Azure Spell of Liguria is an erudite and scintillating study by a masterful comparatist. Its scope is extensive; its scholarship fastidious; and its parallels between disciplines drawn consistently and skilfully. A serious contribution to state-of-the-art research, this study fits right in with a form of literary analysis that promises to become even more prominent.” - Guy Stern, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of German, Wayne State University “A book whose idiom beautifully and effectively intersects with the material, Nietzsche, Freud, Benn, and the Azure Spell of Liguria is exemplary in its demonstration that any true reading of a national literature is necessarily comparative. It is grounded in genuine learnedness and distinguished by a seasoned style in which an insistent and easy elegance is never the enemy of clarity. I relished reading this innovative and carefully executed study.” - Kenneth S. Calhoon, Professor of German, University of Oregon ‘This book is exemplary for its meticulous scholarship, comparative scope, and rigorous geopoetic analysis while remaining accessible to wide readership. Highly recommended for those interested in German and comparative literary studies.’ - Tove Holmes (University of Toronto Quarterly vol 84:03:2015) ‘A very thought-provoking book for anyone in the fields of comparative literature and cultural studies, as well as scholars of linguistics and the history of languages… Expertly competent and meticulously researched.’ - Joachim Gerdes (Kulturpoetik: Journal for Cultural Poetics, vol 15:01:2015) ‘Fascinating study merging Italian geography with German letters … Kolb’s book is a most valuable reading for scholars of German studies, comparatists, and those interested in geopoetics and its possible applications to the field of Comparative Literature.’ - Nicoletta Asciuto (Forum Modern Language Studies – October 2014) ‘Highly recommended.’ - H.I. Einsohn (Choice Magazine - vol 51:05:14) moving fluidly between texts and sources… It is recommended not only for those working in German studies, but for comparatists more generally and for those interested in geopoetics and in its application to comparative literature in particular.’ - Nicoletta Asciuto (Comparative Critical Studies, vol 11:2-3:2014)

Author Information

Martina Kolb is an assistant professor in the Departments of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures and in Comparative Literature at the Pennsylvania State University.

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