Socially Symbolic Acts

Book excerpt: This book discusses issues of broad cultural consequence by examining the work of three of Italy's most prominent living novelists, Umberto Eco, Vincenzo Consolo, and Antonio Tabucchi. The introductory chapter continues a discussion of some of the topics already broached in the author's Narrating Postmodern Time and Space (1997). It uses an approach that is both historicist and psychoanalytic to critically address topics in cultural studies and Italian studies. The book deals with fictions of very recent publication, many of which have been published after the turn of the millennium, filling important gaps in the critical bibliography. Close readings relate texts to their historical and cultural contexts, critiquing their ideology while preserving their Utopian moments.