4th Mytheme Webinar: Taking on the Pole. Mythemes of the North in Italian Adventure Novels

Alessandra Ballotti (Lorraine University)

The evolution of Northern mythemes is subject to a diachronic and synchronic transformation that reveals the influence of the target culture in the representation of mytheme attributes. The simultaneous presence of some mythemes in the literature of different countries indicates the importance of the circulation of knowledge in the construction of narrative imaginary. Instead of studying the myth of the North in the context of Nordic or Scandinavian literature, this intervention reveals the image of the North in Italian culture at the turn of the 20th century to understand the origin and evolution of the mythemes of Northern representation. This intervention focuses on the representation of polar areas in some of the narratives of Italian author Emilio Salgari, initiator of the adventure novel literary genre in Italy, a textual typology that seems to have favoured the spread of some specific representations of the North. The unique nature of this production lies in the author's writing methods: a true mythemic writing, reactivated in polar works and which will be shown through analysis of the novel The Northern Star.
 

Part of the Mytheme project and its podcast channel: https://pod.unistra.fr/mythemes/