Napoli volontaria e involontaria: Suggestioni letterarie per Anna Maria Ortese

Abstract

A.M. Ortese (1914-1998) was not born in Naples and left the city for good as early as 1954. However, she came to be regarded as the 20th Century Neapolitan writer par excellence. This article explores how Ortese first creates and then reshapes a mythical aura around Naples in her novels. A close reading of some of Ortese’s remote and contemporary ‘sources’ (the Neapolitan writers Serao, Bernari, Rea, La Capria) sheds new light on the literary context of her works and the realism that is Ortese’s stylistic trademark.

Keywords: Naples – Realism – Folk Tradition