In the Poets’ Footsteps : Literature, Tourism, and Regional Promotion

"This book comprehensively explores the space of literary tourism and how literature can introduce, promote, and contribute to the awareness of cultural landmarks. Aimed not only at literature enthusiasts, but also at those who love to travel along less beaten paths, In the Poets' Footsteps: Literature, Tourism, and Promotion tells the story of literary tourism between the beginning of the 1800s and today. Giovanni Capecchi surveys the methods most used today, namely printed and online literary guides, that offer a wide panorama of writers' homes and evaluates literary festivals as events capable of giving cultural and economic opportunities to the territories that host them. Rich in examples and "case studies", capable of linking literature and economics, the book is itself a journey: a trip to real or imaginary locations, in the footsteps of poets, to discover places that have hosted and inspired great writers. After its success in Italy, where the second edition is about to be published, this book is now being released simultaneously in English and in Spanish"-- Provided by publisher Contents 6 Preface 8 1. Literary Tourism 10 1 Literature and Geography 10 2 Poetic Maps 13 3 Writers and Territorial Marketing 18 4 The Origins of Literary Tourism 21 5 Authentic Locations, Invented Locations 30 6 Time, Absence, Memory 38 2. Literary Guides 43 1 Aci Trezza without Verga 43 2 Giampaolo Dossena and “Literary Locations” 48 3 Watching Europe, Watched from Europe 50 4 Literary Guides: Types and Classifications 56 5 The Writer as Guide 63 3. Writers’ Homes 69 1 “There is the Poet’s Home”: Ugo Ojetti in the Rooms of the Writers 69 2 House Museums, Houses without Museums, Museums without Houses 72 3 Writers’ Houses: Classifications and Types 82 4 From House to House 89 5 Narrate, Reinventing 92 6 The Story of One’s Own Home, the Story of Others’ Homes 97 7 A Room All to Herself 106 4. Literary Parks 109 1 The Two Nievo’s 109 2 “Against the Corruption of Landscapes” 112 3 The Season of Global Subsidy 115 4 The Park “System” 117 5. Literary Festivals 123 1 “A Festival is First and Foremost a Location” 123 2 Topic, Time, Space 126 3 Effetto Festival 129 Illustrations 137 Index 145