Quaderni IRCrES-CNR, (2018) vol. 3, n. 3 cap. 1

La geografia letteraria di Gabriel Audisio in Jeunesse de la Mediterranée

Gabriel Audisio’s literary geography in Jeunesse de la Méditerranée

Miriam Begliuomini

Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università di Torino, via Sant’Ottavio 20, Torino – Italia
corresponding author: miriam.begliuomini@unito.it

Abstract

In spite of a limited critical success, Gabriel Audisio (1900-1978) had an important role in the French and francophone panorama of the 20th century, especially during the ’20s and ’30s. In this period, his work is particularly concerned with the Mediterranean Sea, which is portrayed both from a geographical and cultural point of view. Audisio strongly believes in the possibility for the Mediterranean people to live in peace and he sees in the multicultural Algeria of the ’30s a concrete example of an achieved cohabitation.

This paper focuses on the essay Jeunesse de la Méditerranée (1935), in which are collected many magazine articles, personal memories as well as travelling notes. I analyzed some frequent patterns such as the images of the sea, the presence of the towns with their harbours and lighthouses and the vegetation, enlarging upon the stylistic features: indeed, Audisio’s language springs from an interesting combination between prose and poetry. Starting from these recurring elements, I tried to show how his depiction of the Mediterranean Sea is both a realistic landscape and an ideal world: the perfect environment for a multi-ethnic and peaceful community to be built.

Keywords: Mediterranean Sea, Algeria, multiculturalism, Mediterranean landscape.

DOI: 10.23760/2499-6661.2018.009

How to Cite this Article

Begliuomini M., 2018. “La geografia letteraria di Gabriel Audisio in Jeunesse de la Mediterranée”, in Emina A. (a cura di), Narrazioni dal Secolo Breve. Ripensare il Mediterraneo, Quaderni IRCrES-CNR, vol. 3, n. 3, pp. 3-14, http://dx.doi.org/10.23760/2499-6661.2018.009