Death or Deception : Sense of Place in Buzzati and Morante

Although Buzzati and Morante are both post-war writers, they are quite dramatically different in style and subject matter.

However, their work shares an important evocation of place, which is constructed around the tension between the purported realism of map space and the irrational yet persuasive powers of fantasy.

Examining the key works of both authors, Siddell looks at two coexisting and conflicting approaches: one which defined place as an outcome of individual perception, and another in which place is understood as an arrangement of locations separate from the individual.

The progression of Buzzati's texts from plausible indications of location to perception-bound space is examined, as is Morante's use of enclosed spaces as the basis of a conceptualisation of elsewhere, paying attention to the contrast and interaction between opposing constructs of place.