Scaling Southern Italy
Research on Naples and Southern Italy is the most intense focus of the Department. The main aim of our projects in this Research Area is to test new interpretative approaches and theoretical models, especially that of scaling. This concept, metaphorically borrowed from the history of cartography, is intended to express the conviction that the examination of any object of study must fundamentally reflect the scale or measure of one's research. This is especially true for a city or a geographical region, given that they are complex organisms that have grown and developed over many centuries.
Firstly, it is fundamental to overcome the center-periphery paradigm and to focus on polycentric structures in the Mediterranean region. Moreover, the examination of the cultural constructions that have determined today’s image of Naples and Southern Italy is itself a research interest that comes to the fore particularly in the projects on photography and film. The aim is to show and explain the construction and deconstruction of interpretative schemata and stereotypes about the Neapolitan metropolis and the entire Mezzogiorno. Southern Italy is understood as a hub of a Mediterranean network, from which the traditional geography of cultural connections and transfers can be redefined.
Over the past three years, numerous individual projects have been integrated in our Research Area. These projects have benefited immensely from collaborations, joint excursions, and conferences. The intention of our approach was and remains a determination to go beyond the stereotype of a ‘disavowed’ Naples and to strengthen the appreciation of the central role played by the city in the appropriation and translation of cultures. New research results, developed either within the Institute or in collaboration with external partners, illustrate the potential of such an approach.
The studies range from the specific veneration of saints in the Middle Ages to the cult practices of the nobility in their chapels and to other manifestations of the Renaissance in the south. The photographic image of Naples is examined in the context of early tourist guides in Europe and Turkey. The history of collections in the early modern period is linked to studies of the city’s erudite circles. The natural and man-made disasters that have struck Naples particularly often – but also, for example, Catania – are examined in terms of their urban and social consequences. These research perspectives raise fundamental questions about the concept of the (nowadays ‘Global’) South in art history and highlights its relativity. Future research will increasingly address the question of what implications are associated with the question of the South in (art) history – and what positive narrative can be adopted to replace the negative ones that have hitherto predominated.
