World Languages Professor Publishes Genre Blending Novel
Associate Professor and Co-Chair of World Languages, Cultures, and Media Alessandro Giardino has published a novel that blends the historical and psychological fiction genres.
The book, “Sindrome di Caravaggio,” written in Italian and published by Edizioni Magmata, tells the fictional story of Leyla, a present-day art historian who develops an obsession with the late 16th-century Italian painter, Caravaggio. As she searches for meaning in life by interpreting his masterpieces, Leyla believes she can achieve a greater understanding of the artist’s intentions, if she can jump temporal boundaries and enter into the world of 17th-century Naples through the mind of philosopher Tommaso Campanella.
“I want to offer readers a fresh and funky historical narrative that also highlights how the past can tragically repeat itself if we no longer have instruments to learn from it,” said Giardino. “This novel offers an alternative to the cogent yet seasonal narratives traditionally picked up by corporate publishers. I worked tirelessly to carve elaborate sentences, in order to counter the market’s preponderant predilection for a more journalistic type of writing.”
Giardino hopes that his book will inspire readers to put themselves first and travel.
“I believe in Kristeva's idea that we are all ‘strangers to ourselves,’” said Giardino. “This is a novel for globetrotters and strollers of city streets. I hope readers use it as a literary travel guide to discover Naples, Paris, and New York, and a little bit of themselves in the process.”
While Giardino is currently exploring publishing an English translation of the book in the United States, he says the novel in its original form is a great addition to upper-level college Italian courses and many of his Italian and American colleagues intend to use the work in courses on human geography, urban studies, the Renaissance, and Baroque Italy.
In a review of the novel, Gian Maria Annovi, associate professor of Italian and comparative literature at the University of Southern California, described the book as "a style of writing that bifurcates and unfolds in the present day like a baroque drape." Elena Favilli, author of the New York Times Bestseller List book, "Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls" referred to the novel as "dazzling" and "most powerful."
“Sindrome di Caravaggio” can be found in bookstores across Italy and will be made available on Amazon in early February.
Giardino holds a Ph.D from McGill University and studied art history, semiotics, and literature at the Università di Bologna, University of California at Berkeley, and Université de Montréal. At St. Lawrence, he regularly teaches courses on French and Italian language and literature, and courses in Mediterranean studies.
