Italy has been imagined and re-imagined by Western civilization from the latter part of the Renaissance to the present day. The Italian in Modernity provides a comprehensive overview of this conceptualization, in a volume that promises to become the leading introduction to current research in the field.
In this study, Robert Casillo and John Paul Russo look at both Italy and Italian America to explore the paradoxical representation of Italy as the originator of modernity that has resisted many modern tendencies. Covering topics that include travel writing, gender, modernization and Italian decline, national character and stereotypes, immigration, and film, Casillo and Russo discuss writers and artists as diverse as Stendhal, Stäel, Burckhardt, Puccini, D'Annunzio, Santayana, Hemingway, and Coppola. Masterfully linking multidisciplinary sources along a broad historical continuum, The Italian in Modernity is essential to anyone interested in Italian culture and the links between Italy and the United States.

"‘Russo and Casillo’s volume is stimulating for all those interested in the Italian’s role in the history of idea’s; for the student (or scholar) of Italian culture and national identity, it is an indispensable resource. Broad in scope, rich in detail, and truly multidisciplinary in method, The Italian in Modernity offers rich reflections for all.’" - Journal of Modern Italian Studies vol 18:01:2013

"‘The Italian in Modernity is an ambitious, wide-ranging and theoretically sophisticated collection of essays in the University of Toronto’s Italian Studies series…These are fine and provocative essays.’" - Annali d'italianistica vol 31: 2013