Categoria: Tesi di laurea

Ports as locus of the Mediterranean imaginary Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo

by Maria Roberta Vella

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts in Literary Tradition and Popular Culture

August 2014 Faculty of Arts University of Malta

 

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Vincenzo Consolo e la metrica della memoria

Sara de Franchis

  1. La funzione testimoniale del linguaggio

    Da due grandi autori, Lucio Piccolo e Leonardo Sciascia, Vincenzo Consolo trae rispettivamente l’interesse per la poesia europea, a lungo studiata e consultata dall’uomo rinchiuso nella sua villa a Capo d’Orlando, e la volontà di una scrittura impegnata. Egli ricerca una svolta stilistica e contenutistica, d’impegno sociale e storico ma che abbia una forma poetica, ed è questa apparente contraddizione a
    rendere i suoi testi estremamente affascinanti, nonché unici e senza precedenti.
    Cesare Segre lo accosta anche a Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, indicandolo come la sua antitesi: «plurilingue Consolo quanto è monolingue Tomasi, espressionista l’uno quanto è elegantemente classico l’altro».1 Egli fa notare come l’autore abbia assimilato dalla cultura milanese l’ammirazione per Gadda, in cui vedeva un’esplosione polifonica del barocco e con cui ha in comune la tecnica del pastiche.2 Consolo stesso definisce la sua una «scrittura di tipo progressivo, nel senso che partivo da quelli che erano i giacimenti linguistici nel dialetto siciliano, di tutti i retaggi sepolti, mentre cercavo d’immetterli nella lingua centrale ma con un’organizzazione della frase in senso ritmico, poetico»3 e ne spiega anche il motivo: «in questo nostro tempo di cancellazione della memoria, in questo nostro contesto mi sembrava che la letteratura, che è memoria, doveva recuperare anche la memoria linguistica oltre che la memoria storica».4 Cesare Segre indica proprio questo come punto di forza della sua scrittura: L’espressionismo di Consolo si fonda sull’interferenza di registri e di strati idiomatici: e se l’apparenza è quella di un fulgore, di uno splendore barocco, è proprio sul piano, più profondo, della costruzione che si rifugia la «vera» storia, una volta sconfessata la storia degli storiografi. Consolo mostra infatti che tutta la vicenda della Sicilia può essere riportata alla luce tramite la lingua che i siciliani, secondo i momenti, hanno usato.5 Si è espresso a proposito anche Gianni Turchetta nell’introduzione a Le pietre di Pantalica, esplicitando un paio di interessanti passaggi interni alla poetica e più in generale alla scrittura dell’autore: La legge fondamentale della lingua consoliana sembra essere la tensione verso la differenziazione [una tensione che dipende anche da quanto Harold Bloom ha definito “l’angoscia dell’influenza” […] La pluralità di lingue e di toni implica poi, altra caratteristica fondamentale, pluralità di prospettive. […] Lo stesso tessuto verbale fatto di molte lingue sta proprio a significare il tentativo di dar voce a molte prospettive diverse, alla visione del mondo di chi parla o parlava in quel determinato linguaggio […] Consolo cerca di far sopravvivere le parole morte o morenti o marginalizzate, e con esse le visioni del mondo di uomini e culture altrimenti condannati al silenzio. Come egli stesso ha dichiarato in una bella intervista curata da Marino Sinibaldi: “Fin dal mio primo libro ho cominciato a non scrivere in italiano. (…) Ho voluto creare una lingua che esprimesse una ribellione totale alla storia e ai suoi esiti. Ma non è dialetto. È l’immissione nel codice linguistico nazionale di un materiale che non era registrato, è l’innesto di vocaboli che sono stati espulsi e dimenticati (…). Io cerco di salvare le parole per salvare i sentimenti che le parole esprimono, per salvare una certa storia.6 Vale la pena citare a riguardo anche Margherita Ganeri, che ha sintetizzato
    l’opera di Consolo in tal modo: «affronta la rievocazione del passato alla luce di una notevole tensione attualizzante che investe il rapporto tra la memoria e il linguaggio, con la sua sedimentazione e stratificazione altamente connotata»,7 e che ha mostrato in che modo egli sia riuscito nella ricerca di una forma poetica: «attraverso la mescolanza della più aulica ed erudita tradizione letteraria con il dialetto siciliano, la lingua di Consolo acquisisce una patina di barocca arcaicità straniata improntata alla ricerca di effetti lirici».8 Riporto infine un passo tratto da un articolo di Giulio Ferroni, intitolato Vincenzo Consolo, lo scrittore che ha saputo raccontare il respiro della Sicilia: Scrittore che è sceso fino in fondo nel cuore del presente, nei molteplici volti della realtà, nella loro densità sociale e antropologica; scrittore che ha insistentemente interrogato gli sforzi della vita nello spazio nel tempo, tutto ciò che la storia addensato e che, trasformato, continua a scorrerci davanti, si muove e vibra mentre lo consideriamo e lo tocchiamo. […] E naturalmente come scrittore non ha mai cessato di dialogare con tutti i grandi scrittori siciliani, con le forme diverse con cui essi hanno dato voce al carattere, al mistero, all’essere dell’isola. […] La sua è una sfida continuamente ai limiti del linguaggio, strenua ricerca della fisicità della parola, ostinata cura per un lessico legato all’evidenza delle cose, alla loro traccia concreta, alla loro consistenza biologica e materica. La sua prosa si avvolge sugli oggetti, sui nomi, sul muoversi stesso della realtà, sul ritmo e il respiro del tempo, come ad estrarne l’anima, la vibrazione, la traccia dello sforzo, del movimento umano, della passione e del dolore, del voler essere e di ciò che lo ostacola. La speranza e il desiderio, la resistenza e l’oppressione, l’aggressione e la difesa, tutto viene espresso attraverso la sofferta densità della parola, con un lessico tocca i livelli più diversi: forme dialettali più vicine all’espressione della vita materiale, alla realtà contadina o al lavoro artigianale, forme arcaiche o preziose, che fanno balenare echi di tempi lontani, di remota storicità, lingue straniere che rivelano strati nascosti dell’esperienza, rapporti, interferenze, intrecci e conflitti tra mondi. Nomi comuni e nomi propri si susseguono ritmicamente in questa prosa, che costeggia la poesia, come a catturare e a apprendere in sé lo spazio e il tempo, lo scorrere della vita, l’aspetto degli oggetti, i gesti degli esseri umani e di tutto ciò che è animato, l’immagine dell’arte […] L’originalità di consolo sta nel suo mirare, grazie al suo espressionismo, il cuore profondo della Sicilia, grande corpo brulicante di vita, esuberante, malsano, appassionato, lacerato. cerca di comprenderne il senso afferrandole ogni squarcio che ne riveli la densità, la fascinazione e la tremenda rovinosa disgregazione del tutto, di un insieme di corpi che vi annaspano, vi soffrono, vi si espandono, vi si mostrano. Di contro alle rovine cerca ritrova tante presenze vitali, appartata e figure umane che ostinatamente resisto, che continuano, nonostante tutto, a cercare una luce.9 Riflessioni metalinguistiche sono presenti anche all’interno dei testi stessi di Consolo, ne è un esempio il racconto Il linguaggio del bosco tratto da Le pietre 9 di Pantalica: «mi rivelava il nome di ogni cosa […] e appena li nominava, sembrava che da quel momento esistessero. Nominava una lingua di sua invenzione, una lingua unica e personale […] e salire con lei su una quercia, un faggio o un acero, restare a cavalcioni su un ramo e sentire immobile e muto il linguaggio del bosco».10 Nelle opere degli altri autori trattati, il nome ha una potente funzione evocatrice e, nel caso di Bufalino, addirittura esistenziale. Nel passo citato queste funzioni vengono confessate, rivelate attraverso la voce sincera e immediata – intesa nel senso di priva di mediazione – di un giovane ragazzino, conquistato dal semplice e naturale linguaggio inventato da Amalia. Si vedrà inoltre più avanti, in particolare durante la trattazione de Il sorriso dell’ignoto marinaio, come la natura stessa possieda un suo linguaggio. L’approccio filologico della letteratura nei confronti della storia Della filologia è detto che sia la scienza delle minuzie, poiché prende programmaticamente in considerazione ogni particolare; il suo studio concerne il confronto di numerosi testimoni, che si tratti di manoscritti o di descritti, ovvero di trascrizioni di testi perduti. È una disciplina che, attraverso la consultazione d’ogni traccia e verifica della sua attendibilità – dunque della sua verità – tenta di risalire all’origine, alla prima volontà. Un procedimento simile è quello attuato da Consolo, che ha portato alla titolazione di questo paragrafo e che può essere riassunto nella sua ricerca della memoria storica. Anche in quest’ambito sono importanti le parole di Ganeri: «la ricostruzione memoriale è vissuta come un’alternativa intellettuale alla violenta e sistematica uccisione del passato operata dal potere, un’alternativa che si compie perlustrando le crepe, gli interstizi della storia, alla ricerca di ciò che è stato nascosto o perduto».11 Nella prima opera di Consolo, La ferita dell’aprile, pubblicata nel 1963, si ritrovano già i motivi e gli elementi stilistici ricorrenti della produzione successiva: il citazionismo, la connotazione siciliana tramite non soltanto la descrizione estremamente caratteristica – «è tempo di scirocco e, s’egli attacca brucia gemme 54 di fiori di mandorlo e limone»12 – ma anche attraverso la sua iconologia,13 infine la coscienza della scrittura già come inscindibile dalla memoria – «e questa storia che m’intestardo a scrivere, questo fermarmi a pensare, a ricordare»14 e il tema della caduta della luna, trapassata dal faro di Cefalù e raccolta dal mare.15 Ne Il sorriso dell’ignoto marinaio la memoria pervade l’opera, essa è ovunque ed espressa con ogni mezzo: è nella vicenda aspra e appassionata del Risorgimento siciliano vissuto nei piccoli paesi, nel riecheggio della tradizione letteraria antecedente16 e nei documenti citati che lo rendono a tutti gli effetti un metaromanzo e denunciano la storia richiamando le sue stesse parole dall’Archivio di Stato di Palermo del 1857.17 Sono significativi la messa in evidenza delle condizioni dei cavatori di pomice e l’incontro con un giovane prigioniero, passi che hanno la funzione di mettere in discussione il carattere della società. Nessun’opera presenta un tale studio e una così devota ricerca all’insegna della verità e della testimonianza. L’autore opera un salvataggio nei confronti delle piccole storie che hanno composto la storia di un dato tempo e di un dato luogo. Innumerevoli sono gli aspetti che tessono il romanzo, ruotando intorno alla figura del protagonista: l’arte richiamata dal celebre dipinto di Antonello da Messina come l’amore nei confronti delle Madonie dove «le facoltà dell’anima si rendono sommamente estese, vivaci, acute, e sublimi»18 e che possiedono un proprio linguaggio: E questo linguaggio, che pur è quello eloquente dello amore, ripercosso dalle cave rocce nelle buie foreste, riempiendo lo spirito di una dolce malinconia lo riconcentra e invitandolo a deporre ogni frivolezza dell’umana società, lo eleva all’idea di sublime.19
    16 Ne è un esempio l’espressione «Eccellenza sì» tre volte ripetuta all’inizio del romanzo, p. 11, e che ricorda la medesima ripetizione presente in Federico De Roberto, I Vicerè, Garzanti, Milano, 1976, p. 5. Riecheggiano inoltre versi petrarcheschi («all’aria sparsa», 55 Questo passaggio, che ricorda quello de Il Gattopardo durante l’allontanamento di Don Fabrizio dal palazzo, prova che ogni cosa che venga anche soltanto nominata all’interno del romanzo sia degna di parole che possano ricordarla, perché forse nemmeno la natura è eterna. Andrea Camilleri lamenta ne Il Gattopardo la rappresentazione della nobiltà come la forza frenante di un qualsiasi sviluppo, dovuta al fatto che l’autore fosse bloccato in una concezione astorica.20 In questo senso l’opera di Consolo sembra quasi un riscatto, grazie alla diversa caratterizzazione della figura del barone Enrico Pirajno di Mandralisca, veicolo delle più importanti riflessioni scaturite nell’opera: Nelle more del giudizio che dovrà emettere codesta Corte nei riguardi degli imputati, villani e pastori d’Alcàra […] quali in catene e quali latitanti, hanno la disgrazia di non possedere (oltre a tutto il resto) il mezzo del narrare, a voce o con la penna, com’io che scrivo, o Voi, Interdonato, o gli accusatori, o contro parte o giudici d’essi imputati abbiamo il privilegio. E cos’è stata la Storia sin qui, egregio amico? Una scrittura continua di privilegiati. A codesta riflessione sono giunto dopo d’aver assistito a’noti fatti. Or io invoco l’Essere Supremo, l’Intelletto o la Ragione o Chiunque Altro ci sovrasti, a che la mente non vacilli o s’offuschi e mi regga la memoria nel rasare que’fatti per come sono andati. E narrar li vorrei siccome narrati li averìa uno di quei rivoltosi protagonisti moschettati in Patti, non dico don Ignazio Cozzo, che già apparteneva alla classe dei civili e quindi sapientemente nel dire e nel vergare, ma d’uno zappatore analfabeta come Peppe Siena inteso Papa, come il più giovine e meno malizioso, ché troppe sono, e saranno, le arringhe e le memorie, le scritte su gazzette e libelli che pendono dalla parte contraria degli imputati: sarà possibile questo scarto di voce o persona? No, no! Che per quanto l’intenzione e il cuore sian disposti, troppi vizî ci nutriamo dentro, storture, magagne, per nascita, cultura e per il censo. Ed è impostura ma è sempre la scrittura di noi cosiddetti illuminati, maggiore forse di quella degli ottusi e oscurati da’ privilegi loro e passion di casta. Osserverete: ci sono le istruzioni, le dichiarazioni agli atti, le testimonianze… E bene: chi verga quelle scritte, chi piega quelle voci e le raggela dentro i codici, le leggi della lingua? Uno scriba, un trascrittore, un cancelliere. Quando un immaginario meccanico e strumento tornerebbe al caso, che fermasse que’ discorsi al naturale, siccome il dagherrotipo fissa di noi le sembianze. Se pure, siffatta operazione sarebbe ancora ingiusta. Poi che noi non possediam la chiave, il cifrario atto a interpretare quei discorsi. E cade acconcio in questo luogo riferire com’ io ebbi la ventura di sentire un carcerato, al castello dei Granza Maniforti, nel paese di Sant’Agata, dire le ragioni della parlata sua sanfratellana, lingua bellissima, romanza o mediolatina, rimasta intatta per un millennio sano, incomprensibile a me, a tutti, comecché dotati di un moderno codice volgare. S’ aggiunga ch’ oltre la lingua, teniamo noi la chiave, il cifrario dell’essere, del sentire e risentire di tutta questa gente? Teniamo per sicuro il nostro codice, del nostro modo d’ essere e parlare ch’abbiamo eletto a imperio a tutti quanti: il codice del diritto di proprietà e di possesso, il codice politico dell’acclamata libertà e unità d’Italia, il codice dell’eroismo come quello del condottiero Garibaldi e di tutti i suoi seguaci, il codice della poesia e della scienza, il codice della giustizia o quello d’un’utopia sublime e lontanissima… E dunque noi diciamo Rivoluzione, diciamo Libertà, Egualità, Democrazia, riempiamo d’esse parole fogli, gazzette, libri, lapidi, pandette, costituzioni, noi, che que’ valori abbiamo già conquisi e posseduti, se pure li abbiam veduti anche distrutti o minacciati dal Tiranno o dall’Imperatore, dall’Austria o dal Borbone. E gli altri, che mai hanno raggiunto i diritti più sacri elementari, la terra e il pane, la salute e l’amore, la pace, la gioia e l’istruzione, questi dico, e sono la più parte, perché devono intender quelle parole a modo nostro? Ah, tempo verrà in cui da soli conquisteranno que’ valori, ed essi allora li chiameranno con parole nuove, vere per loro, e giocoforza anche per noi e, vere perché i nomi saranno intieramente riempiti dalle cose. Che vale, allora, amico, lo scrivere e il parlare? La cosa più sensata che si possa fare è quella di gettare via le chine, i calamari, le penne d’oca, sotterrarle, smetter le chiacchiere, finirla d’ingannarci e d’ingannare.21 Questo passo, che sembra quasi essere il calco della conversazione tra il Principe di Salina e Chevalley, 22 non riflette soltanto la tensione civile del contenuto dell’opera ma si sofferma anche sulla lingua come strumento indispensabile all’uomo, materia d’ogni concetto. Anche Tano Grasso confronta le due opere, ricordando subito che i due protagonisti sono entrambi due studiosi, ma il primo osserva il cielo, il secondo conosce la terra.23 La lettera prosegue con 21 un’apparente rinuncia a tutto e il racconto – la cui drammaticità è incrementata dalla veste lirica – degli eventi cui ha assistito e in particolare della loro conclusione: Ho visto imprigionar costoro, le signorine Botta in uno con la madre veneranda, le cui gentili mani aveano intessuto i fili d’oro della speranza sopra quel drappo insegna della fede… Ho visto le palle soldatesche rompere il petto del povero Spinuzza, impassibile e fiero, biondo come un Manfredi di sveva discendenza… “Offri a Dio la tua vita” così il carnefice non potrà gloriarsi di avertela tolta”, gli suggeriva il prete corvo, restivo, dandogli da baciare il crocifisso. Respinse, il valoroso, il consiglio e il segno di Passione, “Offro all’Italia” dice “la mia vita”. E al silenzio che seguì alla sparatoria, lancinante, disumano echeggiò nell’aria, proveniente da un balcone sulla piazza, Giovanna Oddo, l’innamorata dell’uomo appena morto.24 Sono le sorti delle singole vite che muovono i pensieri del romanzo, poiché la storia è stata fatta per mano degli uomini, ma anche semplicemente attraverso di loro, e osservarli è il modo migliore per comprenderla e dunque per poterla raccontare. La fine della missiva non termina con una vile rassegnazione, «non è una dichiarazione di resa, ma una sfida inedita, un rilancio»:25 la donazione dei libri e delle opere d’arte al museo e alla scuola di Cefalù è una promessa per il futuro, poiché scrittura è memoria, ma spesso memoria falsificata, e questo è l’unico modo di cambiare davvero le cose: «si che, com’io spero, la storia loro, la storia, la scriveran da sé, non io, o voi».26 La differenza principale fra Il Gattopardo e quest’opera, da molti definita un’anti-Gattopardo, è che al finale del racconto è stata donata una speranza nata dalla compresenza di voci diverse, che si oppongono all’isolamento sentenzioso e altero del principe di Salina. La storia ricordata da Consolo riesce infatti a contenere ogni esistenza la cui umile origine ha condannato all’oblio, a spiegare come conoscenza sia comprensione e infine a superare moralmente e intellettualmente Il Gattopardo sovrapponendo ai monologhi moraleggianti le dubbiose tensioni: «la contraddizione infine nel ritrovarmi a dire, com’io dissi, dell’impossibilità di scrivere se non si vuol tradire, creare l’impostura, e la necessità insieme e l’impellenza a farlo».27 A concludere l’opera non sono le parole del barone ma quelle trascritte da un muro dove erano state tracciate con del carbone le «testimonianze personali de’ protagonisti, d’alcuni d’essi poscia moschettati».28 Vent’anni dopo l’uscita del libro, Vincenzo Consolo si esprime in uno scritto che confessa e spiega le ragioni dell’opera, parla a riguardo del confronto con Il Gattopardo e con la rilettura del Risorgimento da parte della letteratura siciliana, rivela le influenze e le ispirazioni ricevute: E passarono anni per definire il progetto, convincermi della sua consonanza con il tempo, con la realtà, con le nuove etiche e nuove estetiche che essa imponeva, assicurarmi della sua plausibilità. Assicurarmi anzitutto che il romanzo storico, in specie in tema risorgimentale, passo obbligato di tutti gli scrittori siciliani, era per me l’unica forma narrativa possibile per rappresentare metaforicamente il presente, le sue istanze e le sue problematiche culturali (l’intellettuale di fronte alla storia, il valore della scrittura storiografica e letteraria, la “voce” di chi non ha il potere della scrittura, per accennarne solo alcune) e insieme utilizzare la mia memoria, consolidare e sviluppare la mia scelta stilistica, linguisticamente originaria, che m’aveva posto e mi poneva, sotto la lunga ombra verghiana, nel filone dei più recenti sperimentatori, fra cui spiccavano Gadda e Pasolini. La struttura poi del romanzo, la cui organicità è spezzata, intervallata da inserti documentari o da allusive, ironiche citazioni, lo connotava come un metaromanzo o antiromanzo storico. “Antigattopardo” fu detto Il Sorriso con riferimento alla più vicina e ingombrante cifra, ma per me il suo linguaggio e la sua struttura volevano indicare il superamento, in senso etico, estetico, attraverso mimesi, parodia, fratture, sprezzature, oltranze immaginative, dei romanzi di intreccio dispiegati e dominati dall’autore, di tutti i linguaggi logici, illuministici, che, nella loro limpida, serena geometrizzazione, escludevano le “voci” dei margini […] E la risposta che posso ora darmi è che un senso il romanzo può ancora trovarlo nella sua metafora. Metafora che sempre, quando s’irradia da un libro di verità ideativa ed emozionale, allarga il suo spettro con l’allargarsi del tempo.29
  2. L’intuizione dell’antico Un’opera in cui si erge con maggior individualismo il protagonista, omonimo di quello de Il Gattopardo, è Retablo. Tatiana Bisanti ha fatto notare, facendo riferimento a quest’opera in particolare, il legame fra esperienza estetica ed estasi amorosa: È attraverso il procedimento dell’ekphrasis, familiare alla tradizione letteraria medievale, che si realizza nella scrittura di Consolo quel legame fra seduzione amorosa e seduzione artistica. Come hanno rilevato molti critici, in Consolo scrittura e arti figurative sono strettamente collegate fra loro.30 Sembra in effetti che Consolo perpetui una sfida nei confronti dell’arte e della sua capacità di rappresentazione e, aggiungerei, di fissazione nel tempo. Con ekphrasis s’intende infatti una descrizione in grado di rendere visivamente l’oggetto trattato. Il titolo stesso dell’opera rimanda ad una particolare forma d’arte spagnola, una pala d’altare spesso costituita da degli scompartimenti. I retablos raggiungono il periodo di maggior splendore durante il barocco, corrente con la quale la scrittura di Consolo è stata spesso comparata. L’obiettivo di Retablo è manifesto all’inizio del testo: Nel modo più piacevole e acconcio, giusto gli consente l’ingegno suo modesto, sì che spera voi possiate leggendolo vivere secolui il breve tempo del viaggio in quest’isola lontana, in questa terra antica degli dèi, delle arti, delle conquiste e disastrosi avanzi.31 Poco più avanti prosegue con la presentazione del reale contenuto del romanzo, reso attraverso una lunga e sentita lettera, e risponde alla principale domanda che sorge nell’accostarsi al libro: 30 Perché viaggiamo, perché veniamo fino in quest’isola remota, marginale? Diciamo per vedere le vestigia, i resti del passato, della cultura nostra e civiltate, ma la causa vera è lo scontento del tempo che viviamo, della nostra vita, di noi, e il bisogno di taccarsene, morirne, e vivere nel sogno d’ère trapassate, antiche, che nella lontananza ci figuriamo d’oro, poetiche, come sempre è nell’irrealtà dei sogni, sogni intendo come sostanza de’nostri desideri. Mai sempre tuttavia il viaggio, come distacco, come lontananza dalla realtà che ci appartiene, è un sognare. E sognare è vieppiù lo scrivere, lo scriver memorando del passato come sospensione del presente, del viver quotidiano. E un sognare infine, in suprema forma, è lo scriver d’un viaggio, e d’un viaggio nella terra del passato.32 In questo importante passo, in questa quasi dichiarazione poetica, Vincenzo Consolo concede una risposta diversa sulla ragione che lo spinge a scrivere del passato, rispetto a quella comunemente fornita, secondo cui l’approccio alla storia avviene sempre in modo metaforico. 33 Il viaggio è trasposizione, un distacco concreto che rispecchia quello interiore del protagonista. È un ambiente aperto dal quale non può difendersi o sottrarsi, che lo colpisce nei sensi e nell’intelletto. La memoria è «volontate»34 e «ragione»,35 la sua assenza comporta «l’abbandono completo del mio essere a ogni più varia istanza, dura inesistenza».36 Fra le righe di Retablo domina il sentimento acuto e prorompente attraverso cui l’attenta descrizione della vicenda, dalla parvenza di sogno, prosegue. Le parole s’inseguono freneticamente, come se l’autore non volesse trascurare nulla, come se si fermasse ad osservare per poter concedere alla memoria qualcosa in più. Il protagonista si reca in Sicilia per rinvenire la nobiltà dell’oggetto del suo amore, e vi trova l’arte e la storia, poiché questo luogo è «riflesso degli astri in cielo nella notte e nel contempo immagine di vita e di poesia»37 che sembra svelarsi a egli soltanto. Nelle tracce dei secoli passati ritrova la bellezza e in essa il profilo della sua donna, tratteggiato dai ricordi. Le percezioni intime e universali s’intrecciano, concedendogli d’innalzarsi dalla sua condizione umana, di liberarsene seguendo frammenti d’esistenza tangibili a lui che è «come richiamato da voci che solamente a me si rivelavano, voci antiche e sepolte». 38 È la memoria che giunge al protagonista, all’artista «sempre lontano dalla vita, dalla gente»,39 che grazie alla sua essenza, rinunciando a quanto altri anelano, raggiunge qualcosa di remoto, infinitamente distante ma presente «che ritornò d’allora, per la parola sua, al celeste raggio e alla memoria».40Allora perde se stesso «rapito e dimentico di tutto»41 e ritrova un sentimento antico ed eterno: O mia Medusa, mia Sfinge, mia Europa, mia Persefone, mio sogno e mio pensiero, cos’è mai questa terribile, maravigliosa e oscura vita, questo duro enigma che l’uomo sempre ha declinato in mito, in racconto favoloso, leggendario, per cercar di rispecchiarla, di decifrarla per allusione, per metafora? E qui tremo, pavento, perché mi pare di toccare il cuor della metafora, e qui come mai mi pare di veder la vita, di capirla e amarla, d’amare questa terra come fosse mia, la terra mia, la terra d’ogni uomo, d’amare voi, e disperatamente…Voi o la vita? O me medesimo che vivo? Com’è ambiguo, com’è incomprensivo questo molesto impulso, questo sentire intenso che chiamiamo amore!42
    Le parole si vestono d’arcaicità, la poesia diviene lo strumento del pensiero e il suo concretizzarsi: la metafora che cela la vita. In questo attimo di moment of being alla Woolf, di sublime leopardiano, dopo aver rinnegato il «secol nostro superbo di conquiste e di scienza, secolo illuso, sciocco e involuto»,43 giunge alla comprensione che si può ricevere soltanto se lungi da sé stessi. Il tempo dei morti e dei vivi, il loro ricordo che sopravvive quasi senza memoria, e l’arte e la poesia in cui s’abbandona e cerca ascolto, tutto riconduce all’amore. Alla fine l’esistenza si mostra nel suo significato più profondo ed egli pare vedere ogni cosa nella sua verità universale, così una fanciulla appena tolta alla vita diviene «il pudore, la trepidazione, il sentimento, la verità del mondo». 44 Don Fabrizio è quindi l’incarnazione della figura, cara alla tradizione, che riceve qualcosa del passato, che «voci udiva vagando di qua, di là, e grida, risa, urla di òmini di donne di vecchi di fanciulli, preghiere, canti, lamenti, frasi m’avvolgevano la testa in lingue sconosciute, parole greche, puniche, sicane o elìme, o ancora più antiche».45 Si fa egli stesso poesia, mediatore, ponendosi fra la coscienza degli uomini e ciò che essa ha obliato. Ogni sua percezione o sentimento appare distante, e il suo ritorno, il suo richiamo, giunge ineffabile, carico di una profonda nostalgia. Tutto contiene qualcos’altro, «viaggio si fa dentro il viaggio, ignoto nell’ignoto»46 ed è la fecondità della mente, l’eterno processo di significazione, che non concede uno sviluppo sistematico della trama o una divisione in capitoli, soltanto i luoghi emergono dal flusso prevalentemente descrittivo. La fuga dall’amore conduce ad un viaggio che porta all’esperienza di numerosi livelli d’esistenza, gravidi dell’unione inestricabile di pensiero e sensazione. In questo senso di perdizione e turbamento, di caos, vi è un punto fermo, il destinatario di tutto ciò che è contenuto nell’opera, e la fedeltà a questo è riassunta in queste umili parole: «e mi sembrano nella memoria un unico giardino, unico e sognato, tutti i giardini che ho conosciuto».47 Soltanto verso la fine dell’opera, il protagonista conferisce una definizione di sé stesso e del suo ruolo: Ma antichi e ricorrenti sono i naufraghi, sono d’ogni epoca, d’ogni avventura, sogno, d’ogni frontiera elusa, noi naufraghi d’ogni storia infranta, simboli d’un epilogo, involontarie comparse attoniti spettatori di questa metafisica. Di cui non conosciamo i confini, dimenticammo l’inizio, ignoriamo la fine, ma riferiamo incauti il vario apparire nelle luci e nei tempi irriferibili.48 La memoria è l’unica salvezza al silenzio e al vuoto e, in queste pagine del romanzo ambientate nella palude, essa si trascina a stento, priva di una connessione con il passato o con il futuro. Soltanto di fronte ai resti concreti di una civiltà perduta, impone una sofferta riflessione storica e antropologica. Qui s’intravede la differenza fra la memoria percepita dai sensi e quella cui le tracce dell’epoche passate concedono una base concreta. Il puro sentire della memoria porta amarezza e abbattimento, la consapevolezza di essa causa rabbia e lucida critica. Verso la fine dell’opera viene svelato il suo nesso, nel momento in cui la vita dell’uomo più miserevole supera d’importanza l’arte, «il fiore d’estrema civiltà»,49 otteniamo la prova di ciò che lentamente il testo ha cercato di farci comprendere: la poesia e la memoria sono gli strumenti per il rinvenimento della vita stessa, nella sua forma più sincera. Simile a Il sorriso e Retablo è la successiva Le pietre di Pantalica, una raccolta di racconti, di ritratti di personaggi ed epoche. Con quest’opera e con Lo spasimo di Palermo, Consolo ritorna alla complessa narrazione del ’900. Il fotografo tratta della permanenza in Sicilia di Robert Capa ed eleva il suo pensiero contro gli eventi della Guerra civile spagnola e della Seconda Guerra mondiale: «la guerra era quel ragazzo morto contro un muro a secco […] la guerra era la sua Garda, l’intrepida compagna, morta schiacciata sotto un carrarmato sul fronte di Brunete».50 Attraverso l’espediente di queste due guerre, Consolo si sofferma su una guerra eterna e universalmente sentita: Fotografava pastori e contadini […] indifferenti a questa guerra che si svolgeva accanto a loro. Indifferenti e fermi lì da secoli sembravano, spettatori di tutte le conquiste, riconquiste, invasioni e liberazioni che su quel teatro s’erano giocate. E sembrava che la loro vera guerra fosse un’altra, millenaria e senza fine, contro quella terra d’altri, feudi di baroni e soprastanti, avara ed avversaria, contro quel cielo impassibile e beffardo.51 Il principale motore di questa guerra viene discusso nei capitoli successivi e sintetizzato dalla seguente espressione: «la roba cc’è, ma è mala spartuta».52 Consolo s’insidia all’interno della storia, raccontando ad esempio le circostanze durante le quali fu scattato uno dei capolavori di Capa per poi restituirlo: Ecco, questa figurina densa di significato, figurina che d’ora in poi vedrai riprodotta dappertutto, su riviste e su libri, finanche sui testi di storia dei tuoi figli, io regalo a te, lettore, sperando che il fotografo ungherese, saltato su una mina a Thai Binh, in Indocina, un pomeriggio di maggio del ’54, approvi dal suo cielo, col suo sguardo ironico, il mio gesto. […] incomincia a terminare l’era della parola, a prendere l’avvio quella dell’immagine. Ma saranno poi, a poco a poco, immagini vuote di significato, uguali e impassibili, fissate senza comprensione e senza amore, senza pietà per le creature sofferenti. 53 Il capitolo intitolato Il barone magico racconta Lucio Piccolo, a partire dalla pubblicazione di 9 liriche fino alla morte, così come era stato per Robert Capa, attraverso un’attenta e quanto più possibile ricostruzione storica. Le parole espresse da Piccolo nel racconto sono infatti le stesse che vennero registrate da una videocamera durante una delle poche interviste concesse,54 la stessa Villa Piccolo è descritta nei suoi particolari, i fratelli nei modi e nelle attitudini che tuttora vengono ricordati. Lucio Piccolo viene riconosciuto, fin dal primo incontro, come incarnazione della figura del poeta: «capii che la nobiltà diversa del barone era la poesia, in lui doppiamente magica. E fastosa sognante maliosa, di preziosa favola, di canto mai sentito».55 Il rapporto fra il protagonista del capitolo e l’autore si basa su questa comunanza d’interessi: «ero rimasto lì incantato, quando Lucio Piccolo sorrise ancora, mi tese la mano e: «Ho un’intera biblioteca di questi vecchi libri. Venga, venga a trovarmi a Capo d’Orlando».56 Viene riportato in seguito l’incontro con Sciascia e il monito che gli mosse: «Sciascia, la invito a scrivere di queste nostre terre, di questi paesi medievali»;57 infine la morte dell’autore – «così appresi della morte di Lucio Piccolo, ch’era avvenuta durante la notte. Provai dolore, ma dolore anche per un mondo, un passato, una cultura, una civiltà che con lui se ne andavano»58 – e, quasi come ultimo omaggio al poeta, propone un’incantevole – poiché estremamente realistica – descrizione del paesaggio di Capo d’Orlando, così com’era un tempo. In Malophòros torna il motivo caro delle rovine: Mi chiedo cosa avranno provato questi viaggiatori di un’epoca ormai remota a trovarsi in mezzo a queste rovine, ai templi dell’acropoli, in vista di quel mare. E mi chiedo cosa avrà mai provato l’abate Fazello quando, a dorso del suo mulo o a cavallo, si trovò per primo a scoprire Selinunte, invasa d’erbe e di rovi, di serpi e uccelli, resa deserta dalla malaria, sepolta da secoli nell’oblìo. Quale terribile emozione, quale estraniamento, quale panico di fronte al titanico caos, all’affastellamento delle enormi rovine di quel tempo di Zeus nel cui centro restava diritta una sola colonna, sfida al tempo e alle furie telluriche […] Ci sono ormai posti remoti, intatti, non dissacrati, posti che smemorano del presente, che rapiscono nel passato? Io avevo provato questo rapimento a Tindari […] l’avevo provato a Segesta, seduto sui gradini del tempio […] mi ricordai del tempo – tempo remotissimo, arcaico – in cui per Omero, i tragici, per Erodoto, Diodoro, Tucidide, ero preso dalla passione per l’antico; del tempo dei miei viaggi alla scoperta dell’archeologia, in cui la Sicilia era un’isola surreale o metafisica, con solo città sepolte, necropoli, latomìe, ipogei pieni di sarcofagi di marmo luminoso, di neri lucidi crateri con dèi ed eroi graffiti, con templi teatri agorai di città morte in luoghi remoti, deserti, incontaminati.59 Le righe riportate condensano il fascino subìto dalle tracce dell’antichità, da quelli che potremmo chiamare i correlativi oggettivi, le metonimie delle epoche passate. La caduta nell’antro del tempo viene solitamente percepita in solitudine, come avviene nel capitolo Selinunte greca contenuto in Retablo. In questo caso invece la forza motrice e rammemoratrice è in grado di trascinare a sé ogni cosa: Persone reali, qui con me, su questa collina di Malophòros, in questo radioso mattino del primo giorno dell’anno, che pure a poco a poco svanivano, venivano prese in un vortice, precipitavano con me nel pozzo di Ecate, incontro alle divinità sotterranee, nel mistero e nell’oscurità invita del Tempo.60 Il capitolo più interessante e significativo è La casa di Icaro, il racconto di Uccello che s’impegna a salvare quanti più oggetti possibili e a custodirli nel suo museo etnologico a Palazzolo «che non era il solito museo morto, polveroso […] ο freddamente scientificizzato, sotto vetro, illuminato da faresti, didascalizzato […] ma una casa viva»:61 E non raccoglie solo cose, oggetti, ma canti, racconti, leggende, tradizioni popolari. Con frenesia, con forza, con accanimento, in lotta con gli speculatori, con i nuovi piccoloborghesi che, nelle case fresche di cemento […] volevano anche il pezzo di carretto, il pupo paladino, il vaso di terracotta, il dipinto su vetro, cose che il giorno prima avevano distrutto o dato al rigattiere. In lotta con il seppellimento e con l’oblio.62 La riflessione che attraversa il capitolo s’intreccia con la letteratura, quasi essa potesse rappresentare un mondo a parte, esistito in qualche tempo: Cominciano a spuntare le ciminiere col pennacchio di fuoco delle raffinerie lungo quel litorale di miti, quella costa tra Augusta e Siracusa, a ridosso di quel mare in cui il professor La Ciura incontra la sirena Lighea del Lampedusa. E Vittorini […] girava in quel periodo su per gli Iblei, Erei, Madonie, lungo itinerari lombardo-siculi, d’attivismo e industria per l’uomo, incontrando città belle, gente felice e bella, ragazzi e fanciulli allegri fuggiti da vecchi mondi statici, camionisti febbrili in viaggio per le costruzioni di speranze, contadini cavalieri in marcia per cospirazioni contro ingiustizie della storia.63 Il riferimento a Vittorini riconduce a due opere in particolare: Le città del mondo, nella quale è presente una riflessione secondo cui nei luoghi belli vi sia gente buona, 64 e Le donne di Messina, i cui protagonisti sono contadini che viaggiano su dei camion, ognuno nella ricerca di qualcosa. La conclusione del capitolo riporta quasi un’investitura poetica: E ora che sei migrato per sempre, caro Uccello, io rispondo a quella tua richiesta di fare tutto il possibile… E il possibile è questo, di ricordarti, dagli spazi chiusi di questa nostra frigida vita, con affetto e rimpianto, dolce e feroce, cantore e predatore di memorie, di reliquie del mondo trapassato di fatica e di dolore, vero, umano, per il quale non nutrivi nostalgia, ma desiderio, speranza di riscatto.65 L’opera si conclude con un viaggio, il tema del nostos in fondo attraversa l’intera produzione consoliana, dai viaggi per mare ne Il sorriso a Lo spasimo di Palermo: Io non so che voglia sia questa, ogni volta che torno in Sicilia, di volerla girare e girare, di percorrere ogni lato, ogni capo della costa, inoltrarmi all’interno, sostare in città e paesi, in villaggi e luoghi sperduti, rivedere vecchie persone, conoscerne nuove. Una voglia, una smania che non mi lascia star fermo in un posto. Non so. Ma sospetto sia questo una sorta d’addio, un volerla vedere e toccare prima che uno dei due sparisca.66 L’autore si ferma nella Siracusa di Vittorini, deturpata e sconsacrata dalle raffinerie, nella Comiso di Bufalino e infine nella Palermo incrostata del sangue dei delitti di mafia. Lo squallore e il disincanto portano ad una condizione disperata che si risolve in un’unica promessa incorruttibile: Ah Ifigenia, ah Oreste, ah Pilade, ah ancelle della sacerdotessa d’Artemide, quale disinganno, quale altro dolore per voi che tanto avete bramato la patria lontana! V’auguro, mentre eleggiate felici verso la Grecia, che venti e tempeste vi sospingano altrove, che mai possiate vedere Argo, distrutta durante il vostro esilio, ridotta a rovine, a barbara terra, più barbara della Tauride che avete lasciato. Vi resti solo la parola, la parola d’Euripide, a mantenere intatta, nel ricordo, quella vostra città.67 Il rapporto fra scrittura e memoria è ribadito poco più avanti: «non resterà compagna, figlio o amico; ricordo, memoria; libro parola». 68 La particolarità dell’opera è il suo essere popolata di verità storiche: come era avvenuto per Il sorriso, Consolo riprende personaggi realmente esistiti e ne rievoca le storie, facendole proprie. La stessa vicenda della casa museo è tratta dall’attività di recupero e conservazione perpetuata da Antonio Uccello.69 L’olivo e l’olivastro si apre accostando sempre «sogno, ricordo e nostalgia»,70 invocando l’antichità, «tracce, prove d’una storia frantumata, d’una civiltà distrutta, d’uno stile umano cancellato»,71 «un mondo separato, remoto e ignoto»,72 e ricordando così la dipendenza fra storia, arte e umanità. Il personaggio di Ulisse, il particolare e sentito racconto non di un eroe ma di un naufrago – figura ricorrente nel testo – riporta un interessante riferimento: «rimorsi che lo spingono a varcare la soglia dell’umano, a spingersi, vivo, nel regno dei morti, a dialogare, per lenire le ferite del suo animo, con le ombre dei trapassati»,73 qui sembrano tornare le ragioni del viaggio espresse in Retablo. Come avviene in uest’ultima, l’autore definisce il suo ruolo: «io sono il messaggero, l’ànghelos, sono il vostro medium, a me è affidato il dovere del racconto: conosco i nessi, la sintassi, le ambiguità, le malizie della prosa, del linguaggio».74 Per la prima volta, rispetto alle opere trattate, viene riconosciuta l’importanza della scrittura e dei suoi metodi, svelando in un Consolo – riprendendo l’espressione usata da Elvira Sellerio nei confronti di Gesualdo Bufalino – un vero «padrone della lingua».75
    Soggetto del libro è il passato, storico e mitologico, della Sicilia, i cui autori si muovono come personaggi: Verga, Pirandello, De Roberto. Le riflessioni e gli atteggiamenti di questi risentono del tempo e dello spazio in cui si muovono e da cui provengono: Verga inforcò gli occhiali, spiegò i fogli e si mise a leggere. Pirandello lo osservò ancora e gli sembrò lontano, irraggiungibile, chiuso in un’epoca remota, irrimediabilmente tramontata. Temette che né il suo, né il saggio di Croce, né il vasto studio del giovane Russo avrebbero mai potuto cancellare l’offesa dell’insulsa critica, del mondo stupido e perduto, a quello scrittore grande, a quell’Eschilo e Leopardi della tragedia antica, del dolore, della condanna umana. Pensò che, al di là dell’esterna riconoscenza, delle formali onoranze, in quel tempo di lacerazioni, di violenza, di menzogna, in quel tramonto, in quella notte della pietà e dell’intelligenza, il paese, il mondo, avrebbe ancora e più ignorato, offeso la verità, la poesia dello scrittore.76 Sono citati anche Sciascia e Vittorini, il quale introduce l’ansia della fuga e del ritorno: «comincio a sentire una certa inquietudine, una certa insofferenza: mi sembra di essere imprigionato nella forma di “quello che resta in Sicilia”… E questo Vittorini mi prediceva».77 L’amara contraddizione tra bellezza e noncuranza, tra antichità e ignoranza, tra olivo e olivastro dunque tra colto e selvatico è fortemente sentita dagli autori siciliani, eppure sono loro, a volte dopo essere andati via, come nel caso di Consolo e Vittorini vissuti a Milano, a farvi fedelmente ritorno con la scrittura e a ricordarla: In Siracusa è scritta, come in ogni città d’antica gloria, la storia dell’umana civiltà e del suo tramonto. […] sciogliere un canto di nostalgia d’emigrato a questa città della memoria sua e collettiva, a questa patria d’ognuno ch’è Siracusa, ognuno che conserva cognizione dell’umano, della civiltà più vera, della cultura. Canto di nostalgia come quello delle compagne d’Ifigenìa, schiave nella Tauride di pietre e d’olivastri. Ché questa è oggi la condizione nostra, d’esiliati in una terra inospitale, cacciati da un’umana Siracusa, dalla città che continuamente si ritrae, scivola nel passato, si fa Atene e Argo, Costantinopoli e Alessandria, che ruota attorno alla storia, alla poesia, poesia che da essa muove ad essa va.78 E prosegue poco più avanti: «in un luogo di magherie, memorie, rimpianti, nostalgie viviamo, noi qui rimasti».79 Un senso simile si coglie in Nottetempo, casa per casa: «a volte sono inquieti i morti, si negano alla pace, s’impuntano alle soglie, dimoran nei paraggi, lamentano il distacco, dolorano come i vivi di memoria, di rimpianto».80 La trama del romanzo si muove su luoghi antichi e fa affiorare un livello di coscienza più profondo: In nuovi mondi o antichi, in luoghi ignoti risediamo. O ignote forme, presenze vaghe, febbrili assenze, noi aneliamo verso dimore perse, la fonte ove s’abbevera il passero, la quaglia, l’antica età sepolta, immemorabile.81
    Così le vicende narrate vengono interrotte da pensieri provenienti da troppo lontano perché possano essere identificati: «e il suo dolore sembrò a Petro sorto […] da qualcosa che aveva preceduto la sua, la nascita degli altri. Era così per lui, per la famiglia o pure per ogni uomo, per ogni casa? Di questo luogo, di questa terra in cui era caduto a vivere, di ogni terra?».82 Il sentimento che si fa universale ricorda
    le opere di Elio Vittorini, così come lo sguardo rivolto ai personaggi:
    E giù nel buio lieve, la mole della Rocca, le case del paese accovacciate sotto, strette fra la sua base e il mare, intorno al guardiano, il maniero, la grande cattedrale. Dal piano d’essa, da quel cuore partì con il pensiero a ripercorrere ogni strada vicolo cortile, a rivedere ogni chiesa convento palazzo casa, le famiglie dentro, padri figli, i visi loro, rievocarne i nomi, le vicende. Sentiva d’essere legato a quel paese, pieno di vita storia trame segni monumenti. Ma pien soprattutto, piena la sua gente, della capacità d’intendere e sostenere il vero, d’essere nel cuore del reale, in armonia con esso. Fino a ieri. Ora sembrava che un terremoto grande avesse creato una frattura, aperto un vallo fra gli uomini e il tempo, la realtà, che una smania, un assillo generale, spingesse ognuno nella sfasatura, nella confusione, nell’insania. E corrompeva il linguaggio, stracangiava le parole, il senso loro.83 L’accostamento fra l’umanità e il linguaggio testimonia ancora una volta il nesso inscindibile che li lega e che l’attenzione operata da Consolo nei confronti della lingua derivi da un profondo senso di appartenenza e dipendenza riconosciuto tra i due. Infine Lo spasimo di Palermo, ultimo romanzo, rappresenta cronologicamente la ripresa della conclusione de Le pietre di Pantalica, non si perde mai ma registra lucidamente gli scempi della seconda metà del secolo, di cui sono protagonisti i delitti di mafia e il cosiddetto “sacco di Palermo”, che fa riferimento al boom edilizio che stravolse il panorama architettonico e paesaggistico della città. L’opera disperata racconta la distruzione – «s’aprì subito il cantiere, sventrarono il giardino»84 – dopo molto tempo e con rammarico, poiché consapevole della funzione e delle possibilità della letteratura: «aveva tentato infinite volte la scrittura, lettere memorie resoconti, ma l’orrore nasceva puntuale per quell’ordine assurdo, quel raggelare la ferita, quella codificazione miserevole dell’assenza prima e poi assoluta, dell’improvviso vuoto, dello sgomento fisso».85 L’autore si svela protagonista, dal momento che riferisce, come frammento di un libro del protagonista, dello scrittore Gioacchino, una citazione da Le pietre di Pantalica, 86 e rivela così la veridicità delle immagini contenute nel romanzo, manifestandosi non più come ideatore di esse, ma semplicemente come testimone. L’ultima opera dell’autore, pubblicata due anni prima della morte, è Il teatro del sole, il titolo allude alla Piazza dei Quattro Canti di Palermo: «là era il libro di storia più chiaro, il nuovo libro che i viceré avevano scritto sopra un altro più antico e consunto».87 Si tratta di un vero e proprio teatro, nel quale è la storia ad andare in scena, con tutti i suoi protagonisti: Mezzogiorno, l’ora sacra, il tempo dell’arresto, della luce sospesa, delle apparizioni […] Non fauni e ninfe apparivano, ma fantasmi per via Toledo, invadevano il Teatro del Sole […] Che rimescolio di razze, di lingue, in questa turba vitale, invadente, in questi dominatori venuti dal mare, dai deserti lontani, in questi guerrieri audaci e sereni coltivatori di palme, d’ulivi, di cedri! Sono insieme arabi, persiani, egizi, libici, sudanesi, berberi, spagnoli, tutti uniti nella fede in Allah. Sono rudi, incolti, feroci e sapienti, dottissimi, cultori di numeri, astronomie, raffinati poeti […] Ruggeri e Guglielmi d’Altavilla seguivano, in ancor più sontuosa parata […] Svanisce lo screziato bagliore normanno ed è la volta dello Stupore del Mondo, del “Vento di Soave”, del rosso Federico, del grande imperatore. Viene al galoppo sul bianco destriero, in mantello di porpora, la mano del guanto di cuoio su cui affondano gli artigli del falco. Gli fanno corteggio vassalli, cancellieri, notari, poeti della nuova lingua volgare, Pier delle Vigne, Iacopo da Lentini […] vengono ora i cattolici potenti di Spagna.88 Tutto questo si mostra all’autore che si ferma ad osservare nel Teatro del sole e che al fine tenta di liberarsi da questa vertigine: «smuovo le mani nell’aria per frugare l’affanno, frantumare allucinazioni, fantasmi. Cerco di muovere i passi, fuggire dall’incantesimo, da quello spazio stregato, dalla lunga storia angosciosa di questa superba città, dell’incantevole isola, che in figure, in ossessione mi viene».89 Quest’ultima riga, che riecheggia il verso di Piccolo «la vita in figure mi viene»,90 riassume l’intera produzione consoliana, nella quale la narrazione si nutre di immagini giunte da lontano, da un tempo ricordato o semplicemente riconosciuto nelle tracce che ne sono sopravvissute.

    ***

    1 CESARE SEGRE, Un profilo di Vincenzo Consolo, in Consolo L’opera completa, Mondadori, Milano, 2015 p. XVI. 2 Cfr. ivi, p. XVII.
  3. 3 VINCENZO CONSOLO, Intervista di Isabella Donfrancesco, «Scrittori per un anno», 23 gennaio 2012, https://youtu.be/Yo7lllJ9Az0.
  4. 4 Ibidem 51 5 C. SEGRE, Un profilo di Vincenzo Consolo, cit., p. XX.
  5. 6 V. CONSOLO, Le pietre di Pantalica, cit., pp. VIII-X.
  6. 7 MARGHERITA GANERI, Postmodernismo, Editrice Bibliografica, Milano, 1998, p. 55. 8 Ivi, p. 56 52 GIULIO FERRONI, Vincenzo Consolo, lo scrittore che ha saputo raccontare il respiro della
  7. Sicilia, L’Espresso, 9 gennaio 2022, pp.68-69, ttp://vincenzoconsolo.it/?cat=4 53 10 Ivi, p. 56. 11 Ivi, p. 55. 12 Ivi, p. 66. 13 Cfr. ibidem
  8. 14 Ivi, p. 96. 15 VINCENZO CONSOLO, La ferita dell’aprile, Mondadori, Milano, 2013, p. 28. p. 107 cfr. F. Petrarca,
  9. Canzoniere, Mondadori, Milano, 2018, p. 443, v.1, «erano i capei d’oro a l’aura sparsi») e leopardiani. 17 Cfr. VINCENZO CONSOLO, Il sorriso dell’ignoto marinaio, Mondadori, Milano, 2019, p. 55 18 Ivi, p. 55.
  10. 19 Ivi, p. 26. 20 Cfr. ANDREA CAMILLERI, Leonardo Sciascia, le opere raccontate da Pif e Andrea
  11. Camilleri, BIF&ST, 2014, https://youtu.be/MDYR9npqhnc.
    V. CONSOLO, Il sorriso dell’ignoto marinaio, cit., pp. 98-100.
  12. 22 Cfr. G. TOMASI DI LAMPEDUSA, Il Gattopardo, cit., pp. 204-219.
  13. 23 TANO GRASSO, Dentro “Il sorriso dell’ignoto marinaio” e nel romanzo di Tomasi di Lampedusa due modi di essere siciliani. Opposti, in «L’Espresso», 9 gennaio 2022, p. 70
  14. http://vincenzoconsolo.it/?cat=4.
    24 V. CONSOLO, Il sorriso dell’ignoto marinaio, cit., p. 101.
  15. 25 T. GRASSO, Dentro “Il sorriso dell’ignoto marinaio” e nel romanzo di Tomasi di Lampedusa
  16. due modi di essere siciliani. Opposti, cit., p. 71.
  17. 26 Ivi, p. 102. 27 Ivi, p. 105.
  18. 28 Ivi, p. 106.
  19. 29 VINCENZO CONSOLO, Nota dell’autore, vent’anni dopo, in Il sorriso dell’ignoto marinaio,
  20. Mondadori, Milano, 2019, pp. 153-154.
  21. TATIANA BISANTI, Seduzione amorosa e seduzione artistica in Retablo di Vincenzo Consolo, in «Open Edition Journal», Images littéraries de la societé contemporaine, 2006,
  22. https://doi.org/10.4000/cei.813.
  23. 31 V. CONSOLO, Retablo, cit., p. 19.
  24. 32 Ivi, p. 53
  25. 33 V. CONSOLO, Intervista di Isabella Donfrancesco, in «Scrittori per un anno», 23 gennaio 2012,
  26. https://youtu.be/Yo7lllJ9Az0.
  27. 34 V. CONSOLO, Retablo cit. p. 60.
  28. 35 Ibidem 36 Ibidem 37 Ivi, p. 68.
  29. 38 Ivi, p. 74. 39 Ivi, p. 72.
  30. 40 Ivi, p. 74. Il passo richiama Leopardi, La ginestra, «torna al celeste raggio / dopo l’antica
  31. obblivion», Canti, Mondadori, Milano, 2016, p. 231, vv. 269-270.
  32. 41 Ivi, p. 76. 42 Ivi, p. 77.
  33. 43 Ivi, p. 73. Altro riferimento a Leopardi, La ginestra, «secol superbo e sciocco», v. 53.
  34. 44 Ivi, p. 78. 45 Ivi, p. 76.
  35. 46 Ivi, p. 80. 47 Ivi, p. 68.
  36. 48 Ivi, p. 83. 49 Ivi, p. 94.
  37. 50 Le pietre di Pantalica, cit., p. 22.
  38. 51 Ibidem 52 Ivi, p. 52.
  39. 53 Ivi, p. 23. 54 Cfr. p. 109.
  40. 55 Ivi, p. 105. 56 Ivi, p. 109.
  41. 57 Ivi, p. 111. 58 Ivi, p. 112.
  42. 53 Ivi, p. 23. 54 Cfr. p. 109.
  43. 55 Ivi, p. 105. 56 Ivi, p. 109.
  44. 57 Ivi, p. 111. 58 Ivi, p. 112.
  45. 59 Ivi, pp. 88-9.1 60 Ivi, p 94. 61 Ivi, p 99.
  46. 62 Ivi, p 98. 63 Ivi, p 97.
  47. 64 Cfr. ELIO VITTORINI, Le città del mondo, Bompiani, Milano, 2021, p. 93. 65 Le pietre di Pantalica, cit., p 101.
  48. 66 Ivi, p. 139. 67 Ivi, p 130.
  49. 68 Ivi, p. 132. 69 Cfr. http://www.casa-museo.it/
  50. 70 V. CONSOLO, L’olivo e l’olivastro, cit., p. 6.
  51. 71 Ivi, p. 7. 72 Ivi, p. 25.
  52. 73 Ivi, p. 16. 74 Ivi, p. 33.
  53. 75 ELVIRA SELLERIO, Gesualdo Bufalino – L’altro 900 – Documentario, 2020,
  54. https://youtu.be/1ql9eG8wG3k.
  55. 76 V. CONSOLO, L’olivo e l’olivastro, cit., pp. 59-60.
  56. 77 Ivi, p. 11.
  57. 78 Ivi, cit. pp. 73-74.
  58. 79 Ivi, cit. p. 94.
  59. 80 V. CONSOLO, Nottetempo, casa per casa, cit., p. 17.
  60. 81 Ivi, p. 54.
  61. 85 Ivi, p. 44. 86 Cfr. V. CONSOLO, Lo spasimo di Palermo, cit., p. 97.
  62. 87 VINCENZO CONSOLO, Il teatro del sole, Interlinea, Novara, 1999, p. 7. 88 Ivi, pp. 9-11.
  63. 89 Ivi, p. 13.
  64. 90 L. PICCOLO, Gioco a nascondere, Canti barocchi e altre liriche, cit., p. 19.

Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia
Dipartimento di Lettere e culture moderne
Corso di laurea in Lettere moderne
relatore Giorgio Nisini
A.A. 2021-2022

Leonardo Sciascia, Lucio Piccolo, Vincenzo Consolo.
Villa Piccolo

La luna di Consolo, tra passato e presente

di Irene Di Mauro

Lunaria, opera multiforme, come l’astro cui è dedicata la narrazione, si presenta come sintesi della sfiducia di Consolo nei confronti del genere letterario del romanzo, e della scrittura prosastica cui esso è collegato. È un esperimento poetico, teatrale, un ritorno alla tradizione siciliana del cuntu, in una prospettiva settecentesca, che risulta ricca di stimoli per una rilettura critica del presente, in quanto «la stessa metafora portante della Luna, proprio perché rimanda alla poesia e a valori di autenticità e umanità, conferisce uno spessore etico-politico a un testo che a prima vista parrebbe tutto fantastico, svagato, quasi dimentico della realtà».[1] Il linguaggio che dà forma e corpo allo scenario arcaico e immaginifico della narrazione, è quanto mai ‘verticale’, arricchito da continui rimandi poetici, resi espliciti in diversa misura e saturi di echi visionari:

Lo stile si avvicina alla poesia come mai prima era avvenuto: il testo pullula di anafore, allitterazioni, rime interne. Si assiste così a una sorta di tendenza mimetica per cui al tema dell’intima necessità per il mondo della poesia (simboleggiata dalla Luna) corrisponde uno stile che si fa poesia. Il linguaggio si presenta talvolta oracolare, la forma espressiva risulta nervosa, essenziale: la parola si fa incantatrice e trascina il lettore nella “poesia” della vita.[2]

Risulta quindi imprescindibile la comprensione di questa molteplicità di forme, linguaggi e riecheggiamenti, come l’eredità letteraria a cui l’autore ha attinto nella composizione della ‘favola teatrale’ della caduta e rinascita della luna. Quest’ultima, ‘astro’ da sempre presente nell’immaginario popolare, ha influenzato con la sua languida evanescenza poeti e scrittori, fin dal sesto libro della Farsaglia di Lucano, la cui rappresentazione nelle vesti di divinità funesta e ingannevole durante il celebre scontro tra Cesare e Pompeo, appare come la summa di un retaggio immaginifico proveniente dal pantheon greco. L’accezione magico-misterica della figura della dea, correlata all’inquietudine e alla melanconia sepolcrale delle ore notturne, per cui spesso viene associata all’oltretomba, è assimilata nella cultura latina alla figura delle «femmine tessale che svelgono la luna dal cielo»[3], descritte da Platone nel Gorgia. Sono molte le testimonianze di autori classici, segnalate da Leopardi nel Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi, che attribuiscono poteri magici ad alcune donne risiedenti nella regione greca ed in particolar modo Virgilio, Seneca, Orazio, Ovidio, Tibullo, Stazio fanno riferimento all’operazione magica narrata da Platone. Non stupisce la rassegna di Leopardi, la cui produzione letteraria mostra come la luna sia un topos onnipresente nel panorama letterario, in cui vengono analizzate le ricorrenze nei testi antichi dell’immagine della caduta dell’astro, nei capitoli quarto e decimo Della magia e Degli astri nel Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi:«fu un nulla per gli antichi, dopo aver divinizzati gli astri, il supporre che qualcuno tra essi precipitasse talvolta dal cielo, con pericolo evidente di rompersi il collo».[4] Il retaggio popolare e letterario correlato alla luna viene ereditato da Lucano e filtrato attraverso la personale lente del poeta romano, che connota la narrazione della Farsaglia di sfumature grottesche e misteriche, dando forma ad uno dei più affascinanti temi letterari. Le suggestioni popolari sulla luna, trasformate in poesia da Lucano, saranno spunto per scrittori come Baudelaire e Goethe, che ne richiameranno l’accezione sepolcrale, nella formulazione di chiari rimandi alla letteratura latina. La luna delle visioni del poeta francese, sembra quasi la stessa che secoli prima era stata strappata dalla sua nicchia celeste dalla maga Erichto:

non la luna placida e discreta che visita il sonno degli uomini puri,

ma la luna strappata dal cielo, vinta e ribelle, che le Streghe della

Tessaglia costringono spietatamente a ballare sull’erba atterrita![5]

Baudelaire risente del fascino della «sinistra luna inebriante», a cui fa corrispondere la personificazione della donna, che la luna ha segnato «con il suo temibile influsso»[6] e la cui effimera immagine ha suscitato nel poeta il desiderio di imprimerla perpetuamente. Tuttavia, la donna ‘lunatica’ di Baudelaire, a differenza delle temibili incantatrici tessale, è in qualche misura ella stessa vittima del sortilegio lunare e fautrice dell’inganno dell’astro esclusivamente per potere riflesso. La luna conferisce alla donna amata la medesima forza attrattiva che l’uomo le ha, nei secoli, riservato:

Tu sarai bella alla mia maniera. Amerai quello che io amo e quello che mi ama: l’acqua, le nuvole, il silenzio e la notte; il mare immenso e verde; l’acqua informe e al contempo multiforme; il luogo in cui non sarai; l’amante che non potrai conoscere; i fiori mostruosi; i profumi che danno il delirio; i gatti che spasimano sui pianoforti gemendo come delle donne con voce roca e dolce!

“Sarai amata dai miei amanti, corteggiata dai miei cortigiani. […] di quelli che amano il mare, il mare immenso, tumultuoso e verde, l’acqua informe e al contempo multiforme; il luogo in cui non sono, la donna che non conoscono; i fiori sinistri che assomigliano ai turiboli di una sconosciuta religione, i profumi che sconvolgono la volontà, gli animali selvaggi e voluttuosi che sono gli emblemi della loro follia”.

Ed è per questo, maledetta fanciulla viziata, che ora sono ai tuoi piedi, cercando in tutto il tuo corpo il riflesso della temibile Divinità, della fatidica madrina, della velenosa nutrice di tutti i lunatici.[7]

È ormai evidente il distacco dalle violente immagini della Farsaglia, distacco suggerito e in qualche misura anticipato dal Faust di Goethe nel 1831:

Oh, fosse questa l’ultima volta, o Luna, che tu guardi sopra di me travagliato! quante volte dinanzi a questo leggio io ho vegliato tardi nella notte aspettandoti: e tu, mesta amica, sei pur sempre apparsa, a me su libri e su carte! Oh, potessi in sulle cime dei monti aggirarmi per entro la tua amabile luce, starmi sospeso cogli Spiriti in sui burroni, divagarmi, avvolto da’ tuoi taciti albori, sui prati, e, sgombro da tutte le vanità della scienza, bagnarmi e rinfrancarmi nella tua rugiada.[8]

Il corollario di immagini che accompagnano la comparsa della luna appare in ogni caso imprescindibilmente legato alla sfera orfica, immaginifica e dell’inconscio, tradizionalmente associata alle ore notturne. L’astro diviene strumento poetico per esaltare i dissidi dell’animo, «i quali, pur non conciliandosi, sembrano confondersi nell’alternanza in un unico sentimento che esprime la condizione esistenziale dell’uomo».[9] Questa accezione empatica, introdotta dai poeti romantici, trasmuta la luna in un essere non più vessillo di vendetta, brutalità e  immonda crudezza, come era stata per Erichto, la maga che «asperge di abbondante umore lunare»[10] le sue vittime, dopo averne squarciato il petto e il ventre. La luna ora ha una dimensione più empatica, si presenta al poeta « soave come l’occhio dell’amico/ sul mio destino »[11] Gli epiteti a lei rivolti però, appaiono in qualche modo gli stessi, la luna che suscita i sospiri nei poeti romantici, è lo stesso astro che illuminava la notte precedente allo scontro di Cesare e Pompeo:

O tu, lassù, perennemente immune da vecchiaia, dai tre nomi e dalle tre forme, te invoco io, nella calamità del mio popolo, Diana, Luna, Ecate! Tu che i cuori sollevi, tu, assorta nei pensieri più profondi, tu tranquilla splendi, in te stessa ascosa e violenta, apri l’orribile abisso delle tue ombre, l’antica potenza si manifesti senza aiuto di magia.[12]

Dei Canti leopardiani, nel trentasettesimo inequivocabilmente, troviamo il cardine, la congiunzione tra il percorso evolutivo fin qui analizzato e l’opera di Vincenzo Consolo, che riassume e rielabora tutte le accezioni che la luna, nei secoli, ha assunto in ambito letterario. Il tema del sogno della luna caduta, è assimilato, in entrambi gli autori, dalle reminiscenze popolari classiche, in entrambi è spunto per la narrazione dialogica e teatrale, la cui voce più veritiera è affidata ai pastori, nel Canto leopardiano tratti dalla Favola pastorale di Guidobaldo Bonarelli: 

ALCETA

Odi, Melisso: io vo’ contarti un sogno

di questa notte, che mi torna a mente

in riveder la luna. Io me ne stava

alla finestra che risponde al prato,

guardando in alto: ed ecco all’improvviso

distaccasi la luna; e mi parea

che quanto nel cader s’approssimava,

tanto crescesse al guardo; infin che venne

a dar di colpo in mezzo al prato; ed era

grande quanto una secchia, e di scintille

vomitava una nebbia, che stridea

sí forte come quando un carbon vivo

nell’acqua immergi e spegni. Anzi a quel modo

la luna, come ho detto, in mezzo al prato

si spegneva annerando a poco a poco,

e ne fumavan l’erbe intorno intorno.

Allor mirando in ciel, vidi rimaso

come un barlune, o un’orma, anzi una nicchia

ond’ella fosse svèlta; in cotal guisa,

ch’io n’agghiacciava; e ancor non m’assicuro.[13]

Ed è proprio ai pastori, i «villani della Contrada Senza Nome, che Consolo consegna il potere della «memoria, l’antica lingua, i gesti essenziali»[14] in grado, attraverso antichi rituali di sapore arcardico, di far rinascere in cielo la luna, e con essa «il sogno che lenisce e che consola»[15] e imprescindibilmente, la poesia. Il rito compiuto dai contadini con i cocci della luna infranta, richiama alla memoria la luna ancestrale latina, che risorge dall’oblio, insieme al retaggio mistico degli epiteti ad essa correlati:

PRIMA DONNA

Così è finita, così è stata

seppellita la Regina.

SECONDA DONNA

La Signora, la Sibilla,

la Ninfa Oceanina.

[…]

          QUARTA DONNA

Ecate dei parti,

Kore risorgente,

QUINTA DONNA

Malòfora celeste,

Vergine beata.[16]

La danza delle contadine, con le litanie, «muta lamentazione di prefiche»[17], le vesti nere e i capelli sciolti, i «gesti essenziali» dei quali unico depositario sembra essere il popolo, che, custode delle diversità culturali, del variegato corollario di influenze ormai perduto altrove dalla campagna, si mostra unico artefice, grazie alle ‘esequie della luna’, della rinascita dell’astro. Solo il Viceré Casimiro, non a caso punto di contatto tra l’arcadico mondo contadino della Contrada Senza Nome e la Palermo settecentesca, mostra di percepire il lascito classico del prodigio lunare in atto, cadendo in una sorta di estasi visionaria in cui rivolge alla luna il suo lamento, che diviene supplica e invocazione:

Luna, Lucina, Artemide divina, possente Astarte, Thanit crudele, Baalet, Militta, Elissa, Athara, Tiratha, Regina degli Umori, Selene eterna dalle ali distese e celebrate, Signora, Dea dalle bianche braccia, perché abbandoni il luminoso scettro? […] Deh madre, sorella, sposa, guida della notte, méntore, virgilia, dimmi, parlami, insegnami la via.[18]

Divinità che richiamano la fertilità, la fecondità, l’amore, ma anche la guerra, la morte la bramosia di sacrifici. Consolo include tutte le sfumature e le accezioni dell’astro, richiamando gli aspetti più grotteschi e crudi, rispettando quelli più morbidi e romantici; la «letteratura sulla letteratura»[19] di cui parla Cesare Segre, si fa più che mai evidente, adempiendo alla verticalità da sempre caratterizzante la scrittura dell’autore, che si mostra consapevole e attento agli echi che la narrazione suscita:

Quando Consolo mi mise tra le mani il meraviglioso libretto, e io mostrai di riconoscerne alcune fonti, invece di chiudersi nell’enigma mi procurò la fotocopia dei testi cui più si era ispirato, lieto che io ripercorressi i suoi itinerari. Mai come in questo caso la letteratura cresce su sé stessa, e se ne vanta. Il lettore deve partecipare, come in un gioco, all’invenzione dello scrittore.[20]

La stessa attenzione dipinge di sfumature rossastre la luna che rischiara la notte dei villani della Contrada Senza Nome, mentre ammirano il fenomeno che ne anticipa la caduta, speculando, al pari degli antichi, sulla reale motivazione. Il particolare fenomeno introduce l’elemento magico-misterico della caduta, gettando la campagna sottostante in un’atmosfera tragica in cui si insinua l’ululato ultraterreno, a cui i contadini pronti rispondono parando i forconi. La luna rossa diventa condizione necessaria e anticipatrice della magia, come per Orazio nel Sermo VIII, segnalato da Leopardi:

Serpentes, atque videres

Infernas errare canes, lunamque rubentem,

Ne foret his testis, post magna latere sepulchra.

Orazio dà l’epiteto di rubentem alla luna, perchè questa appare infatti rossa al suo levarsi; e il poeta avea detto poco prima che le maghe per dar principio ai loro incantesimi aveano aspettato il sorger della luna:

Nec prohibere….(possum) modo simul ac vaga luna decorum

Protulit os, quin ossa legant, herbasque nocentes.[21]

L’incanto è introdotto dall’aleatoria presenza del lupo mannaro, percepibile dall’ululato che, sempre più forte, scatena le reazioni atterrite degli astanti:

OLIVA   Mamma, il lupo mannaro!…

[…]

MELO   Basta un graffio, in fronte…

PIETRO   Una stilla di sangue…

VENERA   Ma non c’è quadrivio, non c’è incrocio…

La tradizione a cui attinge Consolo per la composizione di questa spettrale atmosfera, torna ad essere nostrana, seguendo il filone delle leggende popolari da lui già esaminate nel 1977:

Un urlo bestiale rompeva il silenzio nella notte di luna piena. Ed era uno svegliarsi, un origliare dietro le porte serrate, uno spiare dietro le finestre socchiuse, un porsi in salvo al centro dei crocicchi o impugnare la lama per ferire alla fronte e far sgorgare gocce di nero sangue. […] Il lupo mannaro era l’incubo, lo spavento notturno, nella vecchia cultura contadina, carico di male e malefizio, contro il quale opponeva crudeli gesti esorcistici.[22]

L’attestazione di questa credenza popolare è lungamente descritta da Cervantes ne Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda, dimostrando l’arcaica permanenza nell’immaginario siciliano della figura del lupo mannaro, e la definizione dialettale della patologia ad esso correlata è di indubbia provenienza araba: «male catubbo, derivato dall’arabo catrab o cutubu, che significano canino o lupino».[23] Cervantes mostra di essere a conoscenza della forte presenza in Sicilia di questa superstizione, costituendo una testimonianza seicentesca le cui reminiscenze appaiono nell’immaginario consoliano, così come nella pirandelliana novella Mal di luna:

Lo que se ha de entender desto de convertirse en lobos es que hay una enfermedad, a quien los médicos llaman manía lupina, que es de calidad que, al que la padece, le parece que se haya convertido en lobo, […] y hoy día sé yo que hay en la isla de Sicilia (que es la mayor del Mediterráneo) gentes deste género, a quienes los sicilianos laman lobos menar, los cuales, antes que les dé tan pestífera enfermedad lo sienten y dicen a los que están junto a ellos que se aparten y huyan dellos, o que los aten o encierren, porque si no se guardan, los hacen pedazos a bocados y los desmenuzan, si pueden, con las uñas, dando terribles y espantosos ladridos.[24]

Gli individui affetti da «manía lupina» avvertono i loro cari in prossimità dell’esternarsi dei sintomi, «que se aparten y huyan dellos, o que los aten o encierren», similmente al Batà di Pirandello, che si premura di mettere al sicuro la moglie dall’irruenza della sua trasformazione: «–Dentro… chiuditi dentro… bene… Non ti spaventare… Se batto, se scuoto la porta e la graffio e grido… non ti spaventare… non aprire… Niente… va’! va’!»[25]. Pirandello, rispetto alla precedente descrizione di Cervantes, introduce come elemento imprescindibile la luna, che diviene, come in Consolo, causa della trasformazione, ritratta, ancora una volta, in rossastre sfumature:

Batà mugolò di nuovo, si scrollò tutto per un possente sussulto convulsivo, che parve gli moltiplicasse le membra; poi, col guizzo d’un braccio indicò il cielo, e urlò:

   – La luna!

Sidora, nel voltarsi per correre alla roba, difatti intravide nello spavento la luna in quintadecima, affocata, violacea, enorme, appena sorta dalle livide alture della Crocea.[26]

La luna interagisce e dialoga con i personaggi, intervenendo essa stessa nell’intreccio della vicenda, al pari di Lunaria, la cui influenza sui personaggi fa sì che possa essere annoverata «tra gli eroi e gli antagonisti, ‘oggetto del desiderio’ ricco di valenze simboliche, sognata, contemplata, persa, rimpianta e infine riconquistata».[27] La sequenza del racconto di Batà della contrazione del ‘male’ ricalca l’immaginario romantico del dialogo notturno con l’astro, richiamando gli scenari ritratti dai poeti ‘lunari’ e la stessa tipologia di interazione che si riscontra, tra le altre, in Claire de lune di Hugo, «la lune était sereine et jouait sur les flots»:[28]

che la madre da giovane, andata a spighe, dormendo su un’aja al sereno, lo aveva tenuto bambino tutta la notte esposto alla luna; e tutta quella notte, lui povero innocente, con la pancina all’aria, mentre gli occhi gli vagellavano, ci aveva giocato, con la bella luna, dimenando le gambette, i braccìni. E la luna lo aveva «incantato».[29]

Il Viceré di Lunaria risente a tal punto della sua influenza, da trasmutarsi in luna egli stesso, intonando una cantilena, o supplica, ricca di allitterazioni e assonanze, «in cui la quantità di sillabe si fa progressivamente più esigua fino a culminare, con geniale intuizione poetica, in un’unica sillaba, ampia e limpida, con un’assonanza nella ‘a’ che significa ‘luna’ in quella lingua antica e pura che ancora oggi si parla in Iran: il persiano classico»:[30]

Lena lennicula,

lemma lavicula,

làmula,

lémura,

màmula.

Létula,

màlia,

Mah.[31]

Ogni personaggio del microcosmo di Lunaria risente in qualche misura dell’influsso della rossastra luna in «quintadècima», il cui aspetto inconsueto genera un dibattito e le goffe argomentazioni avanzate dal dottor Elia, rimandano anch’esse in qualche modo alle arcaiche credenze popolari, che da sempre hanno cercato di colmare i vuoti del sapere, fornendo pittoresche spiegazioni ai fenomeni atmosferici:

DOTTOR ELIA     Nessun prodigio. È solo morbo o fiotto per caso scivolato dal diurno Astro in su l’occaso, quand’è rosso scarlatto, ingallando l’argentea sembianza, la pallida sostanza della vergine, la solitaria pellegrina della notte…[32]

L’ironica caricatura del dottor Elia, che si affanna dietro il rudimentale cannocchiale nell’analisi delle inconsuete condizioni dell’astro, affiancato dall’aromatario Alì, che produce un’analisi meno accademica, ma più calzante in quanto supportata dall’osservazione diretta della natura, e le loro dissertazioni animate, diventano un esempio letterario della figura dell’uomo ignorante ritratta da Leopardi:

La credulità è, e sarà sempre, come sempre è stata, una sorgente inesauribile di pregiudizi popolari. […] Un uomo ignorante, e che nella maggior parte delle cose non presume di sapere più di un altro crederà sempre tutto ciò che gli verrà detto, e stimerà effetto di folle arroganza ed anche di stupidità il dubitarne. Si sarà sempre credulo finchè non si saprà esaminare, o almeno non si ardirà tentare di farlo, […] Accade però bene spesso che gl’ignoranti non siano assai docili, e non prestino fede facilmente a chi vuol persuaderli di qualche verità. […] L’affezione che quell’uomo ha per le antichissime opinioni e per le vecchie costumanze delle genti di villa; la profonda venerazione che conserva per i suoi maggiori che gliele hanno trasmesse e raccomandate caldamente; […] altrettante sorgenti di errori popolari inespugnabili; renderanno inutili le cure di chi travaglierà a disingannarlo.[33]

La «profonda», ma spesso fuorviante, «venerazione», di cui parla Leopardi, viene espressa con vigore macchiettistico dal dottor Elia, che con estrema confusione mette a tacere mastr’Alì, tacciandolo di mancanza di spessore culturale, elencando una sequela di luminari di svariate discipline, allo scopo di conferire dignità alle proprie credenze, nonostante l’identità di alcuni di loro sia ignota: «Tacete, pratico! Voi non avete letto- voi non sapete leggere- in libri autorevoli. Voi non conoscete Ippocrate, Galeno, Avicenna, Bellèo, Alàimo, Petronillo…».[34] La lacuna generata da una parziale mancanza di supporto scientifico, viene colmata dall’uomo con l’immaginazione, che genera, tra le altre, le astruse teorie dell’Accademia dei Platoni Redivivi, spunto per Consolo di una caustica satira sul sapere, i cui protagonisti sono ridotti ad astratte categorie. L’Accademico Anziano, l’ Astronomo, il Fisico, il Metafisico, il Protomedico, si ritrovano a «pontificare sulla luna, coscienti della loro importanza e sapienza, mostrando conoscenze scientifiche e idee preconcette del Settecento»[35], creando un’ulteriore legame con le riflessioni leopardiane sull’approccio ai fenomeni astronomici:

Si vede un effetto meraviglioso, e come avviene bene spesso, se ne ignora la cagione. […] Ciò bastava per far nascere un pregiudizio, poichè l’uomo non si contenta di osservare un effetto, rimanendo nella sua mente affatto incerto intorno alla causa di esso. Sovente egli si forma subito nel suo intelletto un’idea ordinariamente falsa di ciò che può produrlo. […] Le stelle si vedevano muoversi regolarmente e con ordine invariabile: esse si crederono animate. […] Da che sono nati tutti questi errori, se non dall’ignoranza delle cause?[36]

In antitesi, questa «idea ordinariamente falsa», a patto di formarsi negli animi incontrovertibilmente inclini alla scrittura, che non attribuiscono ai doni dell’immaginazione dignità scientifica, genera poesia, mito, che fin dagli albori della civiltà umana è intervenuto là dove la scienza coeva era manchevole. E il mito della luna sembra aver avuto un crollo, al pari della luna di Lunaria, in un preciso momento individuato da Consolo nelle considerazioni conclusive sulla genesi dell’opera stessa, conferendo a Piccolo il primato di aver anticipato,

(o l’aveva anticipato Leopardi?) quello che sarebbe effettivamente accaduto da lì a qualche anno- la caduta del mito della luna, appunto-, che il 21 luglio del 1969 un’astronave di nome Apollo-il fratello gemello di Diana- approdasse sulla superficie di quell’astro e che degli uomini lo profanassero danzandovi sopra con i loro scarponi di metallo (ah, fu quello un giorno fatale per i poeti, ma Piccolo fece in tempo a non viverlo, era scomparso nel maggio di quello stesso anno).[37] 

L’amara, ma profondamente ironica, considerazione di Consolo, sembra estendersi, attraverso il generico appellativo di ‘poeti’, a chi abbia sognato la luna e abbia trasformato questo sogno in poesia. Il viaggio sulla luna, astro prima d’ora irraggiungibile, ha incantato poeti e scrittori, che hanno tentato di colmare il divario tecnologico con l’assegnazione di connotazioni sempre diverse all’ipotetica conquista della stessa: a partire da Dante, fino a Calvino, la luna ha cambiato il proprio volto, ma è rimasta sempre, pur sotto diversi aspetti, specchio dell’umano. E l’impavido paladino di Ariosto, il poeta «cosmico e lunare»[38] viene richiamato alla memoria da Consolo in forma diretta all’interno dell’opera, a suggellare la connessione che, attraverso i secoli, perdura nella letteratura di chi omaggia la luna:

 Là, dove giunse Astolfo in groppa all’Ippogrifo per cercarvi il senno del folle Paladino, là, come canta il Poeta, è dammuso, catoio, pozzo nero di tutte le carenze, le pazzie, i sonni, gli oblii, gli errori della Terra.

Dall’apostolo santo fu condutto

in un vallon fra due montagne istretto,

ove mirabilmente era ridutto

ciò che si perde o per nostro difetto

o per colpa di tempo o di fortuna:

ciò che si perde qui, là si raguna.[39]

Ariosto assegna alla luna il ruolo di detentrice di ciò che sulla terra è stato perso e la descrizione operatane risulta reduce di precedenti lezioni, alcune accolte, altre riprese ironicamente. Tra di esse troviamo l’esempio più illustre, il viaggio dantesco, i cui versi sono esplicitamente riportati nell’opera di Consolo, che affronta, tra le questioni dottrinali, quella delle macchie lunari, spunto di dissertazione sulle caratteristiche dell’astro:

La concreata e perpetüa sete

del deïforme regno cen portava

veloci quasi come ’l ciel vedete.

[…]

Parev’ a me che nube ne coprisse

lucida, spessa, solida e pulita,

quasi adamante che lo sol ferisse.

          Per entro sé l’etterna margarita

ne ricevette, com’ acqua recepe

raggio di luce permanendo unita.[40]

La superficie lunare viene indagata da un punto di vista astronomico, con particolare attenzione alla presenza di imperfezioni sulla sua superficie, sulla cui origine Dante interroga Beatrice:

Ma ditemi: che son li segni bui

di questo corpo, che là giuso in terra

fan di Cain favoleggiare altrui?».[41]

La luna di Ariosto, al contrario, ironicamente «non ha macchia alcuna», pur presentando un paesaggio speculare a quello terreno, per sottolinearne il legame con le vicende umane. Il poeta appare d’altro canto accogliere la descrizione presente nel Somnium di Leon Battista Alberti, in cui Libripeta annovera «enormi vesciche piene di adulazione, di menzogne, di flauti e trombe risonanti» accostate ai «benefici: sono ami d’oro e d’argento»[42], costruendo un paesaggio speculare a quello albertiano:

Vide un monte di tumide vesiche,

che dentro parea aver tumulti e grida;

e seppe ch’eran le corone antiche

e degli Assirii e de la terra lida,

e de’ Persi e de’ Greci, che già furo

incliti, et or n’è quasi il nome oscuro.

[…]

Ami d’oro e d’argento appresso vede

in una massa, ch’erano quei doni

che si fan con speranza di mercede

ai re, agli avari principi, ai patroni.[43]

Descrizione ritrovata nell’arringa dell’Accademico Eccentrico in Lunaria, che richiama alla mente degli astanti il volo siderale di Astolfo, e le conseguenti osservazioni sul suolo lunare: «si fe’ allora specchio, retaggio, monito perenne, ricettacolo delle sventure umane, fondaco d’otri, di vessiche, di regni, filosofie, idoli trapassati».[44] Il momento di congiunzione tra la visione letteraria di Ariosto e la valenza che la luna assume nell’opera di Consolo, ultimo baluardo di poesia contro l’inaridimento e l’afasia, si manifesta in Calvino, che, ripristinando tramite la narrazione iconografica del Castello dei destini incrociati il viaggio ariostesco, preannuncia le riflessioni consoliane, immaginando il paladino Astolfo nell’atto di interrogare un solitario poeta, ultimo abitante lunare:

Quale saggezza trarre per norma della Terra da questa Luna del delirio dei poeti? Il cavaliere provò a porre la domanda al primo abitante che incontrò sulla Luna: il personaggio ritratto nell’arcano numero uno, Il Bagatto, nome e immagine di significato controverso ma che qui pure può intendersi — dal calamo che tiene in mano come se scrivesse — un poeta.

Sui bianchi campi della Luna, Astolfo incontra il poeta, intento a interpolare nel suo ordito le rime delle ottave, le fila degli intrecci, le ragioni e sragioni. Se costui abita nel bel mezzo della Luna, — o ne è abitato, come dal suo nucleo più profondo, — ci dirà se è vero che essa contiene il rimario universale delle parole e delle cose, se essa è il mondo pieno di senso, l’opposto della Terra insensata.[45]

La poesia rimane dunque l’ultimo elemento sull’astro ormai spoglio, ben lontano dalla ricchezza paesaggistica in Ariosto e maggiormente affine al sentire di Consolo: «la vita lassù, impraticabile, si fe’ esigua, disparve mano a mano».[46] Nonostante il decorso che l’astro ha avuto in entrambi gli scrittori, la luna continua ad avere un’ incontrastata, probabilmente ineguagliata, valenza poetica:

«No, la Luna è un deserto,» questa era la risposta del poeta, a giudicare dall’ultima carta scesa sul tavolo: la calva circonferenza dell’Asso di Denari, «da questa sfera arida parte ogni discorso e ogni poema; e ogni viaggio attraverso foreste battaglie tesori banchetti alcove ci riporta qui, al centro d’un orizzonte vuoto.»[47]

 Il Viceré Casimiro e gli abitanti di Lunaria

I figuranti che ruotano intorno alla luna sono occasione in Consolo per compiere quella critica sociale, onnipresente nelle sue opere, in cui lo scrittore doveva necessariamente impegnarsi per non risultare complice delle incongruenze del presente. Persino un’opera così strettamente legata all’immaginifico mondo settecentesco, grazie alla sapiente caratterizzazione dei personaggi, «figure archetipiche che si elevano a categoria di universali, incarnando realtà ontologiche e qualità permanenti»[48] diviene strumento di lettura dell’umano, prescindendo dal momento storico. Primo fra tutti il Viceré, di cui viene svelato l’inganno già dalle prime pagine attraverso l’espediente del manichino, scudo e alter ego del regnante, inganno confermato dall’epilogo che mostra la profonda consapevolezza di un disilluso Viceré di rappresentare un’effige di un potere fittizio, il cui risveglio, dipinto con sfumature squisitamente ironiche, sembra ricalcare le patetiche rimostranze del Giovin Signore del Giorno di Parini: «No, no, no… Avverso giorno, spietata luce, abbaglio, città di fisso sole, isola incandescente…»[49]. Il Viceré viene pazientemente accudito dal valletto Porfirio, similmente ai servi fedeli, che si affrettano a schermare i raggi del sole per favorire il sonno tardivo del nobile parodiato da Parini:

Già i valetti gentili udìr lo squillo

de’ penduli metalli a cui da lunge

moto improvviso la tua destra impresse;

e corser pronti a spalancar gli opposti

schermi a la luce; e rigidi osservaro

che con tua pena non osasse Febo

entrar diretto a saettarte i lumi.[50]

La caricatura di regnante offerta dal Viceré Casimiro, a cui viene dato maggiore spazio rispetto alla precedente versione di Piccolo, con la quale l’opera di  Consolo ha un esplicito rapporto di complementarità, è in origine dipinta  dal barone sulla falsa riga del fratello Casimiro, con palesi intenti canzonatori confermati dalla descrizione fattane dallo stesso Consolo, in cui l’ossessione per le bacinelle d’acqua, disseminate in ogni dove all’interno della dimora nobiliare, ricorda l’ossessione del Viceré di Piccolo per la tintura, di cui erano ricolme numerose ciotole, similmente posizionate all’interno dell’abitazione:

Ogni tanto appariva anche il fratello, il barone Casimiro, bello fresco rasato ed elegante come dovesse uscire per qualche festa. Era invece, come mi rivelò una volta in gran confidenza, ch’egli dormiva di giorno e vegliava di notte, e nel tardo pomeriggio, quando s’alzava, faceva toilette perché più tardi sarebbe cominciata la sua grande avventura dell’attesa notturna delle apparenze, delle materializzazioni degli spiriti. Il barone era un cultore di metapsichica e studiava trattati e leggeva riviste come “Luci e ombre”. Mi spiegò una sua teoria sulle materializzazioni, non solo di uomini, ma anche di cani,

di gatti, mi disse che a quelle presenze, per lo sforzo nel materializzarsi, veniva una gran sete ed era per questo che per tutta la casa, negli angoli, sotto i tavoli, faceva disporre ciotole piene d’acqua.[51]

Il processo di rielaborazione del reale, innestato alle componenti storico-immaginifiche su cui affonda le radici l’intreccio della narrazione, viene puntualmente esaminato da Sciascia, le cui riflessioni sullo stile di Piccolo sono estendibili al sentire poetico di Consolo, essendo entrambi fautori di uno stile barocco e verticale:

Ma la realtà è, per un poeta barocco specialmente, insufficientemente poetica: e viene perciò sottoposta a un processo di «degnificazione». Vale a dire che la realtà viene per troppo amore soppressa, liquidata, nel punto stesso della massima esaltazione.[52]

I due autori, specchio di due modi diversi di intendere la scrittura barocca e il proprio apporto alla società, di aristocratico distacco in uno, di convinto e profondo intervento nell’altro, hanno in comune la piena adesione al sostrato spagnolo da cui la cultura palermitana in special modo è stata profondamente influenzata:

Il macabro, nello stesso tempo fastoso, caratteristico di certi ambienti e di certe mentalità di Palermo (che ora non ci sono più, credo) proviene dalla Spagna, proviene dall’elemento spagnolo che noi palermitani abbiamo subìto molto.[53]

Non è un caso che Cesare Segre assimili la figura del Viceré a quella del Principe Sigismondo de La vida es sueño di Calderòn de la Barca[54], in quanto i due nobili condividono entrambi i volti della speranza: il sogno e l’illusione.  L’intera esistenza per Sigismondo è sogno, dominata dall’illusorietà, intrinseca nella sfera onirica, in cui illusorio è persino il tempo, realtà fugace e velleitaria, del cui sentire il Viceré Casimiro si mostra in qualche misura erede:

Tutto è macèria, sabbia, polvere, erbe e arbusti ch’hanno coperto i loro resti. Malinconia è la storia. Non c’è che l’universo, questo cerchio il cui centro è ovunque e la circonferenza da nessuna parte, questo incessante cataclisma armonico, quest’immensa anarchia equilibrata. Ma se malinconia è la storia, l’infinito, l’eterno sono ansia, vertigine, panico, terrore. Contro i quali costruimmo gli scenari, i teatri finiti e familiari, gli inganni, le illusioni, le barriere dell’angoscia.[55]

Tuttavia l’epilogo della medesima inferenza è differente: la morte come unica realtà possibile per il principe polacco, disvelatrice delle illusioni dell’esistenza e dell’inconsistenza dell’universo sensibile, la luna per il Viceré palermitano, «questa mite, visibile sembianza, questa vicina apparenza consolante, questo schermo pietoso, questa sommessa allegoria dell’eterno ritorno. Lei ci salvò e ci diede la parola, Lei schiarì la notte primordiale, fugò la dura tenebra finale».[56] L’inganno della realtà teatrante viene svelato e Sigismondo, divenuto Principe, non è più Sigismondo, d’altro canto Casimiro non è più il Viceré, ammette con amarezza di averlo malvolentieri impersonato e teatralmente si sveste delle effigi del potere, abbandonando scettro e mantello. È proprio nei momenti essenziali del racconto, il prologo e l’epilogo, che Consolo denuncia la natura metateatrale di Lunaria, in cui i confini tra realtà e finzione vengono consapevolmente e visibilmente intrecciati, per restituire al lettore un ordito di sensibile profondità critica:

Dal “Preludio”, il Viceré, collocato dietro il suo manichino che chiama “quel muto commediante di quest’Opra”, presenta lo scenario dove si sviluppa la favola, spogliato della sua personalità come fosse un attore mentre recita il suo proemio: “E qui è il corpo grande, la maschera della giovine disfatta, la rossa, la palmosa, la bugiarda…”. Al termine dell’opera, nel suo “Epilogo”, Consolo è ancora più esplicito: “Non sono più il Viceré. Io l’ho rappresentato solamente (depone lo scettro, si toglie la corona e il mantello). E anche voi avete recitato una felicità che non avete. Così Porfirio (Porfirio si spoglia della livrea, degli scarpini, del turbante)”.[57]

Il lascito di entrambe le sceneggiature teatrali, è ancora una volta speculare: «è finzione la vita, malinconico teatro, eterno mutamento»[58], «Qué es la vida? Una ilusiòn, una sombra, una ficciòn…»[59], in quanto l’esplicito impianto teatrale diviene spunto per polemizzare, attraverso i due periodi storici in cui operano gli autori, barocco per Calderon de la Barça e moderno per Consolo, sulla vuotezza dei ruoli societari, rovesciando i rapporti di potere attraverso l’intreccio della narrazione.  In Consolo l’esasperazione delle dicotomie negli exempla di accademici, la cui ironica categorizzazione riflette la staticità del ruolo e la cristallizzazione del pensiero, svela le contraddizioni di chi presumibilmente detiene il sapere, ma sceglie di avvalersene autoreferenzialmente. Ad essi, così come agli ecclesiastici, a cui il Viceré riserva caustici interventi, i quali, irrimediabilmente distanti dalla sostanza ascetica e spirituale cui la loro veste dovrebbe tendere, digradano verso le bassezze della gola, dell’avarizia e dell’abuso di potere, Consolo contrappone la saggezza popolare dei villani della Contrada Senza Nome. Essi, provenienti da una contrada spogliata dai nomi dei luoghi, e quindi in qualche modo dalla propria storia, recuperano i gesti essenziali e la memoria dell’antica lingua, dei rituali atavici, in cui risiede la poesia e dunque la rinascita del mito della luna. Sotto un sole «tiranno indifferente, occhio che abbaglia, che guarda e che non vede»[60] si consuma il decadimento di una Palermo che è effige dell’intera società siciliana, al pari della Regalpetra di Sciascia, che è in ogni dove e in nessun luogo, in quanto realtà altra, ma plasmata dallo stampo di tutte le desolanti realtà su cui l’occhio sagace dello scrittore si è posato.  E la desolante realtà presentata da Consolo è quella di un mondo «antico e nuovo, carico di memoria, invaso dall’oblio»[61] e nell’ossimoro si consuma la ricchezza del popolo siciliano. La catarsi anelata da Consolo, inquieta supplica alle Muse nell’epiclesi, ha un’unica via per la sua manifestazione: «un velo d’illusione, di pietà, / come questo sipario di teatro»[62] e non è forse la luna, «sipario dell’eterno»[63], l’assoluzione, il riscatto, praticando essa stessa la catarsi rinascendo sopra le contrade siciliane? La poesia, come la storia è imperituro teatro destinato alla malinconia dell’eterno ritorno, ed è nella sua intrinseca attitudine alla rinascita che risiede la salvezza dell’uomo.

«Dopo è l’arresto, l’afasia. È il silenzio».[64]

[1] Gianni Turchetta, Da un luogo bellissimo e tremendo, in Vincenzo Consolo, L’opera completa, a cura di Gianni Turchetta, I Meridiani, Milano, Mondadori, 2015, p. LV.

[2] Paola Baratter, Lunaria [di Vincenzo Consolo]: il mondo salvato dalla Luna, «Microprovincia», Stresa, XLVIII, 2010, pp. 85-93.

[3] Platone, Gorgia, citato in Giacomo Leopardi, Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi, a cura di Prospero Viani, Firenze, Le Monnier, 1851, p. 47.

[4] G. Leopardi, Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi, a cura di Prospero Viani, Firenze, Le Monnier, 1851, pp. 127-128.

[5]Charles Baudelaire, Il desiderio di dipingere, in Lo Spleen di Parigi. Poemetti in prosa, XXXVI, in. Tutte le poesie e i capolavori in prosa, trad. di Claudio Rendina, Roma, Newton & Compton, 1998, pp. 549-551.

[6] Ibidem.

[7]C. Baudelaire, I benefici della luna, XXXVII, Ivi, p.552.

[8] Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Faust, capitolo I, traduzione di G. Scalvini, Milano, Giovanni Silvestri, 1835, p. 22.

[9] Giovanni Carpinelli, Invocazioni poetiche alla luna, «Belfagor», 21 giugno 2014, http://machiave.blogspot.com/2014/06/invocazioni-poetiche-alla-luna.html

[10] Lucano, Farsaglia, cit., vv. 667-669.

[11]J. w. Goethe, An den mond (Alla luna), Vienna, Diabelli, 1850, vv. 7-8.

[12]J.W. Goethe, Faust e Urfaust, traduzione, introduzione e note di G. V. Amoretti, Feltrinelli, Milano, 1965, p. 451.

[13] Ivi, XXXVII Canto, Odi, Melisso o Lo spavento notturno, pp. 141-142, vv. 1-20.

[14] V. Consolo, Lunaria, cit., p. 80.

[15] Ibidem.

[16] Ivi, pp. 71-72.

[17] Ibidem.

[18] Ivi, p. 65.

[19] Cesare Segre, Un profilo di Vincenzo Consolo, in Vincenzo Consolo, L’opera completa, a cura di Gianni Turchetta, I Meridiani, Milano, Mondadori, 2015, pp. XIV-XV.

[20] Ibidem.

[21] Orazio, Sermo VIII, citato in G. Leopardi, Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi, cit., p. 37.

[22] V. Consolo, Paesaggio metafisico di una folla pietrificata, «Corriere della Sera», 19 ottobre 1977.

[23] Daragh O’Connell, La notte della ragione – fra politica e poetica in Nottetempo, casa per casa, Milano, Università degli Studi, 6 – 7 marzo 2019, http://vincenzoconsolo.it/?p=1815 [ultimo accesso: 14 novembre 2020]

[24] Miguel de CERVANTES, Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda, a cura di C. Romero, Madrid, Cátedra, 2002, p. 244.

[25] Pirandello, Male di luna, «Corriere della Sera», 22 settembre 1913, poi in Le due maschere, Quattrini, Firenze 1914, poi nella nuova edizione riveduta della raccolta dal titolo Tu ridi, Milano, Treves, 1920 col titolo Quintadecima, ora in Id. Novelle per un anno, in Opere di Luigi Pirandello, vol I, Milano, Mondadori, 1980, pp. 1297-1298.

[26] Ibidem.

[27] P. Baratter, Lunaria [di Vincenzo Consolo]: il mondo salvato dalla Luna, cit., pp. 85-93.

[28] V. Hugo, Claire de lune, Les Orientales, Parigi, Ollendorf, 1912, p. 670, v. 1.

[29] Pirandello, Male di luna, cit., pp. 1300-1301.

[30] Irene Romera Pintor, Introduzione a Lunara: Consolo versus Calderòn, a cura di G. Adamo, La parola scritta e pronunciata. Nuovi saggi sulla narrativa di Vincenzo Consolo, Lecce, Manni, 2006, p.171.

[31] V. Consolo, Lunaria, cit., p.60.

[32] Ivi, p .46.

[33] G. Leopardi, Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi, cit., pp. 300-01.

[34] V. Consolo, Lunaria, Milano, Mondadori, 2013, p.45.

[35]Irene Romera Pintor, Introduzione a Lunara: Consolo versus Calderòn, cit., pp.166-167.

[36] G. Leopardi, Saggio sopra gli errori popolari degli antichi, cit., pp.302-03.

[37] V. Consolo, Lunaria, pp.125-26.

[38] I. Calvino, Una pietra sopra: discorsi di letteratura e società, Torino, Einaudi, p. 183.

[39] V. Consolo, Lunaria, cit., p. 64.

[40] D. Alighieri, Canto II, Paradiso, Commedia, a cura di Umberto Bosco e Giovanni Reggio, Firenze, Le Monnier, 1984, vv. 19-36.

[41] Ivi, vv. 49-51.

[42] L. B. Alberti, Intercenales, a cura di Bacchelli e D’Ascia, Bologna, Pendragon, 2003, pp. 228-241.

[43] L. Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, XXXIV, a cura di Lanfranco Caretti, Torino, Einaudi, 2015, vv. LXXVI-LXXVII.

[44] V. Consolo, Lunaria, cit., p.64.

[45] I. Calvino, Il castello dei destini incrociati, Milano, Mondadori, 2016, p.40.

[46] V. Consolo, Lunaria, cit., p.64.

[47] Ivi, p.41.

[48] I. R. Pintor, La parola scritta e pronunciata, cit., p. 169.

[49] V. Consolo, Lunaria, cit., p.18.

[50] G. Parini, Il mattino, (seconda edizione), Il Giorno, in Id., Il giorno, le odi, dialogo sopra la nobiltà, introduzione e note di Saverio Orlando, Milano, Rizzoli, 1978, vv.70-75.

[51] V. Consolo, Il barone magico, «L’Ora», 17 febbraio 1967.

[52] L. Sciascia, Le “soledades” di Lucio Piccolo, in La corda pazza. Scrittori e cose della Sicilia, Torino, Einaudi, 1970, p. 23.

[53] A. Pizzuto, L. Piccolo, L’oboe e il clarino, a cura di A. Fo e A. Pane, Milano, Scheiwiller, 2002, pp. 177-181.

[54] C. Segre, Teatro e racconto su frammenti di luna, in Intrecci di voci, Torino, Einaudi, 1991, pp. 87-102.

[55] V. Consolo, Lunaria, cit., p. 80.

[56] Ibidem.

[57] I. R. Pintor, La parola scritta e pronunciata, cit., pp. 169-170.

[58] V. Consolo, Lunaria, p.85.

[59] Don Pedro Calderon de la Barça, La vida es sueno, II Giornara, scena 19, a cura di C. Morón, Madrid, Catedra, 2005, vv. 2183-4.

[60] V. Consolo, Lunaria, cit., p.85.

[61] Ibidem.

[62] V. Consolo, Catarsi, cit.

[63] V. Consolo, Lunaria, cit., p.85.

[64] V. Consolo, Per una metrica della memoria, Relazione tenuta al Centro di Studi sul Classicismo di Palazzo Pratellesi a San Gimignano in collaborazione con l’Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Filosofici di Napoli, Milano, 12 gennaio 1996, versione cartacea in «Bollettino ‘900 – Electronic Newsletter of ‘900 Italian Literature», VI-XI, 1997, pp. 25-29.



La Sicilia tra mito e storia. Da Sant’Agata a Cefalù. La Gnoseologia dei luoghi nell’opera di Vincenzo Consolo

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Ports as locus of the Mediterranean imaginary Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo

by
Maria Roberta Vella
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of
Master of Arts in Literary Tradition and Popular Culture
August 2014
Faculty of Arts
University of Malta

I dedicate this thesis to you, dear father. You showed me with your constant love, that whatever I do with persistence and commitment will open the doors to my destiny. The long nights I spent awake, reading and researching reminded me of the long nights you spent awake working, pennitting me to study and build my future. Your sacrifices are always accompanied by a constant smile that continuously gives me courage in difficult moments.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The number of people to whom I owe my accomplishments is far too long to fit on this page, as many have inspired me and given me their constant support which has helped me realize that knowledge could open doors I did not even know existed. Nevertheless, there are a number of people who I would like to mention as they have been there for me during tough times and have given me the support I needed. I would like to thank my family without whom I would not have been able to further my studies, my boyfriend Terry, who has always believed in me and has always been there to support me with his constant love, and my uncle Carlo, who from an early age fed me with books and literature that fostered my love of knowledge and the curiosity to find my inner self. I would also like to thank my dearest colleague Ray Cassar, who always helped me grow both academically and as a person, as well as my tutor and mentor Adrian Grima, who directed me, allowing me to ground and express my ideas better whilst always respecting and valuing my opinions.
II
Table of Contents
1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
1.1 The Harbour as Threshold ………………………………………………………………. 7
1.2 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse ………………………………………………….. 10
1.3 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Izzo and Consolo Inspired by the Port12
1.4 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 16
2 The Harbour as Threshold …………………………………………………………………… 1 7
2.1 Natural Landscape and the Development of Literature …………………….. 20
2.2 Instability vs. Stability in the Mediterranean Harbour ………………………. 23
2.3 The Prototypical Sailor …………………………………………………………………. 27
2.4 The Harbour as a Metaphorical Door ……………………………………………… 34
3 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse ………………………………………………………… 38
3.1 Religious Cultural Mobility ………………………………………………………….. 43
3.2 The Lingua Franca Mediterranea as a Mode of Communication ………. 49
4 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo
Inspired by the Port ………………………………………………………………………………….. 58
4.1 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Izzo and Consolo ………………………….. 60
4.2 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Popular Culture ……………………………. 69
4.3 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 76
5 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 78
5.1 The ‘Imaginary’ of the Mediterranean ……………………………………………. 80
5.2 The Mediterranean ‘Imaginary’ Beyond the Harbour ……………………….. 84
6 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….. .. 9?.
III
Abstract

The Mediterranean harbour is a place of meeting, of encounters between
civilizations, of clashes, wars, destructions, peace; a place where culture comes to live, where art is expressed in various ways and where authors and thinkers have found inspiration in every comer. The harbour imposes a number of thresholds to the person approaching it. This threshold could have different fonns which could be emotional, geographical, spiritual or cultural. Authors such as Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo lived and experienced the Mediterranean harbour in all its aspects and expressions; their powerful experience resulted in the formation of important images referred to as ‘imaginary’. The Mediterranean imaginary is the vision of various authors who have been able to translate facts and create figures and images that represent a collective, but at the same time singular imagination. The harbour is an important part of the Mediterranean geographical structure and thus it has been the main point of study for many examining the region. Factors such as language have transformed and suited the needs of the harbour, being a cultural melting pot.
1 Introduction
The Mediterranean is represented by chaos, especially in the harbour cities that are witness to the myriad of cultures which meet each and every day to discuss and interact in the harbour. It is imperative to state that chaos, as the very basis of a Mediterranean discourse has been fed through the different voices fonned in the region. These same voices, images and interpretations have found a suitable home in the Mediterranean harbours, places where literature and culture managed to flourish and where the so-called ‘margins’, both geographical and social, found centrality. The harbour has acquired significance in the discourse on the Mediterranean and thus on how literature and cultural expedients and the vaiious authors and artists recall the harbour as an anchorage point for their deep thoughts about the region. 1
Nowadays, the unification of the Mediterranean seems a ‘utopia’, since the Mediterranean is politically perceived as a region full of borders and security plans. One may easily mention the various strategic moves put forward by the European Union to safeguard the northern Mediterranean countries from migration from North African shores. By applying and reinforcing these security plans, the Mediterranean has become ever increasingly a region of borders. It is also important not to idealize the Mediterranean past as a unified past, because the 1 Georges Duby Gli ideali def Mediterraneo, storia, jilosojia e letteratura nella cultura europea
(Mesogea, 2000) pp.80-104
2
region was always characterized by conflict and chaos. Despite the chaos that was always part of the Mediterranean, being a region of clashing civilizations, it managed to produce a mosaic of various cultures that is visible to the eye of the philosopher or the artist. The artist and the philosopher manage to project their thoughts and ambitions for the region; therefore they are able to see hannony in a region that seems so incoherent. The aim of my thesis is to understand why the harbour is crucial in the construction of the Mediterranean imaginary. Both open space and border, the port, as in the case of Alexandria or Istanbul, has for a long time been a center for trade, commerce and interaction. Therefore, it is imperative to focus on the study of the harbour and harbour cities to be able to give substance to a study about the Mediterranean as a complex of imaginaries. The boundaries in the study about the Mediterranean have a special place; in fact a boundary that may be either geographical or political has the ability to project and create very courageous individuals that manage to transgress and go over their limits when facing the ‘other’. In the Mediterranean we perceive that the actual reason for transgressing and overcoming a limit is the need of confonning or confronting the ‘other’, sometimes a powerful ‘other’ able to change and shift ideas, able to transpose or impose cultural traits. Yet, the Mediterranean in its multicultural environment has been able to maintain certain traits that have shaped what it is today. Through movement of people in the region, the Mediterranean has been able to produce a number of great innovations, such as the movement of the Dorians who moved from the south all along the 3 Greek peninsula, and also the ‘sea people’ that came from Asia and, being hungry and thirsty, destroyed whatever they found. The same destruction and movement resulted in the creation of three important factors for the Mediterranean: the creation of currency, the alphabet, and marine navigation as we know it today. The various movements also contributed to the fonnation of the person as a free being with the ability to move freely. Therefore, movement and the overcoming of boundaries in the Mediterranean have contributed greatly to the fonnation of civilization itself.2 A board, today found in the museum of Damascus, with an alphabet very similar to the Latin one written on it, was very useful as it was very simple in its structure. This confirms a high level of democracy, as civilization meant that each individual had the possibility of knowing and understanding what his leaders understood. We get to understand that in the Mediterranean each person can practice his freedom by travelling out at sea and engage in trading. All this was made possible by the same interactions and conflicts raised in the region. Conflicts though are not the only factor that promoted the interaction and the fonnation of interesting cultural and literature in the Mediterranean, as we know it today. Art and culture have been means by which the various conflicts and interactions took life and expressed the deep feelings that inhabited the soul 2 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo, storia, filosofia e letteratura nella cultura europea (Mesogea,2000) pp. 80-104
4
of the artist. Karl Popper3 states that the cultural mixture alone is not sufficient to put the grounds for a civilization and he gives the example of Pisistratus, a Greek tyrant that ordered to collect and copy all the works of Homer. This made it possible to have a book fair a century later and thus spread the knowledge of Homer. Karl Popper wants to tell us that art and culture have deeply influence the fonnation of a general outset of the region and that the fonnation of the general public is not something that comes naturally, but is rather encouraged. The Greeks in this sense were directly fed the works of Homer by the diffusion of the works themselves. On the other hand, the majority of Greeks already knew how to read and write, further enabling the diffusion of knowledge. Art and architecture are two important factors that have detennined the survival of empires and cultures through time. When artists such as Van Gogh were exposed to the Mediterranean, they expressed art in a different way and when Van Gogh came in contact with the Mediterranean region, the French Riviera and Provence in particular, he discovered a new way of conceiving art. In a letter that Van Gogh wrote to his sister in 1888, he explained that the impact the Mediterranean had on him had changed the way he expressed art itself. He told her that the colours are now brighter, being directly inspired by the nature and passions of the region. The Mediterranean inspired Van Gogh to use a different kind of colour palette. If the art expressed by Van Gogh that is inspired by the Mediterranean is directly 3 Georges Duby Gli ideali del Mediterraneo, storia, jilosofia e letteratura nella cultura europea (Mesogea,2000) pp. 80-104
5 represented and interpreted by the spectator, the region manages to be transposed through the action of art itself.4 The way in which the thesis is structured aims to focus on the vanous images created by poets, popular music and art. Each chapter provides evidence that the harbour has been the centre of attention for the many authors and thinkers who wrote, discussed and painted the Mediterranean. The thesis aims to prove that certain phenomena such as language and religion have contributed to a knit of imaginaries, the layout of certain events such as the ex-voto in the Mediterranean and the use of Sabir or Lingua Franca Mediterranea, which shows how the harbour managed to be the center of events that shaped the cultural heritage of the Mediterranean. The language and religious movement mentioned have left their mark on the Mediterranean countries, especially the harbour cities, which were the first cities encountered. The choice of the harbour cities as the representation and the loci of a Mediterranean imaginary vision is by no means a casual one. In fact, the harbour for many centuries has been the anchorage point not only in the physical sense but also emotionally and philosophically for many authors and thinkers, two of which are Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo, extensively mentioned in the dissertation. These two authors are relevant for the purpose of this study as they manage to create a vision of the Mediterranean, based on their personal experience and influenced by 4 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo, storia, jilosojia e letteratura nella cultura europea (Mesogea,2000) pp.43-55
6 the harbour from which they are looking at the region and observing the
Mediterranean. Popular culture ‘texts’ such as movies and music based on the interaction between the person and the Mediterranean region have an important role in the study, as they represent the first encounter with the harbour. It is a known fact that in the postmodern era where technological means have a broader and deeper reach, popular culture has become the first harbour in which many find anchorage. Therefore it would be difficult to mention literature works that have shaped the Mediterranean without mentioning the popular texts that have constructed images about the region that intertwine and fonn a complete and powerful image. The relevance of each factor is well defined in this study, delving deep in not only popular culture but also in language and various historical events that have transformed the Mediterranean, providing examples of how factors such as geographical elements, spirituality, devotion and passion have transfonned the way in which we perceive a region.
1.1 The Harbour as Threshold The first chapter focuses on the harbour as a threshold between stability and instability, between wealth and poverty, between mobility and ilmnobility. The various elements that constitute the harbour always convey a sense of ‘in between’ to the person approaching. The very fact that the harbour seems to be a place of insecurity gives the artists and authors a more stimulating environment to 7 write about their feelings and to contrast them with the ever-changing and chaotic enviromnent of the harbour. The way in which the natural landscape manages to influence the poetic and artistic expression is of great relevance to the study of the Mediterranean region, especially with regards to the study of the harbour. Poets such as Saba and Montale wrote about the way in which nature felt as a personified figure, able to give hope and change the way poets look at the world. 
They also wrote about nature in the Mediterranean as being an impmiant feature
shaping the way in which history and culture developed.
The sailor as a representation of a Mediterranean traveller is often found in
literature especially with regards to the notion of the harbour as an image of the
Mediterranean culture. Many authors such as Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo
Consolo wrote about the figure of the sailor in relation to the sea and everyday life in Mediterranean harbours. The novels fl Sorriso dell ‘Ignoto Marinaio by
Vincenzo Consolo and Les Marins Perdus by Jean-Claude Izzo are written in two
different geographical areas of the Mediterranean and reflect two different
periods, but they are tied by an expression of a Meditemm~im i1rn1eirn1ry and
somehow recall common features and aspects of the harbour. Both novels manage to transpose their authors’ personal encounter with the Mediterranean, therefore
recalling their own country of birth. The novels are somewhat personal to the
authors; Consolo recalls Sicily while Izzo often refers to Marseille. The fact that
the novels are projecting two different areas and two different points of view on
8
the Mediterranean proves that by gathering different experiences related to the
region, a rich imaginary is created.
The harbour is a door, an entryway to a new world, and borders. Security
and expectations are all part of the experience of the threshold when entering a
country, especially in the Mediterranean, where thresholds are constantly present and signify a new and exciting experience that leads to a new interpretation of a Mediterranean imaginary. The way in which the harbour acts as an entryway suggests that what lies beyond the harbour is sometimes a mystery to the traveller.
Literature greatly contributes to the fonnation of ideas, especially in regard to the fonnation of thoughts such as the idea of a Mediterranean imaginary, but there is another element of fundamental importance to the formation of ideas on a generic line, which is popular culture. High-culture, referring to elements such as art, literature, philosophy and scholarly writings, creates a common understanding between an educated public. Popular culture refers to the section of culture that has a common understanding between the public. High-culture and popular culture have the power to transform what is mostly regarded as pertaining to high society; literature is constantly being reinterpreted and transfonned by popular culture to be able to reach a greater audience.
9
1.2 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse The imp01iance of natural landscape which detennines the success or failure of a harbour, also detennines a number of historical events. In this sense, the Mediterranean is a region that has been naturally set up with a number of very important harbours that consequently fonned a particular history. The image of the harbour could be compared to the image of the lighthouse, which is part of the harbour itself but at the same is a distinct entity that in some cases had a role which went beyond its initial role of guidance and assumed almost a function of spiritual assistance. 5 The symbol of the lighthouse is also tied to knowledge and therefore the lighthouse has the ability to give knowledge to the lost traveller at sea, it is able to show the way even in uncertainties. The lighthouses in the Mediterranean had the ability to change through ages and maintain a high historical and cultural meaning; their function is a matter of fact to give direction to the traveller, but in certain cases it has been used to demarcate a border or as a symbol of power.
The Mediterranean Sea has witnessed different exchanges, based on belief,
need and sometimes even based solely on the search of sel£ Among these modes
of exchange and these pretexts of voyage in the Mediterranean, we find the exvoto and the movement of relics. Both types of exchange in the region have in
common at the basis religion that instilled in the traveller a deep wish to follow a
5 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti: 2010)
10
spiritual path. These exchanges resulted in an increasing cultural exchange. The
ex-voto6 shows a number of things. One of these things is that the very existence
of ex-voto proves a deep connection with the geographical aspect in the
Mediterranean and therefore proving that the region is a dangerous one. In this
sense, people in the Mediterranean have shown their gratitude to God or the
Virgin Mary in the fonn of ex-voto after a difficult voyage at sea. On the other
hand, the ex-voto shows how popular culture mingles with the spiritual experience and the way in which a person expresses gratitude to the divine. The ex-voto paintings have a special way of being identified. The saint or in most cases Virgin Mary, is usually set in a cloud or unattached from the sea in a tempest. Another element that shows if a painting is or is not part of an ex-voto collection, is the acronyms found in the bottom of every painting V.F.G.A (votum facit et gratiam accepit). The use of Latin demonstrates the vicinity to Christianity, whilst the words meaning that ‘I made a vow and I received grace’ prove the tie between the tragedies at sea and the grace given by God. The difficult Mediterranean geographical predisposition, discussed by Femand Braudel7 has developed an abundance of devotion that transformed to shrines and objects of adoration and gratitude. These same shrines, objects and materials that were most of the time exchanged and taken from one place to another, have deeply enriched the Mediterranean with cultural objects and the same shrines are nowadays part of a collective cultural heritage.
6 Joseph Muscat Il-Kwadri ex-voto Martittimi Maltin (Pubblikazzjonijiet Indipendenza, 2003) 7 Fernand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II
(Fontana press: 19 8 6)
11
1.3 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Izzo and Consolo Inspired by the
Port The Mediten-anean for Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo revolves around the idea of a harbour that gives inspiration because it is in essence a border where ideas meet and sometimes find concretization. The Mediterranean harbour for centuries has been a meeting place for people and cultures, thus creating a region full of interactions on different levels. The imaginary for both authors has been shaped by both cultural elements and by the literary elements that find a special place in the mindset of the author. Culture as a popular expression of the concept of the Mediten-anean has developed in different ways, one of which is the projection of the harbour and the Mediterranean itself through media and advertising. Various elements such as the touristic publicity or the actual reportage about the harbour and the Mediten-anean have widened the horizon and the imaginary of the region. In advertisements, the Mediterranean has been idealized in some ways and tends to ignore controversial issues such as ‘migration’; advertising also tends to generalize about the Mediterranean and so mentions elements such as the peaceful and relaxing way of life in the region. Advertisement obviously has its own share in the building of an ‘imaginary’ of the region, but it may also create confusion as to what one can expect of the region. On the other hand, the reportage about the Mediterranean harbour and the region itself focuses more on everyday life in the Mediterranean and common interactions such as encounters with fishennen. Nevertheless, when mentioning 12 the MediteITanean even the reportage at times makes assumptions that try to unite the MediteITanean into an ideal space and it sometimes aims to give an exotic feel to the region. Yet there are a number of informative films that have gathered important material about the MediteITanean, such as the French production Mediteranee Notre Mer a Taus, produced by Yan Arthus-Bertrand for France 2.8 The difference between the usual promotional or adve1iising video clips and the documentary film produced for France 2 was that in the latter the focus points were an expression of the beauty of the whole, whereas in the fonner, beauty usually lies in the common features that for marketing purposes aim to synthesize the image of the Mediterranean for a better understating and a more clear approach to the region. The harbour and other vanous words associated to the concept of the harbour have been used in many different spaces and areas of study to signify many different things other than its original meaning, and this makes us realize that the harbour itself may hold various metaphorical meanings. We have seen the way in which the harbour served as a first spiritual refuge or as an initial salvation point, but it is also interesting to note how the harbour is conceptually seen today,
in an era where globalization has shortened distances and brought down barriers. Nowadays, the harbour is also used as a point of reference in the various technological terms especially in relation to the internet, where the ‘port’ or 8 Yan Arthus-Betrand Mediteranee notre mer a taus (France 2, 2014)
www.yannarthusbertrand.org/ en/films-tv/–mediterranee-notre-mer-a-tous (accessed February,
2014)
13
‘portal’ refers to a point of entry and thus we perceive the main purpose of the harbour as being the first point of entry as is in the context of infonnation technology. The concept of core and periphery has deeply changed in the world of Internet and technology, as the concept of core and periphery almost disappeared. Similarly, the Mediterranean’s core and pe1iphery have always been in a way different from what is considered to be the nonn. Geographically, the core could be seen as the central area, the place where things happen, whereas in the Mediterranean, the periphery acquires almost the function of the core. The harbour is the geographical periphery; neve1iheless, it acquires the function of the core. The islands for example are usually centres, whereas in the Mediterranean they are crossroads rather than real centres of power. In nonnal circumstances the relation between core and periphery is something that denotes not only the geographical location of a place but it usually also refers to economical, social and cultural advancement. Therefore, in the Mediterranean region the concept of geographical centre and economical and social centres are different from their usual intended meaning.
The Mediterranean imaginary has developed in such a way that it
purposely distorted the concepts such as the standard core and periphery or the usual relationship between men and nature or between men and the various borders. In the Mediterranean imaginary, which as we have mentioned is being fed by various authors and popular discourse, has the ability to remain imprinted in our own thoughts and thus has the ability to reinterpret the region itself; we find 14 that the usual conceptions change because they suit not only the region but the author that is writing about the region. The way in which the various authors and artists who describe the Mediterranean are faced with the ongoing challenges presented by the region shows how in essence each and every author has their own personal approach to the region. Their works are essentially a personal project which lead to the enriclunent of the region’s imaginary. The differences between each and every author makes the ‘imaginary’ and the accounts about the Mediterranean much more interesting and ersonalized. 
Consolo9 and Izzo10 have different ways of perceiving the region and
although they both aim to create an ‘imaginary’ that may recall similar features, it is undeniable that there are substantial differences in their approach. Consolo on the one hand focuses a lot on the image of Ulysses as a figure that represents him in his voyage in search of the self. Ulysses for Consolo is a figure that manages to preserve a meaning even in the modem era, a figure that is able to travel through time all the while reinventing the Mediterranean. Izzo as well feels that the figure of Ulysses is imperative to the study of the Mediterranean, but he mostly focuses on the impact of the present experience of the region on the conception of a Mediterranean ‘imaginary’ rather than focusing on the past as a representation of the present situation. 9 Vincenzo Consolo Il Sorriso dell’Ignoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori: 2012) 10 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) 15
1.4 Conclusion
The Mediterranean has been seen as a region full of inconsistencies,
contradictions and conflicts, based mainly on the divergent ideas and cultures residing in the same area. The Mediterranean imaginary does not exclude the conflicts that are present in the region and does not aim to unify the region, and in doing so it aims to give voice to the region. For the various authors and thinkers that are mentioned in the thesis, the Mediterranean has transmitted an emotion or has been able to create the right environment to express ideas and fonn thoughts. The relevance of each and every author within the framework of this thesis shows that without analyzing the single expression about the region, through the various works, one cannot fonn an imaginary of the Mediterranean region. The various concepts of borders, thresholds, conflicts and cultural clashes manage to mingle with each other in everyday life in the Mediterranean – greater ideas and fundamental questions find resonance and meaning in simple everyday interaction between a common sailor and a woman at a bar. The Mediterranean in essence is the voyage between the search for deep roots and the analysis of the clashes that result from this search for roots. The study of the Mediterranean is the constant evaluation of boundaries and the search for the ‘self’ through a wholly subjective analysis of the ‘other’. The imaginary plays a fundamental role in bringing near the ‘roots’ and the ‘present’, and the ‘self’ and the ‘other’.
16
2 The Harbour as Threshold The Mediterranean harbour for many authors and thinkers is a starting point as well as a dying point of the so called ‘Mediterranean culture’. In fact many sustain that the ‘MediteITanean culture’ takes place and transfonns itself in its harbours. This concept does not have to confuse us in assuming that a ‘Mediterranean culture’ in its wholesomeness really does exist. There are elements and features that seem to tie us; that the sea so generously brought ashore. On the other hand the same sea has been keeping things well defined and separate. The harbour as the first encounter with land has always maintained an important role in the formation of ideas and collective imagination. The harbour is not selective in who can or cannot approach it and so the fonnation of this collective imagination is a vast one. It is also important to state that the harbour in itself is a place of contradictions, a place where everything and nothing meet. The contrasting elements and the contradictions that reside in Mediterranean ports are of inspiration to the various authors and thinkers who study the Mediterranean. In this sense they have contributed in the formation of this Mediterranean imagination. Literature is an important factor that contributes to a fonnation of a collective imagination; it would be otherwise difficult to analyze the Mediterranean without the help of literature, as the fonnation of a collective imagination was always fed through literature and cultural expedients.
17
The Mediterranean region, as we shall see, is an area that is somehow
constructed; a person in France may not be aware of what a person in Morocco or in Turkey is doing. The concept of a constructed Mediterranean may be tied to the anthropological study conducted by Benedict Anderson 11 where he states that the ‘nation’ is a constructed concept and may serve as a political and somehow economic pretext. The sea is navigated by both tragic boat people and luxurious cruise liners, and these contradictions seem to be legitimized in the Mediterranean region. To give two recent examples we can observe on a political sphere, the European Union’s decision to fonn a Task Force for the Mediterranean (TFM) whose aims are to enhance the security of its shores and to drastically reduce deaths at sea. The TFM is a recent initiative that follows a number of proposals at a political level that have the Mediterranean security at heart. 12 This idea was triggered by a particular event that saw the death of 500 migrants off Lampedusa. It clearly poses a question whether the Mediterranean is a safe place or not, and whether it remains in this sense appealing to touristic and economic investment. The TFM probably reinforces the idea that the Mediterranean is a problematic region and thus requires ongoing ‘security’. To reconnect to the main idea, the TFM reinforces the notion that the Mediterranean is a constructed idea where access from one shore to another is denied and where one shore is treated as a security threat whereas the other shore is treated as an area to be protected or an 11 Benedict Anderson, Imagined communities (Verso, 1996)
12 Brussels, 4.12.2013 COM (2013) 869 Communicationjiwn the commission to the European Parliament and the council on the work of the Task Force Mediterranean 18 area that is unreachable. The contradictions keep on adding up when we see the way the Mediterranean is portrayed for economic and touristic purposes. One example is the ‘Mediterranean port association’ that helps the promotion of cruising in the Mediterranean region providing assistance to tourists who would like to travel in the region. In this context the Mediterranean is used in a positive way in relation to the touristic appeal it may have. The construction of a Mediterranean idea is by no means restricted to an economical or a political discourse; it has deeper roots and meanings that have fonned through a history of relations between countries and of fonnations of literary expedients. For Franco Cassano13, the Mediterranean is a region that in essence is made of differences, it would be otherwise difficult to justify the clashes that have characterized the Mediterranean history, if it was not for the fact that we are all aware that it is a region made up of dissimilarities On the other hand it is due to these dissimilarities that the Mediterranean is an appealing region both for authors and for travelers alike.
13 Franco Cassano,Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano:Feltrinelli, 2007)
19
2.1 Natural Landscape and the Development of Literature Nature and literature are two elements that intertwine and thus create a collective imagination around the concept of the Mediterranean harbour. In fact, the dialectic between natural landscape and poetic expression was always a matter of great relevance as nature constantly managed to aid the development of poetic expression. The natural landscape helps the fonnation of existential thoughts, such as life, death and the existence of men – thoughts that are always reinterpreted and reinvented through literature. This relation between men and nature was always important in configuring spaces and detennining them according to a common understanding. 14 In the poem of Giacomo Leopardi Dialogo delta Natura e di un Islandese, Nature is personified, and although the indifference and coldness of nature is palpable, we sense that the poet is being aided by nature in fanning his ideas about life itself. Through time and especially through globalization, the world is being interpreted in terms of geographical maps and technology is subsequently narrowing our concept of space and enlarging our concept of life. In the new modem dimension, where the concept of space has acquired an abstract meaning, literature leaves the possibility of dialectic relationship between men and nature, thus enabling men to perceive the places they inhabit as a significant part of their self-construction process. This concept takes us to the perception created around the Mediterranean region and especially the way people look at 14 Massimo Lollini fl Mediterraneo de/la contingenza metafisica di montale all’apertura etica di Saba (Presses Universitaires Paris Quest: 2009) pp.358-372
20
figures such as the sea, the ports and the shores. In Giambattista Vico’s15 poetic geography we understand that the representation of geography through poetic expression is something that dates back in time, through a cosmic representation of senses and feelings. In this regard, Montale and Saba both express in a relatively modem tone the deep representation of the Mediterranean through a mixture of contrasting feelings and ideas. The image of the harbor and any other images in the Mediterranean are deeply felt and analyzed, through the eyes of the poets that live in the region. Montale uses the dialectic of memory to explain his relationship with the Mediterranean, a region locked in its golden age that lives through the memory of poets and authors. He refers to the Mediterranean as ‘Antico ‘ emphasizing the fact that it is an old region. The word ‘Antico ‘ does not merely refer to oldness, but to oldness combined with prestige. The memory characterizes the Mediterranean for Montale, the image of the sea for instance is an archaic image that notwithstanding holds a modem and yet spiritual meaning as it expresses a sense of purification. The sea with its movement brings ashore all the useless and unwanted elements. On the other hand the sea may be seen as a fatherly figure that becomes severe in its actions and makes the poet feel insignificant and intimidated. Montale’s aim was to overcome the threshold between artistic expression and natural landscape through a dialogue with the Mediterranean Sea. This aim was not fulfilled. Montale tried hard to express artistically what the Mediterranean Sea meant but ended his poem humbly putting himself at a lower stage in comparison to the greatness of the Sea. Montale fills 15Massimo Lollini Il Mediterraneo della contingenza metafisica di montale all’apertura etica di Saba (Presses Universitaires Paris Ouest: 2009)
21 his poetry with a mixture of humility and paradoxes; two elements that keep on repeating themselves in the poetry concerning the MeditelTanean.
Furthennore, in Umberto Saba’s ‘Medite1Taneet16 we encounter the same
contrasts and paradoxes used by Montale to develop the figure of the
MeditetTanean Sea. Saba uses the microcosm of Trieste to explain a larger
macrocosm: The MeditetTanean. This technique renders his work more personal and gives it a deeper meaning. Saba and Montale both rely on the memory to express a feeling of deep ties with the element of the sea and the life of the MeditelTanean harbour. Saba’s MeditelTanean resides in his microcosm, personal encounters and experiences fonn his ideas about the region; a region he perceives as being full of fascinating contradictions.

‘Ebbri canti si levano e bestemmie
nell’Osteria suburbana. Qui pure
-penso- e Mediterraneo. E il mio pensiero
all’azzulTo s’inebbria di quel nome.’ 17
‘Drunken songs and curses rise up
in the suburban tavern. Here, too,
I think, is the Mediterranean. And my mind is
drunk with the azure of that name.’ 18
16 Umberto Saba, translated by George Hochfield: Song book the selected poems of Umberto Saba
\V\V\V. worldrepublicofletters.com/excerpts/songbook excerpt.pdf (accessed, July 2014)
17 Massimo Lollini fl Mediterraneo della contingenza metafisica di montale all’apertura etica di Saba (Presses Universitaires Paris Ouest: 2009) pp.358-372
22
Saba mingles his personal classicist fonnation expressed in the ‘all’azzurro’
with the poorest part of the Mediterranean harbour ‘l’osteria’. Both factors are intertwining, and so, the Mediterranean for Saba is the combination of both the richness of classicist thoughts that fonned in the Mediterranean as well as the meager elements that fonned in its po1is; yet they embellish and enrich the concept of the Mediterranean. Saba is searching for his personal identity through the search for a definition to the Mediterranean. In his art he attempts to portray the very heart of the MediteITanean which is found in his abyss of culture and knowledge with the everyday simple life of the harbours. 2.2 Instability vs. Stability in the Mediterranean Harbour In Saba and Montale’s works, the fascinating inconsistencies in the Mediterranean seem to find a suitable place in the ports and in the minds of each and every author and thinker who encounters it. The notion of stability and instability finds its apex in the port. The sea is the synonym of instability, especially in the Mediterranean, being depicted as dangerous and unpredictable. As in the recounts of the Odyssey, the sea, and the Mediterranean as a whole, is a synonym of instability and thus prone to natural catastrophes. The Homeric recounts of Ulysses’ journey explore the Mediterranean that was previously an unknown place. Although the places mentioned by Homer are fictitious, they now 18 Umberto Saba, translated by George Hochfield: Song book the selected poems of Umberto Saba
www.worldrepublicofletters.com/excerpts/song:book _excerpt.pdf (accessed, July 2014)
23
have a general consensus over the definition of the actual places. As time went by historians and authors went on confinning what Homer had depicted in his Odyssey – a Mediterranean that constantly poses a challenge, danger and fascination at the same time. Femand Braudel in his ‘Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip the II’ 19 sustains the view of a difficult Mediterranean, of a succession of events that have helped the success of the Mediterranean for a period of time. Its instability and complication have not aided the area in maintaining its ‘golden age’. This discourse was reinvented by Horden and Purcell in ‘The Corrupting Sea’20 where the Mediterranean meets geographically, historically and anthropologically. In ‘The Corrupting Sea’ the view of Femand Braudel is expanded into what the Mediterranean meant
geographically and historically, therefore Horden and Purcell explain that the inconsistencies and natural features in the Mediterranean really contributed to bring the ‘golden age’ to an end, but they were the same features that brought on the rich culture around the Mediterranean countries in the first place. Where literature is concerned, the inconsistencies and natural features served as an inspiration to various authors who went on fonning the collective imagination around the Mediterranean. Therefore, it could be argued that the geographical
complexity of the region is in fact the tying point to the ‘Mediterranean’ itself that resides in the unconscious and that otherwise would have died with its economical shift towards other areas of interest. The problematic identity and the challenging 19 Femand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 1986)
20 Peregring Horden, Nicholas Purcell The Corrupting sea, a study of the Mediterranean histmy (Blackwell publishing: 2011)
24
natural enviromnent brought by an ongomg sense of curiosity and attraction towards the Mediterranean region. The port is the first encounter with stability after a journey that is characterized by instability, at the surprise of the inexperienced traveler. However, the port does not always covey immovability. The p01i gives a sense of limbo to the traveller that has just arrived. It is a safe place on the one hand but on the other hand due to its vicinity to the sea, it is as unpredictable as the sea itself The sailor is a frequent traveler who knows and embraces the sea. He chose or has been forced to love the sea, to accept the sea as his second home. The sailor is in fact the figure that can help us understand the fascination around the Mediterranean and its ports. It is not an unknown factor that sailors and their voyages have captured the attention of many authors that tried extensively to understand the affinity sailors have to the sea. The sailor21 is a man defined by his relation with the sea and is a recurrent figure in a number of literature works all over Europe and the rest of the world. The sailor is the incarnation of the concept of human marginality, he lives in the margin of life and he embraces the marginality of the harbour with the different aspects of the port. The thresholds present in the port are represented by the sailor; a figure that lives between the sea and land, between betrayal and pure love,
between truth and lie. Like the portrayal of Odysseus, the concept of a sailor has 21 Nora Moll Marinai Ignoti,perduti (e nascosti). fl Mediterraneo di Vincenzo Consolo, JeanClaude Izzo e Waciny Lare} (Roma: Bulzoni 2008) pp.94-95
25
infidelic properties. He carnally betrays his loved one, but he is psychologically anchored to one women for his whole life; a women who is always present in various thoughts but at the same time she is always physically distant. As we will see in various works, the sailor is in constant search of knowledge – the very same knowledge that brought him to love and embrace the sea. The knowledge that is conveyed through the action of travelling itself is another question that would require a deep analysis, but for the sake of our study the fact that knowledge is transmitted through the depth of the sea is enough to make a com1ection with the purpose by which the sailor travels. The sailor fluctuates between sea and land, between danger and security, between knowledge and inexperience. The thresholds are constantly overcome by the curious and free spirited sailor that embarks in this voyage to the discovery of his inner-self. The literary voyage of the sailor in the Mediterranean takes a circular route while it goes deep in ancient history and ties it to modem ideas. Since the sailor is not a new character but a recurring one in literature and culture it has the ability to transfonn and create ideas giving new life to the Mediterranean harbours. While the seamen are the link between the high literature and the popular culture, the sailor does not have a specific theme in literature but the archetype of ‘the sailor’ has a deep resonance in many literary themes. As Nora Moll states in one of her studies about the image of the sailor, she puts forward a list of common themes associated with the image of the sailor:
26
‘Tra i complessi tematici, a cm m parte ho gia accem1ato,si
annoverano l’avventura, il viaggio, l’eros, l’adulterio, il ritorno, il
superamento di limiti (interiori) e di sfide ( esterne ), la liberta, la vita
come “navigatio” e come intrigo conflittuale di esperienze. ’22
‘Amongst the complex themes, which I partly already mentioned, we
find adventure, travel, Eros, adultery, the return, the overcoming of
limits (interior) and challenges (exterior), freedom, life as “navigatio”
and as a conflictual intrigue (or scheme) of experiences.’
2.3 The Prototypical Sailor The interesting fact about the study conducted by Nora Moll is that the sailor in her vision is not merely a figure tied to a specific social class, but as we can see the themes listed are themes that can be tied also to the figure of Ulysses. It is difficult to say that Ulysses or the image of the sailor own a predestined set of themes, and in fact they do not necessarily do so. Ulysses is a character that comprehends certain themes, but these change and shift in accordance to space, time and circumstances. What does not change is the thresholds that are always present in the life of a sailor, the limits that are constantly there to be overcome and the external challenges that need to be confronted. The harbour conveys a 22 Nora Moll Marinai Jgnoti,perduti (e nascosti). I! Mediterraneo di Vincenzo Consolo, JeanClaude Izzo e Waciny Larej (Roma: Bulzoni 2008) pp.94-95
27
number of thresholds; as we have seen these are embodied in the figure of the manner. Jean Claude Izzo in his Les Marins Perdus23 wrote about the discomfort of sailors having to forcedly stay on land and their relationship with the harbor, a passing place that has a special meaning. The harbor is in fact a special place for the mariner, as it is the only place where they can have human contact beyond that of the crew. The mariner in Jean Clause Izzo does not feel that he belongs to any nation or country. He belongs to the sea; a sea that managed to give meaning to his life but at the same time managed to destroy it. Jean Claude Izzo uses strong images of the port to describe the tie the sailor has to the harbour itself, he uses sexual and erotic images and ties them to legends and popular culture expedients. The story is interesting because of the way Jean Claude Izzo reverses the way sailors live. In fact he recreates a story where the sailor is trapped in the harbour and so he is forced to view the sea from land and not the other way round as he usually does. The psychological discomfort that Jean Claude Izzo creates portrays the Mediterranean archetypes and the life in the ports from a reverse point of view. Everyday life in the harbour is analyzed through a succession of tragedies that on one hand recall the classicist view of the Mediterranean, and on the other hand, due to references to everyday life elements, may be easily connected to the modem conception of the Mediterranean port. The links created by Jean Claude Izzo are made on purpose to create an ongoing bond between the classic Homeric 23 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) pp.238
28
Mediterranean and the modem Mediterranean. In fact, Diamantis -the mam character of the novel- is portrayed as a modem Ulysses trying to cope with ongoing temptations and with the constant drive for knowledge. The Odyssey is for Diamantis a point of anchorage. He reads the Odyssey while attempting to define himself: ‘In effetti l’Odissea non ha mai smesso di essere raccontata, da una taverna all’altra,di bar in bar: … e Ulisse e sempre fra noi. La sua eterna giovinezza e nelle storie che continuiamo a raccontarci anche oggi se abbiamo ancora un avvenire nel Mediterraneo e di sicuro li. [ … ]I porti del Mediterraneo … sono delle strade. ’24 ‘Yes … In fact, the Odyssey has constantly been retold, in every tavern
or bar … And Odysseus is still alive among us. Eternally young, in the
stories we tell, even now. If we have a future in the Mediterranean,
that’s where it lies.” [ … ] “The Mediterranean means … routes. Sea
routes and land routes. All joined together. Connecting cities. Large
and small. Cities holding each other by the hand.’ In this quote we see the continuous threshold between space and time being overcome, that serves to keep alive the Mediterranean itself. It is clear that the classic Homeric recount is always reinterpreted and reinvented. The Odyssey
is not the only point of reflection for Diamantis. In fact the protagonist is seen as a 24 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) pp.238
29
deep character that reflects on the various incidents in his life and it could be argued that Diamantis is the expression of Jean Claude Izzo’s thoughts. The sailors in Jean Claude Izzo’s novel chose to be Mediterranean; naval commerce exists beyond the enclosed sea, but these men chose to sail with inadequate ships in a region where geographical beauty and historical richness meet. The port for Izzo, has multiple meanings and he defines the Mediterranean harbours as differing from other harbours, because of the way they are accessed. Izzo uses the image of the harbour as a representation of love: ‘Vedi, e’ il modo in cui puo essere avvicinato a detenninare la natura di un porto. A detenninarlo veramente [ … ] Il Mediterraneo e’ un mare di prossimita’. ’25
‘You see, it’s the way it can be approached that detennines the nature of
a port. Really detennines it. [ … ] The Mediterranean, a sea of closeness.’
This passage shows the influence of thought, Izzo inherited from
Matvej evic. In fact the approach used to describe the harbour and to depict the nature is very similar to the one used by Matvejevic in his ‘Breviario Mediterraneo’. 26 We perceive that the harbour is substantially a vehicle of devotion, love, passion and Eros, though we may also observe the threshold between the love and passion found in the port and the insecurity and natural brutality that the sea may convey. In this novel, the port is transfonned in a secure 25 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) ppl22 26 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti:2010)
30
place whilst the sea is a synonym of tragedy. At the same time the port is seen as a filthy and conupt place. While for Izzo the past is used as a background to tie with the present and moreover to show a link with the future, Consolo uses a different technique. He goes deep in one focal historical point to highlight certain Mediterranean features and problematic issues. Consolo uses the period of time where Sicily was undergoing various political changes. He describes the revolution and the Italian unification, and portrays real events and characters tied to Sicilian history. In Vincenzo Consolo, the image of the sailor is used as a metaphor through the work of Antonello ‘il Sorriso dell’Ignoto Marinaio’.27 The title itself gives us a hint of the tie between art and everyday life. The voices that intertwine and form the discourse around the Mediterranean are hard to distinguish as they have fanned the discourse itself to a point where a voice or an echo is part of another. The work of Consolo28 goes through a particular historical period in Sicily to describe present situations and ongoing paradoxes in the Mediterranean region. It is difficult to resume and give a name and specific allocation to the works on the Mediterranean as the multiple faces and voices have consequently fanned a variety of literature and artistic works. The beauty behind works on the Mediterranean is that archetypes such as the concept of a ‘sailor’ or the ‘harbour’ are revisited and reinterpreted, thus acquiring a deeper meaning and at the same time enriching the meaning of ‘the Mediterranean’ itself.
27 Vincenzo Consolo fl sorriso dell’Jgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012)
28 Vincenzo Consolo fl sorriso dell’lgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012)
31
Consolo focuses on the microcosm of Sicily and he portrays a fluctuation
between sea and land. He locates Sicily in an ideal sphere where the thresholds are nonexistent: ‘La Sicilia! La Sicilia! Pareva qualcosa di vaporoso laggiù nell’azzurro tra mare e cielo, me era l’isola santa! ’29 ‘Sicily! Sicily! It seemed something vaporous down there in the blue between sea and sky, but it was the holy island!’ Sicily is placed in an ideal sphere where beautiful natural elements coexist with famine, degradation and war. The imagery created around the island of Sicily may be comparable to the imagery around the Mediterranean region. As for the harbour it is described by Consolo as a place of contradictions, comparable to the ones found in the whole Mediterranean. The detail given to the life in the port is extremely in depth and the type of sentences used expresses the frenetic lifestyle of the port itself: ‘Il San Cristofaro entrava dentro il porto mentre ne uscivano le barche, caicchi e gozzi, coi pescatori ai rami alle corde vele reti lampe sego stoppa feccia, trafficanti con voce urale e con richiami, dentro la barca, tra barca e barca, tra barca e la banchina, affollata di vecchi, di donne e di bambini, urlanti parimenti e agitati [ … ].’30 29 Vincenzo Consolo fl sorriso dell’Jgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012) pp:56
30 Vincenzo Consolo fl so1-riso dell’Jgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012) pp:29
32
‘The San Cristoforo sailed into the harbour whilst the boats, caiques
and other fishing boats, sailed out with the fishennen holding the
ropes sails nets tallow oakum lee, traffickers beckoning with an ural
voice, inside the boat, from one boat to another, from one boat to the
quay, crowded with the elderly, women and children, screaming
equally and agitated’ [ … ] The tension around the port is well transmitted in the explanation given by Consolo, there seems to be a point of nothingness and a point of departure at the same time. We perceive that there is plenty of life in the port but at the same time confusion reigns, therefore we could argue that people in ports are not really conscious of life and that they are letting things turn. Nevertheless, the port is the starting point of life that develops either in the sea or inland. Both by Consolo and in Izzo we are made aware of the importance of life at the ‘starting point’, therefore the port in the works of both authors acquires the title of a ‘threshold’ between life and death, consciousness and unconsciousness, love and hatred, nature and artifice, aridity and fertility. In the microcosm described by Consolo, the Sicilian nature and its contradictions seem to recall the ones in the rest of the region. For example, the painting ‘Ignoto Marinaio’ is described as a contradictory painting. In fact, the sailor is seen as an ironic figure that smiles notwithstanding the tragedies he has encountered. The ‘Ignoto Marinaio’ has seen the culture and history of the Mediterranean unveil, he has therefore a strange smile that 33 expresses the deep knowledge acquired through his experience and a deep look that convey all the suffering he has come upon. In the novel by Consolo, the painting serves as a point of reference and in fact, the ‘Ignoto Marinio’ resembles another important character in the novel; Intemodato. Both figures share the ironic and poignant smile and the profound look. Intemodato is seen as a typical Sicilian revolutionary who embraces the sea but at the same time is not psychologically unattached to the situations that happened on land. He is part of the revolution and integral part of the Sicilian history.
2.4 The Harbour as a Metaphorical Door Consolo and Izzo with their accounts of sailors and the life in Mediterranean harbours brought us to the interpretation of the harbour as a metaphorical door. As in the seminal work of Predrag Matvejevic ‘Breviario Mediterraneo’,31 the harbour is tied to the concept of a metaphorical door. In Latin both ‘porto’ and ‘porta’ have the same root and etymological derivation. A harbour in fact is a metaphorical and physical entryway to a country. In the Roman period, the god Portunos was the deity of the harbour who facilitated the marine commerce and the life in the port in general. The various deities related to the sea in the Roman 31 Predrag Matvejevic II Mediterraneo e I ‘Europa, lezioni al college de France e altri saggi (Garzanti elefanti:2008)
34
and Greek traditions are an indication of a deep relation between the figure of the harbour and the physical and geographical figure of the door or entryway. The door may have many different shapes and may divide different spaces but it always signifies a threshold from one point to another. In literature the harbour signifies a metaphorical door between fantasy and reality, history and fiction, love and hatred, war and peace, safety and danger. The image of the door is concretized through the various border controls, visas and migration issues and in this regard the entryway becomes a question of membership. A piece of paper in this case detennines the access through that doorway, but from a cultural and
identity point of view the Mediterranean threshold is overcome through the encounter with history and fiction. Thierry Fabre in his contribution to the book series ‘Rappresentare ii Mediterraneo’; 32 in relation to the Mediterranean identity he states; ” … Non si situa forse proprio nel punto di incorcio tra la storia vera e i testi letterari che danno origine all’immaginario Mediterraneo?”33 ‘ Isn’t perhaps situated exactly at the meeting point between the real stories and the literature texts that give birth to the Mediterranean imagination?’ Fabre is conscious of the fact that the discourse about the Mediterranean limits itself to a constructed imaginary, the poet or artist in general that enters this metaphorical door is expected to conceive the Mediterranean imaginary; blending reality with fiction. The door is not always a static figure but is sometimes blurred and does not 32 Jean Claude Izzo, Thierry Fabre Rappresentare il Mediterraneo, lo sguardo fiwicese (Mesogea: 2000) 33 Ibid (Mesogea: 2000) pp.25
35
clearly divide and distinguish. The Mediterranean itself is a region of unclear lines the fonnation of a port and of a nation itself is sometimes not that clear. In Matvejevic’s ‘Il Mediterraneao e l’Europa’34 literature blends with facts and culture so does the geography around the Mediterranean region: ‘Tra terra e mare, in molti luoghi vi sono dei limiti: un inizio o una
fine, l’immagine o 1 ‘idea che li uniscono o li separano. Numerosi sono
i tratti in cui la terra e il mare s’incontrano senza irregolarita ne rotture,
al punto che non si puo detenninare dove comincia uno o finisce
l’altro.Queste relazioni multiple e reversibili, danno fonna alla costa. ’35 
‘Between land and sea, there are limits in many places: a start or a
finish, the image or the idea that joins or separates them. The places
where sea meets land without any irregularities or breaks are
numerous, to the extent that it’s not possible to detennine where one
starts or the other finishes. These multiple and reversible links that
give shape to the coast.’ The coast in this sense is made up of a set of relations between figures and fonns that meet without touching each other, the door is not always present; it sometimes disappears to give room to imagination and the fonnation of literature.
34 Predrag Matvejevic Il Mediterraneo e !’Europa, Lezioni al College de France e Altri Saggi
(Garzanti elefanti: 2008)
35 Ibid (Garzanti: 2008) pp.53
36
The concept of literature allows the analysis of culture and the way it 1s
envisioned and spread through Mediterranean harbours. The fluctuations of varied thoughts that have shaped the Mediterranean imagery through its harbours have no ties with everyday life, if not by the transmission of culture and the means of popular culture that served as a point of anchorage and sometimes as a point of departure for the fonnation of a deeply rooted but also enriching and contested collective imagination.
37
3 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse The harbour for many centuries has been an anchorage point and a safe place for sailors and travellers that navigate the Mediterranean. We perceive the safety of the harbour as something that is sometimes naturally part of its very makeup, as on such occasions where we encounter natural harbours. In other cases, to suit their needs, people have built around the shores and transfonned paii of the land into an artificial harbour which is able to welcome the foreigner and trade and at the same time to defend if needed the inland. Femand Braudel36 in his The Afediterranean and the Mediterranean World in thP AgP nf Philip TT <liscusse<l the importance of the Mediterranean shores for the traveller in an age when people were already able to explore the outer sea, but yet found it reassuring to travel in a sea where the shore was always in sight. The Mediterranean Sea has always instilled a sense of uncertainty in the traveller, because of its natural instability. Nevertheless, the fact that the shores and ts are always in the vicinity, the Mediterranean traveller is reassured that he can seek refuge whenever needed. The fascinating thing is that the ports in the age delineated by Femand Braudel were not only a means of safety but most of all of communication – a type of economic and cultural c01mnunication that went beyond 36 Fernand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 19 8 6)

38
the simple purpose of the port itself. The same simple modes of communications that Braudel describes may seem irrelevant when studying the Mediterranean history in its entirety, but we get to understand that they are actually the building blocks of the Mediterranean itself:
‘This is more that the picturesque sideshow of a highly coloured
history. It is the underlying reality. We are too inclined to pay attention only to the vital communications; they may be interrupted or
restored; all is not necessarily lost or saved. ‘ 37 The primordial modes of communication, the essential trade and the mixture of language and culture all have contributed to the creation of what we now sometimes romantically call the Mediterranean. The truth lies in the fact that
the harbour has always been prone to receiving and giving back; it has been a passing place of objects, customs and of words. We surely cannot deny the fact that trade has shifted not only by moving from different areas of interest but it also shifted into different forms changing the harbour’s initial function. This basic fonn of communication has contributed highly to the formation of a Mediterranean imaginary and a mixture of cultures that have left a deep resonance in language, literature and cultural expression as a whole.
37 Femand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 1986) pp.I 08
39
The risk and insecurity delivered by the sea have contributed to the
fonnation of various symbols that from their end contribute to the fonnation of an imaginary concerning the Mediterranean harbour. Amidst the uncertainties and hazards at sea, the light of the lighthouse that shows the surest path and warns the person travelling of the possible dangers, reassures the traveller while leading the way. The symbol of the lighthouse is tied to the representation of light and thus knowledge. Finding light in the middle of the sea gives the traveller the necessary means to have greater awareness of what is approaching. The geographical position and the architecture of the lighthouse are all an indication of their meaning beyond their primary objective. During the Roman period for example, the lighthouse was primarily an important source of safekeeping,38 but at the same time it represented a high expression of architectural and engineering knowledge. One example is the ancient roman lighthouse in Messina. Studies show that the architecture used was very functional, but at the same time it portrayed Neptune, thus mingling popular beliefs and superstitions. On the other hand, it was also a powerful way of delineating borders between Sicily and the Italian peninsula. Today the lighthouse in Messina has been replaced by fort San Remo and the architecture of the lighthouse has changed to a more functional one. Another powerful example is the ancient lighthouse in Alexandria, built on the island of Pharos where it stood alone as if wanting to replace the harbour itself. In Alexandria it is Poseidon who guards
the harbour, and the myth blends with the social and geographical importance of the lighthouse. Originally, the lighthouse in Alexandria was simply a landmark, but 38 Turismo La Coruna, Roman Lighthouses in the Mediterranean (2009) www.torredeherculesacoruna.com/index.php?s=79&l=en (accessed September, 2014)
40
eventually during the Roman Empire, it developed into a functional lighthouse. In the case of the old lighthouse built during the Roman period at the far eastern end of Spain, its dimension and position reflect the way Romans saw the world and how they believed Spain marked the far end of the world. What these lighthouses had in common was the fact that they were not just there to aid and support the traveller in his voyage but to define a border and to give spiritual assistance to the lost passenger. The symbol of the lighthouse is somehow deeply tied to a spiritual experience. In Messina where Neptune guarded the sea, and in many other places and different eras, the lighthouse was positioned in such way that it attracted a spiritual resonance and the light that emanated from the lighthouse may be compared to a spiritual guide. Matvejevic in his Breviario Mediterraneo39 compares lighthouses to sanctuaries and the lighthouse guardian to a spiritual hennit. He also adds that the crews responsible for the running of the lighthouse resemble a group of 1ponks, rather than sailors: ‘Gli equipaggi dei fari, cioe personale che somiglia piuttosto ai monaci dei conventi di un tempo che non ai marinai’ .40 ‘The crews of the lighthouses, that is staff that resembles more the convent’s monks of yore rather than the sailors’. The comparison is by no means striking, considering the mystical importance of the lighthouse. The lighthouse and its crew are seen and respected by the traveller, as they are their first encounter with land, safety and refuge. The link with spirituality is something that comes 39 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti:2010) pp.55-56 40 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti:2010) pp.56 41
naturally. The lighthouse crew for example is in some cases part of the ex-voto paintings found in the monasteries and convents. This illustrates the deep c01mection with the spiritual aspect. The question sometimes is to detennine whether the harbour and the lighthouse need to be two distinct features in the same space or whether they are part of the same geographical, social and cultural space. The answer may vary according to the way one perceives it. The lighthouse is the first encounter with land, but it is almost a feeling that precedes the real encounter with land, whilst the harbour is the first physical contact with land. The two elements may be taken into account separately, but for the purpose of this study they need to be taken in conjunction. The cultural value of both these elements goes beyond their physical value. In fact, both the lighthouse and the harbour share a common proximity to the sea, and receive cultural and social contributions from every traveller. The lighthouse and the harbour do not distinguish between different types of travellers -they accept everyone and their main gift for this act of pure love is the enrichment of culture, customs, language and food. The different elements intertwine and create a beautiful atmosphere that mixes sounds and tastes from various countries. This is not always distinguishable and it may not in all cases recreate the same atmosphere
in more than one country. What is sure is that the elements present in the harbours are of great relevance to what is portrayed on a higher artistic and cultural level. In this regard the harbour acts as a lighthouse for the country and sometimes for the region too, this time not to alann the traveller but to guide him spiritually and 42 artistically. The harbour was and still is a meeting place, where artists and thinkers stop and reflect. What comes out of these reflections sets deep roots in the cultural knit of the harbour and expands and grows until all the roots intertwine and create such a beautifully varied cultural atmosphere. Although the process may seem an easy and flowing one, we must not forget that the mixture of cultures and the setting up of such a variegated cultural atmosphere was not always flowing and peaceful. 3.1 Religious Cultural Mobility
The way the Mediterranean is geographically set up, contributed to an
expansion of religious pilgrimages that intertwined with marine commerce and
cultural richness. The image of the lighthouse and the harbour instil a sense of
spiritual refuge, and the large number of harbours and lighthouses in the
Mediterranean contribute to the mysticism of the region. Religious pilgrimage
throughout the Mediterranean is something that belongs to an older era and that
could have possibly started very early in the Greek empire, where Gods were
adored and ports and lighthouses had deep ties with different deities. As
Christianity started spreading in the Mediterranean, the Greek and Roman gods
were joined by saints and shrines for adoration.41 The coexistence of both pagan
and monotheistic religious expressions confinned a cultural motif related to
41 Peregring Horden, Nicholas Purcell The Corrupting sea, a study of the Mediterranean histmy (Blackwell publishing:2011)
43
divinity that has been a constant throughout Mediterranean history. In the Middle Ages the phenomena of the religious pilgrimage and the movement of saints’ relics gave to the Mediterranean voyage a different dimension. As noted in Borden and Purcell’s The Corrupting Sea, this age of pilgrimage and movement for religious purposes was brought about by a new discovery of sea routes in the Mediterranean and a different conception of religion as a c01mnodity. ‘Through the translation of his remains the saint himself, like the images of pre-Christian deities before him, in a very intense expression of the link between religion and redistribution, became a commodity’ .42 The redistribution of relics brought a new type of secular economy that involved bargaining and bartering. The movement of relics not only created a new wave of economic activity around the Mediterranean but also a movement of tales and accounts that pictured saints and voyages at sea, ‘Tales which echo real webs of communication, such as that of the arrival of St. Restitua from Carthage to Ischia’ .43 The stories seem to recall older stories from Greek culture, but are adapted to a newer setting.
The parallelism between good and bad, projected on the perilous voyage in
the Mediterranean, was always part of the account of a voyage itself, as we can
also recall in the various episodes of Ulysses’ journey. We are thus able to see that
in the voyages of pilgrims, the relationship between good and bad is often
projected onto the hard and extreme weather conditions in the Mediterranean.
42 Ibid pp.443
43 Ibid pp.443
44
Religious travellers had their own way of reading the map of the Mediterranean,
interpreting every danger and threat through religious imagery. From a cultural point of view, the accounts and echoes of religious travellers shaped the Mediterranean Sea itself and gave new life to the ports they anchored in. Apart from the movement of relics, another testimony of the great communication and cultural heritage -as we have previously mentioned- is the exvoto in the Mediterranean shores which gives witness to the cultural interaction and
customs based on faith. In many instances the objects collected for the ex-voto
have been taken up over time and placed in marine museums where cultural
interaction and exchange takes place. One example could be the ex-voto in
Marseille,44 where nowadays the objects collected are part of a collective cultural memory. In France, during the late seventies and the early eighties we have seen a great rediscovery of the ex-voto heritage that led to a deep cultural resonance in the area. The discovery of the ex-voto brought by a new inquiry of religious and harbour customs that were probably ignored previously. The paintings and objects dedicated to the saints and most of the time to the Virgin Mary represented the everyday life of sailors and travellers, the dangers at sea and most of all the miracles encountered during the arduous voyages. In the various exhibitions about ex-voto in France the concept of a Mediterranean ex-voto emerged and we are aware that at the time when the ex-voto was practiced in the majority of cases the 44 Jacques Bouillon ‘Ex-voto du terroir marsellais’ Revue d’histoire modern et contemporaine (1954) pp.342-344 45
voyage routes were sole1m1ly around the Mediterranean and the fact that marine exhibitions concerning the ex-voto claim a Mediterranean heritage calls for a collective cultural expe1ience. It is difficult though to distinguish between a
personal encounter with the harbour and a Mediterranean experience; one may
intertwine with the other. In this case, the Mediterranean reference is imposed and not implied, and one might therefore wonder if there are elements that are c01mnon in the region and thus justify the use of the word Mediterranean. In the case of the ex-voto, it has been noted that certain elements are common to the whole region.
It is interesting to note the areas of interest and the social groups to whom
the ex-voto applies. This may give a clearer idea of the criteria and the cultural
sphere that surrounded the practice of the ex-voto. In the majority of cases the exvoto represented the medium bourgeoisie and the lower classes, the setting mostly represented small nuclear families. In most of the ex-voto paintings, one can see that the terrestrial elements intertwine with celestial elements ‘Dans sa structure, un ex-voto presente deux espaces, celeste et terrestre’ .45 The anthropological and cultural importance of the ex-voto emerges through the various figures that appear especially in the paintings dedicated to the saints and the Virgin Mary. These figures have a particular placement in these paintings that reveals a deep connection with the cult of miracles and devotion.
In Malta, as in France, the ex-voto was a widespread custom that left a
great cultural heritage. The paintings and objects donated to the ex-voto, especially 45 Jacques Bouillon ‘Ex-voto du terroir marsellais’ Revue d’histoire modern et contemporaine (1954) pp.342-344 46
in connection to the sea, reveal a number of historical events and geographical
catastrophes that are tied with the Mediterranean region. The fact that the sea is
unpredictable makes the practice of the ex-voto much more relevant in an era
where the only means of transportation in the Mediterranean was by ways of sea. In the Maltese language there is a saying ‘il-bahar iaqqu ratba u rasu iebsa ‘ which literally translates to ‘the sea has a soft stomach but it is hard headed’. This saying is very significant as it shows the profound awareness of the Maltese community of the dangers at sea. The sea is unpredictable and therefore only through divine intercession can the traveller find peace and courage to overcome any dangerous situation. The different types of paintings that were donated portray different types of vessels and so indicate a precise period in history. At the Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille, one finds a number of models of different vessels from various historical periods. We also encounter very recent models of boats. This confirms that in a way the ex-voto is still present nowadays. Even in Malta, the practice of the ex-voto is still relatively present, although one may notice that the advance in technology and the new fonns of transport through the Mediterranean aided the voyage itself and therefore diminished the threats and deaths at sea. The types of vessels used in the paintings also shows the different modes of economic trading voyages in the Mediterranean. For example, in Malta during the nineteenth century, a great number of merchants were travellmg across the Mediterranean. This resulted in a number of ex-voto paintings that pictured merchants’ vessels and one could be made aware of their provenance. Various details in the ex-voto 47
paintings show many important aspects of the Mediterranean history as a whole
and of the connectivity in the region that went on building through time.
One interesting fact common to almost all the ex-voto paintings is the
acronyms V.F.G.A (votum facit et gratiam accepit) and sometimes P.G.R (Per
Grazia Ricevuta) that categorizes certain paintings into the ex-voto sphere. The
acronyms literally mean that we made a vow and we received grace and P.G.R
stands for the grace received. The acronyms are in Latin, for a long period of time which was the official language of Christianity. These acronyms, which may have indicated the tie of high literature -through the knowledge of Latin- and popular culture -through the concept of the ex-voto, usually associated to a medium to lower class- demonstrate that the use of language may tie the various social classes. Although everyone understood the acronyms, it doesn’t mean that Latin was fully understood amongst sailors and merchants of the sea. Language was a barrier to merchants, traders and seamen most of the time. The Mediterranean has a variety of languages coexist in the region; Semitic languages at its south and Romance languages at its north. The lines of intersection and influence of languages are not at all clear and the geography of the Mediterranean region forced its people to move and shift from one place to another for commerce or for other reasons which brought by a deep need for modes of communication.
48
3.2 The Lingua Franca Mediterranea as a Mode of Communication
The communication barrier between people in the Mediterranean coupled
with the profound need for interaction brought by a deep need of a common
language or at least common signals which would be understood by everyone. In
the case of the ex-voto, language or at least a reference made to a certain language, gives the possibility for people from different countries to understand the underlying message. In the Mediterranean harbours where interaction between people from different lands was the order of the day, the need for common signals and language was always deeply felt. Languages in the Mediterranean region contain linguistic elements that throughout history have been absorbed from other languages. In the Mediterranean region especially during the fifteenth century, the great need for communication resulted in the creation of a so-called Lingua fiw1ca, a spoken language that allowed people to communicate more freely within Mediterranean ports. One such language was known as ‘Sabir’, with words mainly from Italian and Spanish, but also words from Arabic and Greek. The interesting fact about Sabir was that the amount of words coming from different languages around the Mediterranean was an indication of the type of c01mnerce that was taking place at the time. Therefore, if at a given moment in time the amount of words from the Italian language was higher than that from the Spanish language, it meant that commerce originating and involving from Italy predominated. As Eva Martinez Diaz explains in her study about the Lingua ji-anca Mediterranea:
49
‘They created a new language from a mixture whose lexical and
morphological base – the base of pidgin – is the Romance component,
exactly the language of the most powerful group in these relations and
which varies according to historical period. ’46 During the 16th Century, for example, the Lingua franca Mediterranea acquired more Spanish vocabulary, due to certain historical events that shifted maritime commerce. This was also an indication of certain political events that shaped Mediterranean history. When a country invaded or colonialized another, as happened in Algeria after the French colonization, linguistic repercussions were observed. This mostly affected everyday language communication, especially with the simpler and more functional mixture of words and phrases from different languages in ports and the areas around them rather than at a political level. In Mediterranean ports, the need among sea people and traders to communicatee led to the creation of a variety like Sabir. Sabir comes from the Spanish word saber (to know), although, it is mostly noticeable that Italian fonned it in its prevalence.47 Sabir is known to be a pidgin language. A pidgin is a language used between two or more groups of people that 46 Eva Martinez Diaz ‘An approach to the lingua franca of the Mediterranean’ Quaderns de la Mediteranea, universidad de Barcelona pp: 224
47 Riccardi Contini, ‘Lingua franca in the Mediterranean by John Wansbrough’ Quaderni di Studi Arabi, Litermy Innovation in Modern Arabic Literature. Schools and Journals. Vol. 18 (2000) (pp. 245-247)
50
speak a different language but need to have a business relation, and so, need to find a common language or mode of communication. The word ‘pidgin’ is said to come from the Chinese pronunciation of the word ‘business’. The Lingua fi’anca
Mediterranea was a language that started fonning in the Mediterranean throughout the 15th century and continued to shape and change itself depending on where the political and commercial hub lay; Sabir, specifically as an offshoot of the lingua fiw1ca mediterranea, fonned after the 17th century. The first time that reference was made to sabir was in 1852, in the newspaper ‘L ‘Algerien’ in an article entitled ‘la langue sabir. Apart from a few references made to the language, it is quite rare to find sabir in writing because it was mostly used for colloquial purposes, but in some cases it may be found in marine records. When it was actually written down, the lingua franca mediterranea used the Latin alphabet, and the sentence structure and grammar were very straightforward. In Sabir the verb was always in the infinitive, as, for example, in ‘Quand moi gagner drahem, moi achetir moukere’48, that means ‘when I will have enough money, I will buy a wife’. The use of the infinitive indicated a less complex grammar that made it more functional to the user, as it was a secondary language mostly used for commerce. Although Sabir was in most cases referred to as a variety of the lingua franca mediterranea, we perceive that in the popular culture sphere the word Sabir is mostly used to refer to the common and functional language used in MeditelTanean harbours for communication. It is deceiving in fact, because the 48 Guido Cifoletti ‘Aggiomamenti sulla lingua franca Mediterranea’ Universita di Udine pp: 146
51
lingua fi’anca mediterranea, is the appropriate reference that needs to be made
when talking in general about the language used in harbours around the
Mediterranean. On the other hand, if we want to refer to Sabir we are reducing the
lingua fi’anca mediterranea to a definite period of time and almost a defined
territory association. Nevertheless, both Sabir and lingua fiw1ca mediterranea are two different words that express almost the same thing, it is thus important to establish the minimal difference between the two tenns. In arguing that the lingua franca mediterranea refers to a more general language used in the Mediterranean harbours during the Middle Ages and that went on changing and fonning and changing-assuming different fonns according to the harbour and place where it was spoken- we are looking at the language in a broader way. It is undeniable though that Sabir as a reference to a specific language that fonned in Algeria during the 17th century, is most of the time more appropriate to address specific arguments, especially when it comes to popular culture expedients. Popular culture and literature have expressed their interest in the language through expressions such as poems and songs recalling Sabir as a language that managed to mingle more words of different derivation into single cultural spaces. Nowadays, Sabir is no longer used; in fact we notice that English and Chinese are developing into new pidgin languages, understood almost by everyone, especially when it comes to trade and busmess.
In the Mediterranean we have encountered the rediscovery of Sabir in
culture as a language that has a deep cultural value for Mediterranean countries as 52 a whole. One of the examples of the presence of Sabir in cultural expedients is the famous play by Moliere Le bourgeois gentilhomme49 that was represented for the first time in 1967 at the court of Louis XIV. The story was a satiric expression of the life at court, Moliere was well aware of the life at court and he wanted to show that there was no difference between royals and nonnal people, especially with regards to emotions. Moliere associates the Sabir to the foreign Turks that by means of Sabir they managed to communicate:
‘Se ti sabir,
Ti respondir;
Se non sabir,
Tazir, tazir. ‘ 50
The use of Sabir for Moliere indicated a common language understood both by
French and Turks in this case. The fact that Moliere used Sabir, it meant that
gradually the resonance of Sabir could reach out to a different audience, than it’s
main purpose. In this case the meeting place as the harbour was not present but we may perceive that the mixture of cultures and the need for communication led to the use of Sabir as the common language. 49 Moliere, le bourgoise gentilhomme www.writingshome.com/ebook _files/l 3 l .pdf
50 Moliere, le bourgoise gentilhomme www.writingshome.com/ebook _files/13 l.pdf pp.143
53
Coming to the present day, it is difficult to say that Sabir or the lingua
franca mediterranea own a particular important space in the cultural sphere or in the language per se. We are mostly sure that in the Mediterranean harbours Sabir has no relevance anymore, nevertheless, we find the use of Sabir in popular culture. One example is the aiiist Stefano Saletti,51 who in his songs uses Sabir. Its use was obviously intentional. Saletti looked at the new uprisings in the North African countries and he could recall the same feelings, faces and atmosphere that southern European countries went through thirty years prior. With this in mind, he decided to use a language that had co1mnon elements to all Mediterranean languages, and so he chose Sabir. His albums are inspired by the notion of music and culture as a tie to the whole Mediterranean, being conscious on the other hand of the numerous contradictions and differences in the Mediterranean region. The CD Saletti and the Piccola banda ikona explain what Sabir is and why they chose this language to communicate a c01mnon message through the music: ‘Once upon a time there was a tongue shared by the peoples of the Mediterranean. This was Sabir, a lingua franca which sailors, pirates,
fishennen, merchants, ship-owners used in the ports to communicate
with each other. From Genoa to Tangiers, from Salonika to Istanbul,
from Marseilles to Algiers, from Valencia to Palenno, until the early
decades of the twentieth century this kind of sea-faring “Esperanto”
developed little by little availing of tenns from Spanish, Italian,
51 Stefano Saletti www.stefanosaletti.it/schede/ikonaeng.htm (accessed July, 2014)
54
French and Arabic. We like this language. We like to mix sounds and
words. We play Sabir. We sing Sabir.’ 52 The importance of Sabir for Saletti shows that the harbour’s cultural value has been transmitted through time. Does the use of Sabir by Saletti indicate a recreation of a language that was used in the harbour as a functional and common means of communication or does it have the pretext to artificially recreate a common language? It is difficult to understand the importance and relevance an old pidgin language used for a specific purpose might hold today. Nevertheless, the use of this specific language in the music of Saletti reveals a profound search for common cultural traits in the Mediterranean region, that in this case aim to opt for cultural and educational approach to unite a region that is fractured in its own
basis. Saletti refers to Sabir as resembling Esperanto; a failed attempt to
linguistically unite a region that cannot be united. Although we may find the same concept in Esperanto and Sabir, we are aware that they differ in the way they came to be. Esperanto was artificially constructed, whereas, Sabir was born and evolved in an almost natural way by a need that went beyond the actual artifice. This is probably the reason why Sabir and the lingua franca mediterranea lasted for a long period of time, while Esperanto was at its birth a failed attempt to create a language for a detennined sector in society. It is a fact that the main difference between the two languages is that one aimed to create a broader understanding based on a functional everyday life need, whereas the other aimed to create a 52 Stefano Saletti www.stefanosaletti.it/schede/ikonaeng.htm (accessed July, 2014)
55
language understood by few. In Saletti’s and Moliere’s works, we perceive the Mediterranean harbour as a point of intersection of cultures and ways of living that left a spill-over of cultural traits in the abovementioned artistic works and in many other works by various authors around the Mediterranean region. It is important to notice that the harbour in the expression of the ex-voto, Sabir, lingua franca mediterranea and various literal and artistic expressions, served almost as a lighthouse, where culture was projected and created, and recreated and changed to fit the ever changing needs of the Mediterranean differing cultures. In Jean-Claude Izzo’s Les Marins Perdus, the language used in the harbour is not mentioned often, although he refers to language
as a barrier that finds its purpose in the basic everyday needs. Jean-Claude Izzo
mentions an important point on language in Les Marins Perdus as he delves in the way the word ‘Mediterranean’ is seen in different languages across the region: ‘Il Mediterraneo e di genere neutro nelle lingue slave e latine. E in
maschile in italiano. Femminile in francese. Maschile e femminile in
spagnolo, dipende. Ha due nomi maschili in arabo. E il greco, nelle
sue molteplici definizioni, gli concede tutti I generi. ‘ 53
‘The Mediterranean is neutral in the Slavonic languages, and in Latin.
It’s masculine in Italian. Feminine in French. Sometimes masculine,
sometimes feminine in Spanish. It has two masculine names in Arabic.
53 Jean-Claude IzzoMarinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) pp.237
56
And Greek has many names for it, in different genders.’ Jean-Claude Izzo wants to prove that the word ‘Mediterranean’ in language is a sufficient proof of how people around the shores view the region. The gender of the word Mediterranean does in fact show that the languages in the region have
developed their own way of understanding and perceiving the region. Language as we have seen has deep ties to how popular culture and ideas have evolved and
developed. Sabir in its essence has proved that although the region has a myriad of contradictions and differing cultures, the harbour and everyday needs managed to combine the different languages into one. At the same time it is undeniable that the differences in the Mediterranean region make the region itself not only vast but also wonderful and enticing to the traveller and the artist. Literature and culture have fonned and mingled together, yet each maintained its distinct features at the the Mediterranean harbours; the place of various particular encounters. Jean Claude Izzo, Salletti and Moliere all managed to create a powerful work of art that has deep ties to the culture created and recreated over time in the Mediterranean harbours. Sabir and the ex-voto are only two examples of how harbours throughout
the Mediterranean have been a point of anchorage but also a locus of
Mediterranean cultural development. Harbours have been able to unite, divide and create such a diverse and yet common culture.
57
4 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo Inspired by the Port The Mediterranean as a discourse has been interpreted and reinterpreted, and idealized and mystified by a myriad of authors, thinkers and artists. In this modem era where globalization of thought is the nonn, the Mediterranean discourse is by far a difficult expression that finds obstacles in the concretization of its own thought. Nevertheless, today the Mediterranean is still capable of producing new artists and new expressions by which the discourse gets richer and deeper. The Mediterranean, as its name suggests, is a sea that is in between two lands, and as Franco Cassano 54 states, has never had the ambition to limit itself to only one of its shores. The Metlitenanean was fm a periotl of time consecutively and simultaneously Arab, Roman and/or Greek; it was everything and nothing at the same time. The Mediterranean never aspired to have a specific identity, and its strength lies in its conflicting identity; it embraces multiple languages and cultures in one sea. Franco Cassano in his L ‘alternativa mediterranea states that borders are always ahead of centres, ‘Il confine e sempre piu avanti di ogni centro’55, and this concept is very relevant when we think about the significance of the harbour, as a place at the border of the country and yet the centre of every interaction.
Cassano goes on explaining how the centre celebrates identity, whereas the border is always facing contradiction, war and suffering. The border cannot deny the suffering by which the conflicting and inhomogeneous Mediterranean identity has 54 Franco Cassano, Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2007) 55 Franco Cassano, Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2007) pp.80
58
been built upon. The border is the true expression of the Mediterranean and it is
undeniable here that the most important interactions and historical events in the
region have taken place.
The border is an important concept in the study of the Mediterranean
itself, and as already mentioned, the majority of intersection and cultural
exchanges have taken place in the harbours, which are the borders of a country yet the centre of every interaction. For the concept of a ‘Mediterranean identity’ to arise, the harbour has been a pivotal place economic and religious interactions
which consequently left an undeniable cultural baggage whose strong presence
allowed the Mediterranean shores to benefit from an enriching cultural melange.
Being a sea of proximity, the Mediterranean has always been prone to receive the
‘other’ with all its cultural baggage, and therefore the concept of fusion and
amalgamation of different aspects of every country has always contributed to the
region’s culture. Accounts about the Mediterranean and those set in it have always put at their centre the concept of ‘differences’ and the ‘other’ in contraposition to the conflicts found in the harbours and in its centres. Nevertheless, without expecting the ends to meet to a degree of totality, the Mediterranean has been able to create places where ends do not merely meet but coexist. The coexistence of different races, cultures and languages has been the founding stone of the region.
As Cassano states, an identity that claims to be pure is an identity that is destined
to fail because it is in the essence of a culture that it repels the ‘other’, and
therefore sees the answer to every problem in the elimination of the ‘other’. The
59
Mediterranean, on the other hand has embraced ‘the other’ or on occasion, ‘other’ has forcedly penetrated the Mediterranean, giving birth to a region of different cultures based on a coexistence which is sometimes peaceful but often hard. The Mediterranean nowadays has overcome the complex of Olientalism and moved forward from a vision of an exotic south or border; ‘non e piu una frontiera o una barriera tra il nord e il sud, o tra l’ est e l’ ovest, ma e piuttosto un luogo di incontli e correnti … di transiti continui’ .56 ‘it is not a border or bamer between North and South, or East and West anymore, but it is rather a place of encounters and trends of continuous transits’. The Mediterranean has become a region of transit and a meeting place.
Upon travelling across the Mediterranean, an important thing which makes
itself evident is the imaginary that keeps on building through the interaction
between authors and thinkers, especially through their works that focus on the
importance of stating a discourse about the Mediterranean.
4.1 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Izzo and Consolo
‘Il Mediterraneo none una semplice realta geografica, ma un temtorio
simbolico, un luogo sovraccalico di rappresentazioni. ’57
56 Franco Cassano,Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2007) pp.92 57Jean-Claude Izzo,Thierry Fabre Rappresentare il Mediterraneo, Lo sguardo francese
(Mesogea: 2000) pp.7
60
‘The Mediterranean is not a simple geographical reality, but a
symbolic territory, a place overloaded with representations.’
The Mediterranean is a region full of symbolism and representationswhich
would not exist if it were not supp01ied by the literature and culture that has
fonned on and around its shores. The Mediterranean as a region of imaginaries
built on the integration of different voices and stories has produced a number of
authors and thinkers that left a cultural and artistic patrimony to the discourse
about the Mediterranean. We have already seen how the harbour transmits a sense of insecurity and plays a role of threshold which is testified through the works of Izzo and Consolo. Both authors have not only shown the importance of the harbour but have also contributed arduously to the fonnation of a Mediterranean imaginary. The word imaginary, comprehends a number of images, figures and fonns that are created by the observers to define something -not solemnly by the mere reflection of facts and historical events, but by a personal evaluation- that sometimes goes beyond reality. In this sense, it is undeniable that the Mediterranean has gathered a number of observers who have been able to translate facts and create figures and images that represent a collective in a singular imagination. Consolo and Izzo have transfonned their personal encounter with the Mediterranean into a powerful imaginary.
Jean-Claude Izzo was born and raised in Marseille in a family of Italian
immigrants. His background and geographical position highly influenced his
61
writing. Both Izzo and Consolo shared a deep love for their country of origin
especially for the microcosm surrounding them. Vincenzo Consolo wrote about
his beloved Sicily, while Izzo always mentions Marseille. Both authors transpose
the love for the microcosm into a broader vision of the Mediterranean as a whole.
Jean Claude Izzo’s Mediterranean is based on a passionate encounter with the
region and states that his Mediterranean differs from the one found at travel
agencies, where beauty and pleasure are easily found.
‘Cio che avevo scoperto non era il Mediterraneo preconfezionato che
ci vendono i mercanti di viaggi e di sogni facili. Che era propio un
piacere possibile quello che questo mare offriva.’ 58
‘I had discovered a Mediterranean beyond the pre-packaged one
usually sold and publicised by Merchants, as an easy dream. The
Mediterranean offered an achievable pleasure.’
The Mediterranean hides its beauty only to reveal it to anyone who
wants to see it. The Mediterranean for Izzo is a mixture of tragedy and pleasure,
and one element cannot exist without the other. This image of beauty and
happiness shared with tragedy and war is a recurring one in the study of the
Mediterranean. Consolo’s writing is based on the concept of suffering. He
pictures human grief and misery as an integral part of the Mediterranean
58 Jean-Claude Izzo, Thierry Fabre Rappresentare il Mediterraneo, Lo sguardo francese (Mesogea:
2000) pp.17
62
imaginary and he feels that poetry and literature have the responsibility to transmit the human condition. Izzo in his writings not only shows that the Mediterranean imaginary is made up of tragedy, suffering and war but also shows that there is hope in the discourse about the Mediterranean itself. For Izzo, the Mediterranean is part of his future, part of his destiny, embodied in the geography of the region and in the tales and accounts that inhabit every comer of the region. Through his beloved Marseille, Izzo manages to look at the Mediterranean and thus find himself.
The word ‘imaginary’ in the academic sphere is tied to a concept used
for the definition of spaces, a definition that goes beyond the way things seem
externally, a definition that puts much more faith in how an author, thinker or
artist expresses and describes the space. In the case of the Mediterranean, since
the region is not an officially recognized political entity, identity is based on
interpretation more than anywhere else and the concept of an imaginary proves
that there are paths that still lead to thought about the Mediterranean. With this in mind, one cam1ot deny the fact that in the political or social sphere, the concept of Medite1Tanean is still being mentioned; however, one could argue that the Mediterranean that is being mentioned in a political and social sphere is somehow a constructed ‘Mediterranean’. The Mediterranean’s relevance nowadays is found in the hearth of the author and artist that from Tangiers or from Marseille is able to write about a sea that has thought him to be mobile, to travel not only physically but mentally and emotionally from one shore to another. Jean-Claude Izzo’s troubled identity gives us a hint of the way in which the Mediterranean is 63
perceived as a region and the way in which the personal ‘imaginary’ for Izzo was
fonned. Izzo himself was from a family of mixed origins and was raised in a
constant state of travel. Izzo found his Mediterranean identity in the imaginary
other authors had created but also found his roots in the very absence of more
organic roots. Every story and every country may be part of his own identity, and
so, the Mediterranean has the ability to preserve in the depths of its sea the stories and feelings collected from every shore and give a curious traveller the
opportunity to retrieve these treasures and make them his own.
The historical approach to the Mediterranean has been based on a
comparison between south and north, between the Mediterranean and Europe, and it usually focused much more on the contrasting elements than on its conjunctions and similarities. Braudel59 saw the Mediterranean as a static and unchanging region. Today, modem thought has led to a new perception of the Mediterranean, focusing rather on the points of conjunction than on the differences and contrasting elements, yet accepting the fact that the Mediterranean is diverse in its essence. In a paper by Miriam Cooke about the Mediterranean entitled Mediterranean thinking: from Netizen to Metizen60
, she delves into the importance of the juxtaposition between the liquidity of the sea and the immobility of the land in the rethinking process of the Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean imaginary, the sea serves as a mirror and as a fluid that is able to connect and remain welldefined.
It is able to give a sense of time that is very different from the one on
59 Femand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 1986) 60 Miriam Cooke ‘Mediterranean thinking: From Netizen to Medizen’ Geographical review, vol 89 pp.290-300
64
land. As we perceive in Jean-Claude Izzo, time is something that is completely
lost at the border between sea and land and especially in contact with the sea.
Sailors in Les Marins Perdus61 realize the concept of time only when they live in
the harbor and in other words, the sea has been able to preserve the sailor’s spirit in the illusion that time on land was as static as it was at sea. In the study about the Mediterranean region, the sea plays a fundamental role that must not be underestimated. Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo both refer extensively to the figure of the sea when addressing the Mediterranean imaginary. When pondering on the Mediterranean, Izzo always places himself facing the sea, embracing the liquidity of this region, whereas in his stories, Consolo always uses the sea as the main mode of transportation and giving it a mystical attribute.
The Mediterranean has a different meaning for the two authors, because
it is perceived from two different places and two different conceptions of the
Mediterranean arise. In much of Consolo’ s writing, the Mediterranean is seen
through the image of Odysseus which is an image that holds a special meaning for Consolo and to which he feels deeply tied. For Consolo, The Odyssey is a story
that has no specific ending and this is done on purpose because it is directly tied to the future. The door to the future was kept open with the specific purpose of
letting the figure of Odysseus trespass time. The importance of Ulysses in
Consolo’s discourse extends to a deep and personal search for identity and it is
identity itself and the search for knowledge that led Ulysses to embark on a
61 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010)
65
voyage around the Mediterranean region and afterwards to return to Ithaca. Like
Izzo, Consolo finds the essence of a Mediterranean imaginary in the act of
travelling and sometimes wandering from coast to coast, from harbour to harbour, somehow like a modem Ulysses that aims to find himself and find knowledge through the act of travelling and meandering. Many authors that have focused their attention on the figure of Ulysses have focused on Ulysses’ return to Ithaca in particular and the search for a Mediterranean identity through this return.
Consolo, however, mainly uses the metaphor of travel and wandering, and he
manages to tie them to the question of a Mediterranean imaginary that is being
built upon the various images that the author is faced with through his voyage. For Consolo the voyage and the constant search for knowledge are the founding
stones of a Mediterranean imaginary. This urge to push further and thus reach a
greater level of knowledge has driven the Mediterranean people to practice
violence, and therefore Consolo believes that violence tied to the expression of a
deep search for knowledge is what has constituted the Mediterranean region. In
L ‘Olivo e L ‘Olivastro 62
, Vincenzo Consolo uses Ulysses’ voyage as a metaphor of his own voyage and his personal relation with Sicily; being his homeland it holds
a special place for Consolo especially in his writings. Constant change in the
modern concept of a Mediterranean has left a deep impact on the Mediterranean
imaginary. The wandering Ulysses returns to a changed and metamorphosed
Ithaca, which is a recurring image in the Mediterranean. Consolo finds his home
62 Norma Bouchard, Massimo Lollini, ed, Reading and Writing the Mediterranean, Essays by Vincenzo Consolo (University of Toronto Press, 2006)
66 island ‘Sicily’ deeply changed by industrialization and although it may have
maintained features that recall the past, it has changed greatly. Images of the
harbour and of the Mediterranean itself have deeply changed. Change may be
positive, negative or may hold a nostalgic tone, although change is always a
positive factor that contributes to the fonnation of an ‘imaginary’. The way
Ulysses and authors such as Consolo and Izzo have wandered and fought their
battles in the Mediterranean has contributed to the change that we now perceive in the region. Through the voyage of Ulysses, Consolo gives testimony of the
Mediterranean violence and change to the rest of the world. For Consolo the
imaginary created around the Mediterranean is a mixture of his own reality such
as a modem Sicily devastated by industrialization and modernization, and the
recurring image of Ulysses. In fl Sorriso dell ‘Ignoto Marinaio, Consolo focuses
on the microcosm of Sicily as a metaphor of the larger Mediterranean. His
imaginary is characterized by the concept of conflict – a conflict that keeps on
repeating itself in the Mediterranean and is somehow tied to a general conception of the Mediterranean. The harbour acquires an important space in the novel, being the hub of the whole story. The violence mentioned in the novel is a projection of violence in view of an attempt at unifying two different spheres, in this case the unification of Italy, but in a broader sense the possible unification of a Mediterranean. The attempt is not only a failure but results in a continuous war to establish a dominant culture rather than a possible melange of cultures that manage to keep their personal identities.
67
Izzo on the other hand wrote about the Mediterranean imaginary from
the point of view of sailors, who construct a Mediterranean imaginary based on
the concept of a difficult intercultural relationship and a strange bond with the
Mediterranean harbour. In Les Marins Perdus, the microcosm of Marseille
managed to represent the macrocosm of the Mediterranean, and the figures of the sailors represents a modem Ulysses, with the aim of bringing about a
Mediterranean imaginary that mingled old and traditional conceptions of the
region with new and modem ideas. Jean Claude Izzo’s sailors had different ways
of perceiving the Mediterranean, but they had a similar way of seeing and
identifying the ‘sea’. Izzo’s protagonist, much like Consolo’s protagonist,
develops an interesting habit of collecting old Mediterranean maps. For the sailor, the collection of maps represents in a certain way the concretization of a
Mediterranean and the unification of the geographical conception of the region.
The act of collecting may be considered as an attempt at identifying something
that is common, something that is part of a collective memory.
The works of Consolo and Izzo are the literal expressions of a
Mediterranean imaginary, based on their personal encounter with the region and
on their individual research on the subject. The way in which literal texts shape
our conception and ideas with their powerful imagery proves that the personal
encounter becomes a collective encounter in the translation of facts that each
author perfonns in his writings. However, what is most fascinating is the meeting
of ideas brought about through writing which also share elements with popular
68
culture. In essence, popular culture manages to reach a higher audience but it
often takes inspiration directly from literature and its various expressions. In the
sphere of popular culture one may see that the concept of adve1iising and of
mixing various means of communication to reach a specific goal come into action. 
Popular culture comp1ises various levels of cultural and artistic expression, and is therefore well placed to reach a larger audience and to imprint in the audience
various powerful images related to the subject chosen. In this case, the
Mediterranean has collected a large amount of popular culture expressions that
managed to create a knit of ideas and interpretations that succeed in intertwining and creating ideas through the use of old traditions and seminal literal texts.
4.2 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Popular Culture
The way in which the Mediterranean has been projected in the sphere of
popular culture owes a lot to the dichotomy between sea and land, between a fixed object and a fluid matter. The fascination around the two contrasting elements managed to create an even more fascinating expression of popular culture, thus an idea about the region that is based on the way in which Mediterranean people view the sea and view the stable and immobile element of land. Moreover, the Mediterranean popular culture focuses a lot on the element of the harbour, a place where the two elements of water and land manage to intertwine, meet, discuss ideas and at times fight over who dominates. The conflict between the two elements, projected in the geographical distribution of the region, has deep 69 resonance in the emotional encounter with the region. Thus, the authors, artists and travellers are emotionally part of this dichotomy that is consequently reflected in their artistic expressions.
To talk about the Mediterranean nowadays is to reinvent the idea behind
the region in an innovative and appealing way. Culture and literature are new
means by which we re-conceptualize the region. The Medite1Tanean has been
compared to the Internet, because it is a place where near and far are not too well defined, where space is something fluid and where infonnation and culture are transmitted through a network of connections. In her study, Miriam Cooke63 notes how even the tenninology used on the Internet derives from marine tenninology.
One example could be the ‘port’ or ‘portal’. In relation to the web, it is defined as
a place of entry and usually signifies the first place that people see when entering
the web. Although virtually, the concept of harbour remains the first and most
relevant encounter a person makes when approaching a country or ‘page’ on the
internet. Although air transportation has gained a great deal of importance,
shipping networks used for merchandise are common and still very much in use.
The parallelism between the Mediterranean and the Internet opens a new way of
conceptualizing the Mediterranean as a physical and cybernetic space. Miriam
Cooke explains how the Mediterranean itself, just like the Internet, changes the
traditional concept of core and periphery: 63 Miriam Cooke ‘Mediterranean thinking: From Netizen to Medizen’ Geographical review, vol 89 pp.290-300
70
‘The islands that are geographically centered in the Mediterranean are
rarely centers of power; rather, they are crossroads, sometimes sleepy
but sometimes also dangerous places of mixing, where power is most
visibly contested and where difficult choices must be made.’ 64
The way in which the Mediterranean is seen geographically most of the
time does not appear to be consistent with the actual function and thought of the
place. As in the case of the islands in the Mediterranean, their main function lies
in the fact that they are crossroads rather than real centres. Usually, the
geographical centre of a country is the actual political, social and economic
centre, however, in the Mediterranean, the centre is where ideas are fonned, and
this usually lies in the harbours and in the cities located in close proximity to the
sea. The centre and marginality of a place according to Cooke depends on the
position of the viewer. Therefore, the explained and conceptualized Mediterranean may have different centres and borders depending on who is writing about it. The function of popular culture is to somehow give a view on where the centre is and where the margins lie.
When discussing the Mediterranean in advertisements and in the media
m general, there is a tendency to start from the past, from a presumed
Mediterranean origin that seems to tie the whole region. In this assumption, there is no truth but just a commercial way of proposing the historical elements that 64 Ibid pp.296 71
unite the region, therefore making it appealing at a touristic level. The audience at times does not have a precise idea of the differing elements and cultures residing in the region. To make it more appealing and coherent, especially in advertising, culture seems to be portrayed as a feature that holds similar elements that recur throughout the region. Even tastes and sometimes sounds seem to be homogenized tlu·oughout the region. The French documentary film entitled Mediteranee Notre Mer a Taus produced by Yan Arthus-Bertrand for France 2, aims to give an overview of the Mediterranean by focusing not just on the common features, but most of all on the fascination of the differences. The
documentary film traces how the Mediterranean has transfonned and shifted over time and it aims to show the deep cultural heritage it left in Europe. Rather than an advertisement or promotional video, this is an educational movie that rotates around the Mediterranean to explain each and every place while delineating its features and importance. The interesting fact about the movie is that it is filmed from above, giving almost an overview of the region, and that it talks about a Mediterranean future that ultimately lies in a supposed c01mnon past. When advertising a harbour in the Mediterranean, most of the short clips focus on the multiculturalism of the harbour and the projection of the place within a broader Mediterranean vision.
72
A particular advertising video, promoting Tangier65 as a harbour city
that looks onto the Mediterranean but remains predominantly African, focuses on the emotions that it can deliver and on the particular features that can attract the tourist such as traditional food and music. In everyday life, certain music and
traditional food would have probably disappeared, but in the projection of a place that needs to attract the tourist, the sensational aspect prevails and the tradition needs to be prioritized. In all the movies concerning advertisement of the Mediterranean harbours, what prevails is the conception of the harbours as
crossroads, as places where cultures meet, and obviously leave deep cultural
heritage. The movement of people in these short clips is shown as a movement
that has brought richness and cultural heritage to the country, ignoring the
ongoing debates about migration. These clips tend to ignore the ongoing problems in the Mediterranean and this is obviously done to increase tourism and project a nicer image of the region, succeeding in having a positive impact on the mind of the viewer.
Another peculiarity that is noticeable both in the clips about the
Mediterranean harbours and in many movies and stories is a concept of time
which is very different from reality. In short clips, such as the one portraying
Tangiers or the one promoting Valletta, it is noticeable that time slows down. In
the transposition of the novel Les Marins Perdus into a movie66, the concept of
65 Fabounab,Tangiers, port of Aji-ica and the Mediterranean (uploaded May, 2010) www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_IJ3zmxC6g (accessed July, 2014)
66 Les Marins Perdus, Claire Devers (2003)
73 time is a fundamental element, because it drastically slows down. The first scene opens up with the overview of the Aldebaran, the ship on which the story unfolds.
This scene is a very long scene that gives the viewer a hint of approaching trouble, from sea to land. It achieves this in a very calm and slow way. Throughout the movie the sense of time being slower than usual is something that finds its apex in the last minutes of the movie when all the tragedies unfold. The way in which the Mediterranean is described in short clips and in this movie shows a common perception of the Mediterranean people as a people who enjoy life at a slower rhytlnn, although in certain cases it might be true that this assumption lacks accuracy. Although it is undeniable that the juxtaposition between land and sea which we especially perceive in the harbour gives a sense of time as a rather fictitious concept, one may recall the Odyssey, where the voyage in the Mediterranean took an unusually long time. The Odyssey in fact bases on the fact that time almost seemed to have stopped and in fact, the time span that Odysseus spent travelling at sea does not match with the actual time that was passing on land in Ithaca. On the other hand we perceive that time is passing by rather slowly for Penelope who patiently raised her son and safeguarded Ithaca while waiting Odysseus.
What the concept of time in the Mediterranean proves is that the various
images that one finds both in writing and in new popular culture are constantly fed to our conception of the region and through time these various concepts fonn an imaginary. In many cases, when we look at popular culture we find elements that 74 we can reconnect to literature. This proves that the means by which an imaginary is constrncted is based on different elements but usually one may find recmTing elements both in popular culture and literature. In the concept of time we also find a common way of seeing life itself. Time in the Mediterranean seems to be stuck therefore we may argue that literature and popular culture have contributed to the fonnation of our ideas about life per se, whilst obviously not denying that everyday life was of constant inspiration to literature and culture. The way in which both popular culture and everyday life intersect, connect and find common points is something of fundamental importance in the study of the Mediterranean imaginary, as it gives different points of view and visions of the subject and therefore creates an imaginary that manages in a subtle way to unite what seems so distant. Jean-Claude Izzo, Vincenzo Consolo and many other authors, as well as different ‘texts’ of popular culture, create an ethos about the Mediterranean that aims to join what appears separate. The fact that nowadays the Mediterranean is still present in popular culture, as in the case of the previously mentioned film shown by France 2, proves that discourse about the region and the Mediterranean imaginary are still alive and they have a presence in the mind of the receiver.
The imaginary of the Mediterranean harbour is also constrncted by the
way it is advertised. A short, recent videob1 advertising the Maltese harbour
repeatedly used the word ‘Mediterranean’ to highlight the connection between
67 Valletta Waterfront, Valletta Cruise Port Malta- the door to the Mediterranean, (uploaded February, 2012) www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMThbEG95WA (accessed May, 2014)
75
Europe and Africa. The way in which the harbour is projected in the French
movie shows a deep connection to the historical and cultural heritage of the
country but it also aims to show how historically and culturally varied the country is. The advertisement’s aim was to create a sense of uniqueness whilst focusing on the broader vision of the Mediterranean as a whole. On the one hand it focuses on the fact that Malta is part of the European Union, therefore boasting high standards of security and maritime services, and on the other hand it promotes the various hist01 ical influences on Malta and its Grand Harbour and portrays it as the gateway both to the northern and to the southern shore. Being an island in the Mediterranean gave Malta the possibility to create its uniqueness, but also to affiliate itself to both Europe and Africa. In this sense, the sea serves as a unifying factor but at the same time it was always able to maintain the individuality of each place. The discourse about the Mediterranean is rendered possible thanks to the various factors that inhabit the region – factors that may differ from one shore to another, thus making the region a more interesting one to study.
4.3 Conclusion The discourse about the Mediterranean has always revolved around the projection of different images that supposedly recall a common feeling and common grounds. The Mediterranean is a region that is in essence a combination of a myriad of cultures; this factor is very relevant in the discourse on the region 76 as the attempt to unite the region in one cultural sphere is somehow a failed attempt. It is relevant to mention that in the production of literature and culture, these different expressions especially concerning the Mediterranean have produced a knit of sensations and feelings that are now mostly recognized as being ‘Mediterranean’. The harbour in this case has always been the locus of the Mediterranean imaginary because sea and land meet in the harbour, and therefore many cultures meet and interact in the harbours.
Harbours are places that live an ‘in between’ life but that still manage to
mingle the differences in a subtle way that feels almost nonnal and natural. The
harbour has inspired many authors as it has built a sense of awaiting and hope in the person. The Mediterranean port seems to suggest that everything is possible, and that imageries and ideas can unfold in the same harbour.
77
5 Conclusion
The Mediterranean city is a place where two myths come together: the
myth of the city and the myth of the Mediterranean. Both myths have developed
independently because both managed to create symbols and connotations that
have been able to survive till today. The myth of the city in relation to the myth of
the Mediterranean has been for a long time regarded independently and therefore it created a succession of elements that was able to reside in the same place but was in essence two different elements. 68
From antiquity, the ‘city’ has been seen as a symbol of social order – as a
place where reason and civilization reign in contrast with the ignorance of the
outskirts. The concept of a ‘city’ that is able to unify ideals and control society by
maintaining high levels of education and increasing cultural standards has
developed a division between the rural areas and the city itself. In conjunction
with the harbour, the concept of a civilized ‘city’ mingles with the idea of a
cultural mixture that is able to absorb what the sea has to offer.
In the Mediterranean port cities, the cultural emancipation and the centre
of trade and business in a way managed to intenningle with the idea of ‘squalor’,
most of the time being associated to the harbour. Nevertheless, in the
68 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo (Mesogea 2000) pp.83-100
78
Mediterranean harbour cities, the idea of cultural richness and emancipation was a concept that found concretization in the idealization of the ‘city’ itself by its
inhabitants. The ‘city’ as much as the Mediterranean itself found deep resonance
with the growth of literature. In the case of the ‘city’, various treaties and
literature expedients that promoted it as a centre of cultural riclmess and
architectural rigor helped the ‘city’ itself to find a place in the mind of the person
approaching it. The obvious consequence of this new fonnation of cities as a
symbol of 1igor and proliferation was that a great number of people migrated from the rural areas to the cities. The myth of the harbour cities as being the centre of business and a locus of culture went on cultivating with the accounts about these cities written by various authors. They managed to give life to a succession of images that are now imprints of harbour cities throughout the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean appears unified in anthropological69 discourse in which
assumptions are made about the way ‘Mediterraneaninsm’ is constituted and the
‘Mediterranean way of life’. A group of cultural anthropologists aimed to view
the Mediterranean as a whole for the purpose of identifying elements that
managed to tie the region and gave meaning to the unification itself. On the one
hand they managed to give international relevance to studies about the region
because they constructed what they regarded as common Mediterranean attributes.
On the other hand they were constructing a discourse that said more about their
own vision than about a region that is varied in its essence. In a way they also
69 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo (Mesogea 2000) pp.83-100
79 rendered the region ‘exotic’. The way in which anthropology managed to create an idea about the Mediterranean is interesting even though a person living in the region might argue that the picture given is incorrect. In this sense the imaginary of the Mediterranean projected by literature does not aspire to give a detailed account of life in the region but rather to actually transmit the feelings and passions that the region has. In this sense, literature was able to transfonn a passion and a detailed account of one’s own perspective about the region into an imaginary that is in its turn able to remain imprinted in the person’s conception of the Mediterranean. Literature and art in the Mediterranean had the ability to prove that there are common feelings in the region but they are distinguishable in their very essence and the harbour with its strategic position was able to give inspiration to the artist that approached it. The creation of an imaginary about the Mediterranean goes beyond the very need of knowing and apprehending facts that may be or may not be common to the whole region. In this sense, the artistic expedients and the literal world managed to relate to the reader and the spectator in a very special way by creating powerful images that construct society.
5.1 The ‘imaginary’ of the Mediterranean
One important definition of the ‘imaginary’ is given by Castoriadis in his
The Imaginary Institution of Society 70 in which he states that the human being
cannot exist without the collective and that the collective is fonned by different
7° Kostantino Kavoulakas Cornelius Castoriadis on social imaginaiy and truth(University of Crete, September 2000) pp.202-213
80
elements. One of the elements that is of great importance in the fonnation of the
collective is the symbol. The symbol or the collection of symbols is fonned from
reality and from an imaginary. In the composition of the imaginary, whatever
stems from reality and whatever stems from fiction remains in essence a question which is not resolved or which probably does not intend to be resolved. Therefore, the imaginary explained by Castoriadis gives a social meaning to certain questions that are fundamental in the complexity of reality. For example, the symbol of God was created for various reasons but its creation per se does not distinguish between elements that are true in its essence and elements that are imagined. The example given by Castoriadis on the symbol of God leads us to the conception of the Mediterranean region as a region fonned in its imaginary by reality and myth which intertwine and are not distinguishable. The Mediterranean created by the various authors and artists mentioned reinforces the imaginary that has at its basis the aim of giving a picture of the region which is not far from reality but on the other hand which is not that structured. Therefore we can argue that the difference between an anthropologist’s approach to the region and an artist’s approach is based on the difference in their point of focus. This statement one does not deny the importance of the anthropologist’s approach to the region where in fact social
structure appears and thus one can easily understand the way by which society is fonned. To fuiiher the study and understand it in its complexity one cannot deny the importance of literature and culture in the creation of an imaginary.
Castoriadis 71 states that society shares a number of undeniable truths that are
71 Kostantino Kavoulakas Cornelius Castoriadis on social imaginaiy and truth (University of 81
accepted by everyone. By analyzing the imaginary one manages to go beyond
these undeniable truths and thus manages to extend the life of the imaginary itself.
Therefore, if the Mediterranean exists, it is because it managed to create a number of myths and symbols able to renew themselves. The impo1iance of the imaginary for the region itself is based on the fruits that it gives. The Mediterranean that is being mentioned in the various books and poems is supported by the emotions and passions of each and every author. If the author is not moved by passion for the region it would be difficult to create an imaginary. The Mediterranean region is still present in our mind thanks to the imaginary created by the various authors and thinkers.
The choice of the harbour as the locus of a Mediterranean imaginary
comes almost naturally as the harbours facing the Mediterranean Sea have a great impact on culture in the Mediterranean and the threshold between sea and land is on the one hand the very basis of the Mediterranean life. The harbour and the city as two separate and yet same elements intertwine and are able to create rich and variegated cultures, yet they were also the first spectators of conflicts and wars.
From this point of view, it is undeniable that the harbour in the Mediterranean
holds a special place for the author and may be seen by many authors and thinkers as a place of inspiration where ideas concretize and where the emotions, thoughts and ideas brought by the voyage at sea are still very present in the memory.
Crete, September 2000) pp.202-213
82
Through the image of the harbour we come across the image of the sailor
who to many authors has been a point of reflection for the discourse on the
Mediterranean and has helped the connection between the real, almost “filthy” life of the harbor, and the ideas and concepts that fonn in the city. The various authors that integrated the image of the sailor to the idea of the harbour in the
Mediterranean were able to reinforce the Mediterranean imaginary by joining
different images and by giving them life and purpose in a way that goes beyond
the truth. The sailor in Jean-Claude Izzo’ s imaginary has a deep and developed
curiosity and a great knowledge of The Odyssey. While it is not be a surprise that
a sailor has a passion for literature, the point that Jean-Claude Izzo makes is that
Homer’s Mediterranean has definitely changed, yet it is still alive in the heart of
the ones that live the region in all its essence. Therefore, the sailor who is an
everyday image and thus is able to relate to a greater audience acquires almost
different attributes that do not match reality, but that are in essence part of a
shared Mediterranean imaginary.
The way in which authors and thinkers contribute to the fonnation of the
Mediterranean has been the principal focus of this dissertation. The pattern
created by art and literature all over the Mediterranean highlights the differences in the region but it also portrays the similarities that are able to give birth to a unified Mediterranean. As discussed throughout, the process of finding
similarities and the fonnation of an imaginary that is able to constitute the
83
Mediterranean was not a smooth one. The Mediterranean does not in fact appear
as a place that has a lot of common features. Even though politically and
sometimes socially it has been portrayed as a unified region, the unifying factors
are few. Literature does not aim to give a picture of the Mediterranean as one but
aims rather to give various personal and interpersonal interpretations of the region to fonn an imaginary able to be transported and reinterpreted in different
circumstances. It is important to understand that the word ‘imaginary’ does not
aim to conduct a political or social inquiry about the region and that the word in
itself actually aims to understand the underlying concept of the Mediterranean. It does not aim to state facts about the region but rather to give an account that is
able to connect the historical roots of the region to personal experience.
5.2 The Mediterranean ‘Imaginary’ Beyond the Harbour
Although the harbour was my main focus in identifying the Mediterranean
imaginary, it is definitely not the only point in the Mediterranean that could be
taken into account when studying its imaginary. Other aspects of the
Mediterranean could be of great relevance when expanding the various images of the region. One important aspect in all the literature expedients taken into account was the relationship of every author with their nation and their complex identity.
Therefore, in relation to the study conducted, it would be of great interest to expand the notion of ‘nationhood’ and the fonnation of various and complex
84
identities created in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean nowadays is seen as a region where ‘nationhood’ and identity are created through a complex of knits and relations. The latest ‘citizenship’ programs in all of the northern Mediterranean countries show how the borders and the concept of ‘nationhood’ are deeply changing, most probably opening to further possibilities that range from cultural enrichment to economic advance. When thinking about the Mediterranean JeanClaude Izzo emphasized the fact that he felt that part of himself resided in every harbour and his ‘identity’ was not limited to one place. He makes us realize that the Mediterranean existed before the creation of ‘nations’ and so, each Mediterranean person feels like he can relate to more than one country and more than one culture. The harbour has been the first impact with a deep association to the region, and the person approaching a Mediterranean harbour automatically abandons his roots and is able to relate to what the harbour has to offer. In this sense we have seen how the harbour was vital to the creation of a powerful imaginary. The question of identity and complex relations in the Mediterranean would be a next step in analysing the complexity of the region. The Mediterranean harbour teaches us that all Mediterranean people are prone to the ‘other’ and are open to various cultures, including the exposure to a number of languages and the creation of a lingua .fi’anca to facilitate communication. Therefore, with this exposure promoted by the harbour, the Mediterranean created various identities that sometimes are not distinguishable.
85
Jean-Claude Izzo felt he could relate to almost every country in the
Mediterranean and that part of him resided in every harbour. Nevertheless, he
always saw Marseille as a point of reference and as an anchorage point where his thoughts concretized. Contrarily, the difficult relation of Vincenzo Consolo with the Italian peninsula makes the issue of complex identitites particularly relevant. For a number of years, Consolo worked in northern Italy where he felt like a stranger in his own country. However, with the difference of enviromnent and in a way, a dissimilarity of culture, he was able to contemplate the meaning of the Mediterranean and his native ‘country’, Sicily. The question of a possible or
rather an impossible identity in the Mediterranean does not enrich or denigrate the concept of an ‘imaginary’ but rather enables the person studying the region to understand certain dynamics and the way in which authors and thinkers approach the region. It is rather difficult to paint a clear picture of the Mediterranean through understanding the complexity of ‘identity’, though it would be of great interest to find the way in which each and every Mediterranean person manages to relate to the concept of identity, which is an integral part of his or her social accomplishment. Society instils a deep sense of fulfilment and accomplishment in a person who is able to fully relate to their country of origin, and as Amin Maalouf states in In the Nmne of Identity, 72 identity is something that most of the time may lead to war between countries, and so it is undeniable that it plays a fundamental role in the way we view things.
72 Maalouf Amin, In the name of Identity: violence and the need to belong (Penguin books, 2000)
86
Amin Maalouf is an author of mixed origins. He is Lebanese but has lived
most of his life in France and when asked which of the two countries is his ‘real’
country, he found it difficult to answer as he states that both countries are part of
his identity. Thus identity for Amin Maalouf is something very personal. A person
living in France fonn a number of years has the ability to emich his previous
identity, therefore acquires an added identity to the previous one. The same person cannot deny the previous identity, yet he cannot deny that the present identity plays an important role in his personal fonnation. The Mediterranean as a region has always promoted the mixture of cultures and the voyage itself, therefore contributing to the fonnation of complex and variegated identities. Nowadays, we manage to relate both to a Greek and Roman descent, therefore geographically and historically the Mediterranean has been united in ideas and concepts that are now far from each other but yet undeniable.
The same geography and architectural heritage left by the Greeks and
Romans is still visible in most of the Mediterranean cities and harbours. This is
evident in the lighthouses that were for most of the time a symbol of greatness and architectural splendour, and we encountered a succession of ideas and cultures that mingled with the necessity of the lighthouse. Therefore the lighthouse that was on the one hand a powerful expression of artistic and cultural splendour, managed to create ideas and thoughts that stemmed from the actual need of ‘light’ and guidance. All these elements intertwine in the Mediterranean, rendering the 
87
concept of identity somewhat a complex one. Each person has an identity as
explained by Tarek Abdul Razek in his study about the Mediterranean identity:
‘Each one of us is the depositary of a dual legacy: the first is vertical,
coming from our ancestors, the traditions of our people and religious
c01mnunities; the other is horizontal and derives from our era and
contemporaries. Vertical identity is connected to memory and the past;
it is limited to a given territory within a given area. It usually
corresponds to national identity, the outcome of cultural policy
choices. Instead, horizontal identity extends towards the future,
though it remains open to the contemporary, reaching beyond national
borders, within a social context, in a postmodern approach. Thus,
horizontal identity is a project, a project for the future and not merely
a legacy of the past.’ 73
In relation to the Mediterranean, the horizontal and vertical identity may
be tied to the deep varied history that the Mediterranean holds. If Mediterranean
history is based on the interaction between people and cultures, then each and
everyone’s identity cannot just be based on the value of the nation as it is now.
The horizontal identity that leaves a door open to the future is in this sense very
important and gives substance to the discourse of a Mediterranean imaginary,
73 Abdul Razek ‘Common Mediterranean identity’ The Euro-Mediterranean student research multi-conference EMUNI RES (2009) pp.1-8
88
being the main contributor to the future of the Mediterranean. The imaginary that is the bringing together of both the vertical and horizontal identities manages to give hope to future discourse about the region. The imaginary does not deny the complexity of a possible Mediterranean identity, but merely shows a past where ideas flourished and have now become an integral paii of our own identity. It also proves that the future of a region is not solely made up of geographical, political and social features but is also made of different elements that manage to inte1iwine fanning a knit of images able to reside in the mind of every reader, artist and philosopher.
A search for a common identity is surely not the path to be taken in
understanding the relations in the Mediterranean because a common identity
usually instituted by the idea of a nation instills in the person a set of common
goals and ideals. In the case of the Mediterranean, the various conflicts and wars
show that there is no co1mnon identity tying the region. Therefore, it is quite
difficult to analyze a common identity and it should not be the purpose of a study
itself. It is interesting, however, to delve in the way authors and thinkers that
contributed to the fonnation of an imaginary in the Mediterranean deal with their personal identity, whether it is problematic for a great number of authors or whether authors find that their identity is not limited to their ‘national identity’.
All these factors could be of great interest to the person studying the region in the
sense that if each author writing about the Mediterranean finds the impulse to
write about the region, then he must feel a sense of association to the region,
89 irrespective of his roots or his identity, or the historical elements that he finds
residing in all the Mediterranean. This ‘affiliation’ has an element of identity that
I find interesting in the discourse about the Mediterranean. Jean-Claude Izzo in
his Les Marins Perdus states that every person travelling in the Mediterranean
needs to have a personal reason for it, and this personal reason resides mostly in
the search for an identity. One of the characters in Jean-Claude Izzo’s Les Marins
Perdus was in constant search of an identity; a personal one that could tie him
psychologically and emotionally to a harbour or to a land. The Mediterranean, as
a region, was the place where he could c01mnent, argue and question his own
identity. Whether the search actually resulted in finding his identity is not the
actual point of the novel but the focal point is that the constant search for an
‘affiliation’ and an anchorage point brought out a rich imaginary that is able to be
transported through time.
The Mediterranean imaginary constructed by the various authors and
thinkers created a vision of various concepts such as the sailor, the metaphor of
the harbour, and the thresholds that hold both a geographical and metaphorical
meaning. The imaginary of the region is meant to go beyond the initial sociopolitical meanings that the media tries to portray. The Mediterranean for
anthropologists, authors, politicians and the Mediterranean people themselves has in essence a different meaning for each person, and therefore by analyzing the narration and images about the region, it is possible to understand the relationship between each component of the Mediterranean society to society itself.
90
The aim of analyzing the imaginary in the Mediterranean through the help
of the harbour as a conceptual and geographical area was to focus on the way in
which literature and culture through the help of metaphors and the personal
encounter with the region, manages to leave an imprint on the imaginary of the
region. The region is not only a place where these figures meet, intertwine and are reinvented but it is also a place where politics should be discussed considering the deep historical and geographical ties as well as a place where issues such as ‘migration’ should be viewed with the history of the region in mind. The importance of the Mediterranean does not lie in the accomplishment of a common identity but in realizing that each and every complex identity that resides in and writes about the Mediterranean can contribute to the fonnation of the ‘imaginary’ to which everyone can relate – images and figures with which each Mediterranean person, with their diverse identities, can identify. The imaginary is the result of images, narratives and depictions that from a personal meaning and manage to acquire a deeper and more global meaning. The Mediterranean people would not feel that these common ideas and values are in any way limiting their freedom or restricting their identity, but on the contrary, feel that it is enriching to their personalized and contradictory identity.
91
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97 

I dedicate this thesis to you, dear father. You showed me with your constant love, that whatever I do with persistence and commitment will open the doors to my destiny. The long nights I spent awake, reading and researching reminded me of the long nights you spent awake working, pennitting me to study and build my future. Your sacrifices are always accompanied by a constant smile that continuously gives me courage in difficult moments.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The number of people to whom I owe my accomplishments is far too long to fit on this page, as many have inspired me and given me their constant support which has helped me realize that knowledge could open doors I did not even know existed. Nevertheless, there are a number of people who I would like to mention as they have been there for me during tough times and have given me the support I needed. I would like to thank my family without whom I would not have been able to further my studies, my boyfriend Terry, who has always believed in me and has always been there to support me with his constant love, and my uncle Carlo, who from an early age fed me with books and literature that fostered my love of knowledge and the curiosity to find my inner self. I would also like to thank my dearest colleague Ray Cassar, who always helped me grow both academically and as a person, as well as my tutor and mentor Adrian Grima, who directed me, allowing me to ground and express my ideas better whilst always respecting and valuing my opinions.
II
Table of Contents
1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
1.1 The Harbour as Threshold ………………………………………………………………. 7
1.2 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse ………………………………………………….. 10
1.3 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Izzo and Consolo Inspired by the Port12
1.4 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 16
2 The Harbour as Threshold …………………………………………………………………… 1 7
2.1 Natural Landscape and the Development of Literature …………………….. 20
2.2 Instability vs. Stability in the Mediterranean Harbour ………………………. 23
2.3 The Prototypical Sailor …………………………………………………………………. 27
2.4 The Harbour as a Metaphorical Door ……………………………………………… 34
3 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse ………………………………………………………… 38
3.1 Religious Cultural Mobility ………………………………………………………….. 43
3.2 The Lingua Franca Mediterranea as a Mode of Communication ………. 49
4 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo
Inspired by the Port ………………………………………………………………………………….. 58
4.1 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Izzo and Consolo ………………………….. 60
4.2 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Popular Culture ……………………………. 69
4.3 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 76
5 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 78
5.1 The ‘Imaginary’ of the Mediterranean ……………………………………………. 80
5.2 The Mediterranean ‘Imaginary’ Beyond the Harbour ……………………….. 84
6 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….. .. 9?.
III
Abstract

The Mediterranean harbour is a place of meeting, of encounters between
civilizations, of clashes, wars, destructions, peace; a place where culture comes to live, where art is expressed in various ways and where authors and thinkers have found inspiration in every comer. The harbour imposes a number of thresholds to the person approaching it. This threshold could have different fonns which could be emotional, geographical, spiritual or cultural. Authors such as Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo lived and experienced the Mediterranean harbour in all its aspects and expressions; their powerful experience resulted in the formation of important images referred to as ‘imaginary’. The Mediterranean imaginary is the vision of various authors who have been able to translate facts and create figures and images that represent a collective, but at the same time singular imagination. The harbour is an important part of the Mediterranean geographical structure and thus it has been the main point of study for many examining the region. Factors such as language have transformed and suited the needs of the harbour, being a cultural melting pot.
1 Introduction
The Mediterranean is represented by chaos, especially in the harbour cities that are witness to the myriad of cultures which meet each and every day to discuss and interact in the harbour. It is imperative to state that chaos, as the very basis of a Mediterranean discourse has been fed through the different voices fonned in the region. These same voices, images and interpretations have found a suitable home in the Mediterranean harbours, places where literature and culture managed to flourish and where the so-called ‘margins’, both geographical and social, found centrality. The harbour has acquired significance in the discourse on the Mediterranean and thus on how literature and cultural expedients and the vaiious authors and artists recall the harbour as an anchorage point for their deep thoughts about the region. 1
Nowadays, the unification of the Mediterranean seems a ‘utopia’, since the Mediterranean is politically perceived as a region full of borders and security plans. One may easily mention the various strategic moves put forward by the European Union to safeguard the northern Mediterranean countries from migration from North African shores. By applying and reinforcing these security plans, the Mediterranean has become ever increasingly a region of borders. It is also important not to idealize the Mediterranean past as a unified past, because the 1 Georges Duby Gli ideali def Mediterraneo, storia, jilosojia e letteratura nella cultura europea
(Mesogea, 2000) pp.80-104
2
region was always characterized by conflict and chaos. Despite the chaos that was always part of the Mediterranean, being a region of clashing civilizations, it managed to produce a mosaic of various cultures that is visible to the eye of the philosopher or the artist. The artist and the philosopher manage to project their thoughts and ambitions for the region; therefore they are able to see hannony in a region that seems so incoherent. The aim of my thesis is to understand why the harbour is crucial in the construction of the Mediterranean imaginary. Both open space and border, the port, as in the case of Alexandria or Istanbul, has for a long time been a center for trade, commerce and interaction. Therefore, it is imperative to focus on the study of the harbour and harbour cities to be able to give substance to a study about the Mediterranean as a complex of imaginaries. The boundaries in the study about the Mediterranean have a special place; in fact a boundary that may be either geographical or political has the ability to project and create very courageous individuals that manage to transgress and go over their limits when facing the ‘other’. In the Mediterranean we perceive that the actual reason for transgressing and overcoming a limit is the need of confonning or confronting the ‘other’, sometimes a powerful ‘other’ able to change and shift ideas, able to transpose or impose cultural traits. Yet, the Mediterranean in its multicultural environment has been able to maintain certain traits that have shaped what it is today. Through movement of people in the region, the Mediterranean has been able to produce a number of great innovations, such as the movement of the Dorians who moved from the south all along the 3 Greek peninsula, and also the ‘sea people’ that came from Asia and, being hungry and thirsty, destroyed whatever they found. The same destruction and movement resulted in the creation of three important factors for the Mediterranean: the creation of currency, the alphabet, and marine navigation as we know it today. The various movements also contributed to the fonnation of the person as a free being with the ability to move freely. Therefore, movement and the overcoming of boundaries in the Mediterranean have contributed greatly to the fonnation of civilization itself.2 A board, today found in the museum of Damascus, with an alphabet very similar to the Latin one written on it, was very useful as it was very simple in its structure. This confirms a high level of democracy, as civilization meant that each individual had the possibility of knowing and understanding what his leaders understood. We get to understand that in the Mediterranean each person can practice his freedom by travelling out at sea and engage in trading. All this was made possible by the same interactions and conflicts raised in the region. Conflicts though are not the only factor that promoted the interaction and the fonnation of interesting cultural and literature in the Mediterranean, as we know it today. Art and culture have been means by which the various conflicts and interactions took life and expressed the deep feelings that inhabited the soul 2 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo, storia, filosofia e letteratura nella cultura europea (Mesogea,2000) pp. 80-104
4
of the artist. Karl Popper3 states that the cultural mixture alone is not sufficient to put the grounds for a civilization and he gives the example of Pisistratus, a Greek tyrant that ordered to collect and copy all the works of Homer. This made it possible to have a book fair a century later and thus spread the knowledge of Homer. Karl Popper wants to tell us that art and culture have deeply influence the fonnation of a general outset of the region and that the fonnation of the general public is not something that comes naturally, but is rather encouraged. The Greeks in this sense were directly fed the works of Homer by the diffusion of the works themselves. On the other hand, the majority of Greeks already knew how to read and write, further enabling the diffusion of knowledge. Art and architecture are two important factors that have detennined the survival of empires and cultures through time. When artists such as Van Gogh were exposed to the Mediterranean, they expressed art in a different way and when Van Gogh came in contact with the Mediterranean region, the French Riviera and Provence in particular, he discovered a new way of conceiving art. In a letter that Van Gogh wrote to his sister in 1888, he explained that the impact the Mediterranean had on him had changed the way he expressed art itself. He told her that the colours are now brighter, being directly inspired by the nature and passions of the region. The Mediterranean inspired Van Gogh to use a different kind of colour palette. If the art expressed by Van Gogh that is inspired by the Mediterranean is directly 3 Georges Duby Gli ideali del Mediterraneo, storia, jilosofia e letteratura nella cultura europea (Mesogea,2000) pp. 80-104
5 represented and interpreted by the spectator, the region manages to be transposed through the action of art itself.4 The way in which the thesis is structured aims to focus on the vanous images created by poets, popular music and art. Each chapter provides evidence that the harbour has been the centre of attention for the many authors and thinkers who wrote, discussed and painted the Mediterranean. The thesis aims to prove that certain phenomena such as language and religion have contributed to a knit of imaginaries, the layout of certain events such as the ex-voto in the Mediterranean and the use of Sabir or Lingua Franca Mediterranea, which shows how the harbour managed to be the center of events that shaped the cultural heritage of the Mediterranean. The language and religious movement mentioned have left their mark on the Mediterranean countries, especially the harbour cities, which were the first cities encountered. The choice of the harbour cities as the representation and the loci of a Mediterranean imaginary vision is by no means a casual one. In fact, the harbour for many centuries has been the anchorage point not only in the physical sense but also emotionally and philosophically for many authors and thinkers, two of which are Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo, extensively mentioned in the dissertation. These two authors are relevant for the purpose of this study as they manage to create a vision of the Mediterranean, based on their personal experience and influenced by 4 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo, storia, jilosojia e letteratura nella cultura europea (Mesogea,2000) pp.43-55
6 the harbour from which they are looking at the region and observing the
Mediterranean. Popular culture ‘texts’ such as movies and music based on the interaction between the person and the Mediterranean region have an important role in the study, as they represent the first encounter with the harbour. It is a known fact that in the postmodern era where technological means have a broader and deeper reach, popular culture has become the first harbour in which many find anchorage. Therefore it would be difficult to mention literature works that have shaped the Mediterranean without mentioning the popular texts that have constructed images about the region that intertwine and fonn a complete and powerful image. The relevance of each factor is well defined in this study, delving deep in not only popular culture but also in language and various historical events that have transformed the Mediterranean, providing examples of how factors such as geographical elements, spirituality, devotion and passion have transfonned the way in which we perceive a region.
1.1 The Harbour as Threshold The first chapter focuses on the harbour as a threshold between stability and instability, between wealth and poverty, between mobility and ilmnobility. The various elements that constitute the harbour always convey a sense of ‘in between’ to the person approaching. The very fact that the harbour seems to be a place of insecurity gives the artists and authors a more stimulating environment to 7 write about their feelings and to contrast them with the ever-changing and chaotic enviromnent of the harbour. The way in which the natural landscape manages to influence the poetic and artistic expression is of great relevance to the study of the Mediterranean region, especially with regards to the study of the harbour. Poets such as Saba and Montale wrote about the way in which nature felt as a personified figure, able to give hope and change the way poets look at the world. 
They also wrote about nature in the Mediterranean as being an impmiant feature
shaping the way in which history and culture developed.
The sailor as a representation of a Mediterranean traveller is often found in
literature especially with regards to the notion of the harbour as an image of the
Mediterranean culture. Many authors such as Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo
Consolo wrote about the figure of the sailor in relation to the sea and everyday life in Mediterranean harbours. The novels fl Sorriso dell ‘Ignoto Marinaio by
Vincenzo Consolo and Les Marins Perdus by Jean-Claude Izzo are written in two
different geographical areas of the Mediterranean and reflect two different
periods, but they are tied by an expression of a Meditemm~im i1rn1eirn1ry and
somehow recall common features and aspects of the harbour. Both novels manage to transpose their authors’ personal encounter with the Mediterranean, therefore
recalling their own country of birth. The novels are somewhat personal to the
authors; Consolo recalls Sicily while Izzo often refers to Marseille. The fact that
the novels are projecting two different areas and two different points of view on
8
the Mediterranean proves that by gathering different experiences related to the
region, a rich imaginary is created.
The harbour is a door, an entryway to a new world, and borders. Security
and expectations are all part of the experience of the threshold when entering a
country, especially in the Mediterranean, where thresholds are constantly present and signify a new and exciting experience that leads to a new interpretation of a Mediterranean imaginary. The way in which the harbour acts as an entryway suggests that what lies beyond the harbour is sometimes a mystery to the traveller.
Literature greatly contributes to the fonnation of ideas, especially in regard to the fonnation of thoughts such as the idea of a Mediterranean imaginary, but there is another element of fundamental importance to the formation of ideas on a generic line, which is popular culture. High-culture, referring to elements such as art, literature, philosophy and scholarly writings, creates a common understanding between an educated public. Popular culture refers to the section of culture that has a common understanding between the public. High-culture and popular culture have the power to transform what is mostly regarded as pertaining to high society; literature is constantly being reinterpreted and transfonned by popular culture to be able to reach a greater audience.
9
1.2 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse The imp01iance of natural landscape which detennines the success or failure of a harbour, also detennines a number of historical events. In this sense, the Mediterranean is a region that has been naturally set up with a number of very important harbours that consequently fonned a particular history. The image of the harbour could be compared to the image of the lighthouse, which is part of the harbour itself but at the same is a distinct entity that in some cases had a role which went beyond its initial role of guidance and assumed almost a function of spiritual assistance. 5 The symbol of the lighthouse is also tied to knowledge and therefore the lighthouse has the ability to give knowledge to the lost traveller at sea, it is able to show the way even in uncertainties. The lighthouses in the Mediterranean had the ability to change through ages and maintain a high historical and cultural meaning; their function is a matter of fact to give direction to the traveller, but in certain cases it has been used to demarcate a border or as a symbol of power.
The Mediterranean Sea has witnessed different exchanges, based on belief,
need and sometimes even based solely on the search of sel£ Among these modes
of exchange and these pretexts of voyage in the Mediterranean, we find the exvoto and the movement of relics. Both types of exchange in the region have in
common at the basis religion that instilled in the traveller a deep wish to follow a
5 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti: 2010)
10
spiritual path. These exchanges resulted in an increasing cultural exchange. The
ex-voto6 shows a number of things. One of these things is that the very existence
of ex-voto proves a deep connection with the geographical aspect in the
Mediterranean and therefore proving that the region is a dangerous one. In this
sense, people in the Mediterranean have shown their gratitude to God or the
Virgin Mary in the fonn of ex-voto after a difficult voyage at sea. On the other
hand, the ex-voto shows how popular culture mingles with the spiritual experience and the way in which a person expresses gratitude to the divine. The ex-voto paintings have a special way of being identified. The saint or in most cases Virgin Mary, is usually set in a cloud or unattached from the sea in a tempest. Another element that shows if a painting is or is not part of an ex-voto collection, is the acronyms found in the bottom of every painting V.F.G.A (votum facit et gratiam accepit). The use of Latin demonstrates the vicinity to Christianity, whilst the words meaning that ‘I made a vow and I received grace’ prove the tie between the tragedies at sea and the grace given by God. The difficult Mediterranean geographical predisposition, discussed by Femand Braudel7 has developed an abundance of devotion that transformed to shrines and objects of adoration and gratitude. These same shrines, objects and materials that were most of the time exchanged and taken from one place to another, have deeply enriched the Mediterranean with cultural objects and the same shrines are nowadays part of a collective cultural heritage.
6 Joseph Muscat Il-Kwadri ex-voto Martittimi Maltin (Pubblikazzjonijiet Indipendenza, 2003) 7 Fernand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II
(Fontana press: 19 8 6)
11
1.3 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Izzo and Consolo Inspired by the
Port The Mediten-anean for Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo revolves around the idea of a harbour that gives inspiration because it is in essence a border where ideas meet and sometimes find concretization. The Mediterranean harbour for centuries has been a meeting place for people and cultures, thus creating a region full of interactions on different levels. The imaginary for both authors has been shaped by both cultural elements and by the literary elements that find a special place in the mindset of the author. Culture as a popular expression of the concept of the Mediten-anean has developed in different ways, one of which is the projection of the harbour and the Mediterranean itself through media and advertising. Various elements such as the touristic publicity or the actual reportage about the harbour and the Mediten-anean have widened the horizon and the imaginary of the region. In advertisements, the Mediterranean has been idealized in some ways and tends to ignore controversial issues such as ‘migration’; advertising also tends to generalize about the Mediterranean and so mentions elements such as the peaceful and relaxing way of life in the region. Advertisement obviously has its own share in the building of an ‘imaginary’ of the region, but it may also create confusion as to what one can expect of the region. On the other hand, the reportage about the Mediterranean harbour and the region itself focuses more on everyday life in the Mediterranean and common interactions such as encounters with fishennen. Nevertheless, when mentioning 12 the MediteITanean even the reportage at times makes assumptions that try to unite the MediteITanean into an ideal space and it sometimes aims to give an exotic feel to the region. Yet there are a number of informative films that have gathered important material about the MediteITanean, such as the French production Mediteranee Notre Mer a Taus, produced by Yan Arthus-Bertrand for France 2.8 The difference between the usual promotional or adve1iising video clips and the documentary film produced for France 2 was that in the latter the focus points were an expression of the beauty of the whole, whereas in the fonner, beauty usually lies in the common features that for marketing purposes aim to synthesize the image of the Mediterranean for a better understating and a more clear approach to the region. The harbour and other vanous words associated to the concept of the harbour have been used in many different spaces and areas of study to signify many different things other than its original meaning, and this makes us realize that the harbour itself may hold various metaphorical meanings. We have seen the way in which the harbour served as a first spiritual refuge or as an initial salvation point, but it is also interesting to note how the harbour is conceptually seen today,
in an era where globalization has shortened distances and brought down barriers. Nowadays, the harbour is also used as a point of reference in the various technological terms especially in relation to the internet, where the ‘port’ or 8 Yan Arthus-Betrand Mediteranee notre mer a taus (France 2, 2014)
www.yannarthusbertrand.org/ en/films-tv/–mediterranee-notre-mer-a-tous (accessed February,
2014)
13
‘portal’ refers to a point of entry and thus we perceive the main purpose of the harbour as being the first point of entry as is in the context of infonnation technology. The concept of core and periphery has deeply changed in the world of Internet and technology, as the concept of core and periphery almost disappeared. Similarly, the Mediterranean’s core and pe1iphery have always been in a way different from what is considered to be the nonn. Geographically, the core could be seen as the central area, the place where things happen, whereas in the Mediterranean, the periphery acquires almost the function of the core. The harbour is the geographical periphery; neve1iheless, it acquires the function of the core. The islands for example are usually centres, whereas in the Mediterranean they are crossroads rather than real centres of power. In nonnal circumstances the relation between core and periphery is something that denotes not only the geographical location of a place but it usually also refers to economical, social and cultural advancement. Therefore, in the Mediterranean region the concept of geographical centre and economical and social centres are different from their usual intended meaning.
The Mediterranean imaginary has developed in such a way that it
purposely distorted the concepts such as the standard core and periphery or the usual relationship between men and nature or between men and the various borders. In the Mediterranean imaginary, which as we have mentioned is being fed by various authors and popular discourse, has the ability to remain imprinted in our own thoughts and thus has the ability to reinterpret the region itself; we find 14 that the usual conceptions change because they suit not only the region but the author that is writing about the region. The way in which the various authors and artists who describe the Mediterranean are faced with the ongoing challenges presented by the region shows how in essence each and every author has their own personal approach to the region. Their works are essentially a personal project which lead to the enriclunent of the region’s imaginary. The differences between each and every author makes the ‘imaginary’ and the accounts about the Mediterranean much more interesting and ersonalized. 
Consolo9 and Izzo10 have different ways of perceiving the region and
although they both aim to create an ‘imaginary’ that may recall similar features, it is undeniable that there are substantial differences in their approach. Consolo on the one hand focuses a lot on the image of Ulysses as a figure that represents him in his voyage in search of the self. Ulysses for Consolo is a figure that manages to preserve a meaning even in the modem era, a figure that is able to travel through time all the while reinventing the Mediterranean. Izzo as well feels that the figure of Ulysses is imperative to the study of the Mediterranean, but he mostly focuses on the impact of the present experience of the region on the conception of a Mediterranean ‘imaginary’ rather than focusing on the past as a representation of the present situation. 9 Vincenzo Consolo Il Sorriso dell’Ignoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori: 2012) 10 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) 15
1.4 Conclusion
The Mediterranean has been seen as a region full of inconsistencies,
contradictions and conflicts, based mainly on the divergent ideas and cultures residing in the same area. The Mediterranean imaginary does not exclude the conflicts that are present in the region and does not aim to unify the region, and in doing so it aims to give voice to the region. For the various authors and thinkers that are mentioned in the thesis, the Mediterranean has transmitted an emotion or has been able to create the right environment to express ideas and fonn thoughts. The relevance of each and every author within the framework of this thesis shows that without analyzing the single expression about the region, through the various works, one cannot fonn an imaginary of the Mediterranean region. The various concepts of borders, thresholds, conflicts and cultural clashes manage to mingle with each other in everyday life in the Mediterranean – greater ideas and fundamental questions find resonance and meaning in simple everyday interaction between a common sailor and a woman at a bar. The Mediterranean in essence is the voyage between the search for deep roots and the analysis of the clashes that result from this search for roots. The study of the Mediterranean is the constant evaluation of boundaries and the search for the ‘self’ through a wholly subjective analysis of the ‘other’. The imaginary plays a fundamental role in bringing near the ‘roots’ and the ‘present’, and the ‘self’ and the ‘other’.
16
2 The Harbour as Threshold The Mediterranean harbour for many authors and thinkers is a starting point as well as a dying point of the so called ‘Mediterranean culture’. In fact many sustain that the ‘MediteITanean culture’ takes place and transfonns itself in its harbours. This concept does not have to confuse us in assuming that a ‘Mediterranean culture’ in its wholesomeness really does exist. There are elements and features that seem to tie us; that the sea so generously brought ashore. On the other hand the same sea has been keeping things well defined and separate. The harbour as the first encounter with land has always maintained an important role in the formation of ideas and collective imagination. The harbour is not selective in who can or cannot approach it and so the fonnation of this collective imagination is a vast one. It is also important to state that the harbour in itself is a place of contradictions, a place where everything and nothing meet. The contrasting elements and the contradictions that reside in Mediterranean ports are of inspiration to the various authors and thinkers who study the Mediterranean. In this sense they have contributed in the formation of this Mediterranean imagination. Literature is an important factor that contributes to a fonnation of a collective imagination; it would be otherwise difficult to analyze the Mediterranean without the help of literature, as the fonnation of a collective imagination was always fed through literature and cultural expedients.
17
The Mediterranean region, as we shall see, is an area that is somehow
constructed; a person in France may not be aware of what a person in Morocco or in Turkey is doing. The concept of a constructed Mediterranean may be tied to the anthropological study conducted by Benedict Anderson 11 where he states that the ‘nation’ is a constructed concept and may serve as a political and somehow economic pretext. The sea is navigated by both tragic boat people and luxurious cruise liners, and these contradictions seem to be legitimized in the Mediterranean region. To give two recent examples we can observe on a political sphere, the European Union’s decision to fonn a Task Force for the Mediterranean (TFM) whose aims are to enhance the security of its shores and to drastically reduce deaths at sea. The TFM is a recent initiative that follows a number of proposals at a political level that have the Mediterranean security at heart. 12 This idea was triggered by a particular event that saw the death of 500 migrants off Lampedusa. It clearly poses a question whether the Mediterranean is a safe place or not, and whether it remains in this sense appealing to touristic and economic investment. The TFM probably reinforces the idea that the Mediterranean is a problematic region and thus requires ongoing ‘security’. To reconnect to the main idea, the TFM reinforces the notion that the Mediterranean is a constructed idea where access from one shore to another is denied and where one shore is treated as a security threat whereas the other shore is treated as an area to be protected or an 11 Benedict Anderson, Imagined communities (Verso, 1996)
12 Brussels, 4.12.2013 COM (2013) 869 Communicationjiwn the commission to the European Parliament and the council on the work of the Task Force Mediterranean 18 area that is unreachable. The contradictions keep on adding up when we see the way the Mediterranean is portrayed for economic and touristic purposes. One example is the ‘Mediterranean port association’ that helps the promotion of cruising in the Mediterranean region providing assistance to tourists who would like to travel in the region. In this context the Mediterranean is used in a positive way in relation to the touristic appeal it may have. The construction of a Mediterranean idea is by no means restricted to an economical or a political discourse; it has deeper roots and meanings that have fonned through a history of relations between countries and of fonnations of literary expedients. For Franco Cassano13, the Mediterranean is a region that in essence is made of differences, it would be otherwise difficult to justify the clashes that have characterized the Mediterranean history, if it was not for the fact that we are all aware that it is a region made up of dissimilarities On the other hand it is due to these dissimilarities that the Mediterranean is an appealing region both for authors and for travelers alike.
13 Franco Cassano,Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano:Feltrinelli, 2007)
19
2.1 Natural Landscape and the Development of Literature Nature and literature are two elements that intertwine and thus create a collective imagination around the concept of the Mediterranean harbour. In fact, the dialectic between natural landscape and poetic expression was always a matter of great relevance as nature constantly managed to aid the development of poetic expression. The natural landscape helps the fonnation of existential thoughts, such as life, death and the existence of men – thoughts that are always reinterpreted and reinvented through literature. This relation between men and nature was always important in configuring spaces and detennining them according to a common understanding. 14 In the poem of Giacomo Leopardi Dialogo delta Natura e di un Islandese, Nature is personified, and although the indifference and coldness of nature is palpable, we sense that the poet is being aided by nature in fanning his ideas about life itself. Through time and especially through globalization, the world is being interpreted in terms of geographical maps and technology is subsequently narrowing our concept of space and enlarging our concept of life. In the new modem dimension, where the concept of space has acquired an abstract meaning, literature leaves the possibility of dialectic relationship between men and nature, thus enabling men to perceive the places they inhabit as a significant part of their self-construction process. This concept takes us to the perception created around the Mediterranean region and especially the way people look at 14 Massimo Lollini fl Mediterraneo de/la contingenza metafisica di montale all’apertura etica di Saba (Presses Universitaires Paris Quest: 2009) pp.358-372
20
figures such as the sea, the ports and the shores. In Giambattista Vico’s15 poetic geography we understand that the representation of geography through poetic expression is something that dates back in time, through a cosmic representation of senses and feelings. In this regard, Montale and Saba both express in a relatively modem tone the deep representation of the Mediterranean through a mixture of contrasting feelings and ideas. The image of the harbor and any other images in the Mediterranean are deeply felt and analyzed, through the eyes of the poets that live in the region. Montale uses the dialectic of memory to explain his relationship with the Mediterranean, a region locked in its golden age that lives through the memory of poets and authors. He refers to the Mediterranean as ‘Antico ‘ emphasizing the fact that it is an old region. The word ‘Antico ‘ does not merely refer to oldness, but to oldness combined with prestige. The memory characterizes the Mediterranean for Montale, the image of the sea for instance is an archaic image that notwithstanding holds a modem and yet spiritual meaning as it expresses a sense of purification. The sea with its movement brings ashore all the useless and unwanted elements. On the other hand the sea may be seen as a fatherly figure that becomes severe in its actions and makes the poet feel insignificant and intimidated. Montale’s aim was to overcome the threshold between artistic expression and natural landscape through a dialogue with the Mediterranean Sea. This aim was not fulfilled. Montale tried hard to express artistically what the Mediterranean Sea meant but ended his poem humbly putting himself at a lower stage in comparison to the greatness of the Sea. Montale fills 15Massimo Lollini Il Mediterraneo della contingenza metafisica di montale all’apertura etica di Saba (Presses Universitaires Paris Ouest: 2009)
21 his poetry with a mixture of humility and paradoxes; two elements that keep on repeating themselves in the poetry concerning the MeditelTanean.
Furthennore, in Umberto Saba’s ‘Medite1Taneet16 we encounter the same
contrasts and paradoxes used by Montale to develop the figure of the
MeditetTanean Sea. Saba uses the microcosm of Trieste to explain a larger
macrocosm: The MeditetTanean. This technique renders his work more personal and gives it a deeper meaning. Saba and Montale both rely on the memory to express a feeling of deep ties with the element of the sea and the life of the MeditelTanean harbour. Saba’s MeditelTanean resides in his microcosm, personal encounters and experiences fonn his ideas about the region; a region he perceives as being full of fascinating contradictions.

‘Ebbri canti si levano e bestemmie
nell’Osteria suburbana. Qui pure
-penso- e Mediterraneo. E il mio pensiero
all’azzulTo s’inebbria di quel nome.’ 17
‘Drunken songs and curses rise up
in the suburban tavern. Here, too,
I think, is the Mediterranean. And my mind is
drunk with the azure of that name.’ 18
16 Umberto Saba, translated by George Hochfield: Song book the selected poems of Umberto Saba
\V\V\V. worldrepublicofletters.com/excerpts/songbook excerpt.pdf (accessed, July 2014)
17 Massimo Lollini fl Mediterraneo della contingenza metafisica di montale all’apertura etica di Saba (Presses Universitaires Paris Ouest: 2009) pp.358-372
22
Saba mingles his personal classicist fonnation expressed in the ‘all’azzurro’
with the poorest part of the Mediterranean harbour ‘l’osteria’. Both factors are intertwining, and so, the Mediterranean for Saba is the combination of both the richness of classicist thoughts that fonned in the Mediterranean as well as the meager elements that fonned in its po1is; yet they embellish and enrich the concept of the Mediterranean. Saba is searching for his personal identity through the search for a definition to the Mediterranean. In his art he attempts to portray the very heart of the MediteITanean which is found in his abyss of culture and knowledge with the everyday simple life of the harbours. 2.2 Instability vs. Stability in the Mediterranean Harbour In Saba and Montale’s works, the fascinating inconsistencies in the Mediterranean seem to find a suitable place in the ports and in the minds of each and every author and thinker who encounters it. The notion of stability and instability finds its apex in the port. The sea is the synonym of instability, especially in the Mediterranean, being depicted as dangerous and unpredictable. As in the recounts of the Odyssey, the sea, and the Mediterranean as a whole, is a synonym of instability and thus prone to natural catastrophes. The Homeric recounts of Ulysses’ journey explore the Mediterranean that was previously an unknown place. Although the places mentioned by Homer are fictitious, they now 18 Umberto Saba, translated by George Hochfield: Song book the selected poems of Umberto Saba
www.worldrepublicofletters.com/excerpts/song:book _excerpt.pdf (accessed, July 2014)
23
have a general consensus over the definition of the actual places. As time went by historians and authors went on confinning what Homer had depicted in his Odyssey – a Mediterranean that constantly poses a challenge, danger and fascination at the same time. Femand Braudel in his ‘Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip the II’ 19 sustains the view of a difficult Mediterranean, of a succession of events that have helped the success of the Mediterranean for a period of time. Its instability and complication have not aided the area in maintaining its ‘golden age’. This discourse was reinvented by Horden and Purcell in ‘The Corrupting Sea’20 where the Mediterranean meets geographically, historically and anthropologically. In ‘The Corrupting Sea’ the view of Femand Braudel is expanded into what the Mediterranean meant
geographically and historically, therefore Horden and Purcell explain that the inconsistencies and natural features in the Mediterranean really contributed to bring the ‘golden age’ to an end, but they were the same features that brought on the rich culture around the Mediterranean countries in the first place. Where literature is concerned, the inconsistencies and natural features served as an inspiration to various authors who went on fonning the collective imagination around the Mediterranean. Therefore, it could be argued that the geographical
complexity of the region is in fact the tying point to the ‘Mediterranean’ itself that resides in the unconscious and that otherwise would have died with its economical shift towards other areas of interest. The problematic identity and the challenging 19 Femand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 1986)
20 Peregring Horden, Nicholas Purcell The Corrupting sea, a study of the Mediterranean histmy (Blackwell publishing: 2011)
24
natural enviromnent brought by an ongomg sense of curiosity and attraction towards the Mediterranean region. The port is the first encounter with stability after a journey that is characterized by instability, at the surprise of the inexperienced traveler. However, the port does not always covey immovability. The p01i gives a sense of limbo to the traveller that has just arrived. It is a safe place on the one hand but on the other hand due to its vicinity to the sea, it is as unpredictable as the sea itself The sailor is a frequent traveler who knows and embraces the sea. He chose or has been forced to love the sea, to accept the sea as his second home. The sailor is in fact the figure that can help us understand the fascination around the Mediterranean and its ports. It is not an unknown factor that sailors and their voyages have captured the attention of many authors that tried extensively to understand the affinity sailors have to the sea. The sailor21 is a man defined by his relation with the sea and is a recurrent figure in a number of literature works all over Europe and the rest of the world. The sailor is the incarnation of the concept of human marginality, he lives in the margin of life and he embraces the marginality of the harbour with the different aspects of the port. The thresholds present in the port are represented by the sailor; a figure that lives between the sea and land, between betrayal and pure love,
between truth and lie. Like the portrayal of Odysseus, the concept of a sailor has 21 Nora Moll Marinai Ignoti,perduti (e nascosti). fl Mediterraneo di Vincenzo Consolo, JeanClaude Izzo e Waciny Lare} (Roma: Bulzoni 2008) pp.94-95
25
infidelic properties. He carnally betrays his loved one, but he is psychologically anchored to one women for his whole life; a women who is always present in various thoughts but at the same time she is always physically distant. As we will see in various works, the sailor is in constant search of knowledge – the very same knowledge that brought him to love and embrace the sea. The knowledge that is conveyed through the action of travelling itself is another question that would require a deep analysis, but for the sake of our study the fact that knowledge is transmitted through the depth of the sea is enough to make a com1ection with the purpose by which the sailor travels. The sailor fluctuates between sea and land, between danger and security, between knowledge and inexperience. The thresholds are constantly overcome by the curious and free spirited sailor that embarks in this voyage to the discovery of his inner-self. The literary voyage of the sailor in the Mediterranean takes a circular route while it goes deep in ancient history and ties it to modem ideas. Since the sailor is not a new character but a recurring one in literature and culture it has the ability to transfonn and create ideas giving new life to the Mediterranean harbours. While the seamen are the link between the high literature and the popular culture, the sailor does not have a specific theme in literature but the archetype of ‘the sailor’ has a deep resonance in many literary themes. As Nora Moll states in one of her studies about the image of the sailor, she puts forward a list of common themes associated with the image of the sailor:
26
‘Tra i complessi tematici, a cm m parte ho gia accem1ato,si
annoverano l’avventura, il viaggio, l’eros, l’adulterio, il ritorno, il
superamento di limiti (interiori) e di sfide ( esterne ), la liberta, la vita
come “navigatio” e come intrigo conflittuale di esperienze. ’22
‘Amongst the complex themes, which I partly already mentioned, we
find adventure, travel, Eros, adultery, the return, the overcoming of
limits (interior) and challenges (exterior), freedom, life as “navigatio”
and as a conflictual intrigue (or scheme) of experiences.’
2.3 The Prototypical Sailor The interesting fact about the study conducted by Nora Moll is that the sailor in her vision is not merely a figure tied to a specific social class, but as we can see the themes listed are themes that can be tied also to the figure of Ulysses. It is difficult to say that Ulysses or the image of the sailor own a predestined set of themes, and in fact they do not necessarily do so. Ulysses is a character that comprehends certain themes, but these change and shift in accordance to space, time and circumstances. What does not change is the thresholds that are always present in the life of a sailor, the limits that are constantly there to be overcome and the external challenges that need to be confronted. The harbour conveys a 22 Nora Moll Marinai Jgnoti,perduti (e nascosti). I! Mediterraneo di Vincenzo Consolo, JeanClaude Izzo e Waciny Larej (Roma: Bulzoni 2008) pp.94-95
27
number of thresholds; as we have seen these are embodied in the figure of the manner. Jean Claude Izzo in his Les Marins Perdus23 wrote about the discomfort of sailors having to forcedly stay on land and their relationship with the harbor, a passing place that has a special meaning. The harbor is in fact a special place for the mariner, as it is the only place where they can have human contact beyond that of the crew. The mariner in Jean Clause Izzo does not feel that he belongs to any nation or country. He belongs to the sea; a sea that managed to give meaning to his life but at the same time managed to destroy it. Jean Claude Izzo uses strong images of the port to describe the tie the sailor has to the harbour itself, he uses sexual and erotic images and ties them to legends and popular culture expedients. The story is interesting because of the way Jean Claude Izzo reverses the way sailors live. In fact he recreates a story where the sailor is trapped in the harbour and so he is forced to view the sea from land and not the other way round as he usually does. The psychological discomfort that Jean Claude Izzo creates portrays the Mediterranean archetypes and the life in the ports from a reverse point of view. Everyday life in the harbour is analyzed through a succession of tragedies that on one hand recall the classicist view of the Mediterranean, and on the other hand, due to references to everyday life elements, may be easily connected to the modem conception of the Mediterranean port. The links created by Jean Claude Izzo are made on purpose to create an ongoing bond between the classic Homeric 23 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) pp.238
28
Mediterranean and the modem Mediterranean. In fact, Diamantis -the mam character of the novel- is portrayed as a modem Ulysses trying to cope with ongoing temptations and with the constant drive for knowledge. The Odyssey is for Diamantis a point of anchorage. He reads the Odyssey while attempting to define himself: ‘In effetti l’Odissea non ha mai smesso di essere raccontata, da una taverna all’altra,di bar in bar: … e Ulisse e sempre fra noi. La sua eterna giovinezza e nelle storie che continuiamo a raccontarci anche oggi se abbiamo ancora un avvenire nel Mediterraneo e di sicuro li. [ … ]I porti del Mediterraneo … sono delle strade. ’24 ‘Yes … In fact, the Odyssey has constantly been retold, in every tavern
or bar … And Odysseus is still alive among us. Eternally young, in the
stories we tell, even now. If we have a future in the Mediterranean,
that’s where it lies.” [ … ] “The Mediterranean means … routes. Sea
routes and land routes. All joined together. Connecting cities. Large
and small. Cities holding each other by the hand.’ In this quote we see the continuous threshold between space and time being overcome, that serves to keep alive the Mediterranean itself. It is clear that the classic Homeric recount is always reinterpreted and reinvented. The Odyssey
is not the only point of reflection for Diamantis. In fact the protagonist is seen as a 24 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) pp.238
29
deep character that reflects on the various incidents in his life and it could be argued that Diamantis is the expression of Jean Claude Izzo’s thoughts. The sailors in Jean Claude Izzo’s novel chose to be Mediterranean; naval commerce exists beyond the enclosed sea, but these men chose to sail with inadequate ships in a region where geographical beauty and historical richness meet. The port for Izzo, has multiple meanings and he defines the Mediterranean harbours as differing from other harbours, because of the way they are accessed. Izzo uses the image of the harbour as a representation of love: ‘Vedi, e’ il modo in cui puo essere avvicinato a detenninare la natura di un porto. A detenninarlo veramente [ … ] Il Mediterraneo e’ un mare di prossimita’. ’25
‘You see, it’s the way it can be approached that detennines the nature of
a port. Really detennines it. [ … ] The Mediterranean, a sea of closeness.’
This passage shows the influence of thought, Izzo inherited from
Matvej evic. In fact the approach used to describe the harbour and to depict the nature is very similar to the one used by Matvejevic in his ‘Breviario Mediterraneo’. 26 We perceive that the harbour is substantially a vehicle of devotion, love, passion and Eros, though we may also observe the threshold between the love and passion found in the port and the insecurity and natural brutality that the sea may convey. In this novel, the port is transfonned in a secure 25 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) ppl22 26 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti:2010)
30
place whilst the sea is a synonym of tragedy. At the same time the port is seen as a filthy and conupt place. While for Izzo the past is used as a background to tie with the present and moreover to show a link with the future, Consolo uses a different technique. He goes deep in one focal historical point to highlight certain Mediterranean features and problematic issues. Consolo uses the period of time where Sicily was undergoing various political changes. He describes the revolution and the Italian unification, and portrays real events and characters tied to Sicilian history. In Vincenzo Consolo, the image of the sailor is used as a metaphor through the work of Antonello ‘il Sorriso dell’Ignoto Marinaio’.27 The title itself gives us a hint of the tie between art and everyday life. The voices that intertwine and form the discourse around the Mediterranean are hard to distinguish as they have fanned the discourse itself to a point where a voice or an echo is part of another. The work of Consolo28 goes through a particular historical period in Sicily to describe present situations and ongoing paradoxes in the Mediterranean region. It is difficult to resume and give a name and specific allocation to the works on the Mediterranean as the multiple faces and voices have consequently fanned a variety of literature and artistic works. The beauty behind works on the Mediterranean is that archetypes such as the concept of a ‘sailor’ or the ‘harbour’ are revisited and reinterpreted, thus acquiring a deeper meaning and at the same time enriching the meaning of ‘the Mediterranean’ itself.
27 Vincenzo Consolo fl sorriso dell’Jgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012)
28 Vincenzo Consolo fl sorriso dell’lgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012)
31
Consolo focuses on the microcosm of Sicily and he portrays a fluctuation
between sea and land. He locates Sicily in an ideal sphere where the thresholds are nonexistent: ‘La Sicilia! La Sicilia! Pareva qualcosa di vaporoso laggiù nell’azzurro tra mare e cielo, me era l’isola santa! ’29 ‘Sicily! Sicily! It seemed something vaporous down there in the blue between sea and sky, but it was the holy island!’ Sicily is placed in an ideal sphere where beautiful natural elements coexist with famine, degradation and war. The imagery created around the island of Sicily may be comparable to the imagery around the Mediterranean region. As for the harbour it is described by Consolo as a place of contradictions, comparable to the ones found in the whole Mediterranean. The detail given to the life in the port is extremely in depth and the type of sentences used expresses the frenetic lifestyle of the port itself: ‘Il San Cristofaro entrava dentro il porto mentre ne uscivano le barche, caicchi e gozzi, coi pescatori ai rami alle corde vele reti lampe sego stoppa feccia, trafficanti con voce urale e con richiami, dentro la barca, tra barca e barca, tra barca e la banchina, affollata di vecchi, di donne e di bambini, urlanti parimenti e agitati [ … ].’30 29 Vincenzo Consolo fl sorriso dell’Jgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012) pp:56
30 Vincenzo Consolo fl so1-riso dell’Jgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012) pp:29
32
‘The San Cristoforo sailed into the harbour whilst the boats, caiques
and other fishing boats, sailed out with the fishennen holding the
ropes sails nets tallow oakum lee, traffickers beckoning with an ural
voice, inside the boat, from one boat to another, from one boat to the
quay, crowded with the elderly, women and children, screaming
equally and agitated’ [ … ] The tension around the port is well transmitted in the explanation given by Consolo, there seems to be a point of nothingness and a point of departure at the same time. We perceive that there is plenty of life in the port but at the same time confusion reigns, therefore we could argue that people in ports are not really conscious of life and that they are letting things turn. Nevertheless, the port is the starting point of life that develops either in the sea or inland. Both by Consolo and in Izzo we are made aware of the importance of life at the ‘starting point’, therefore the port in the works of both authors acquires the title of a ‘threshold’ between life and death, consciousness and unconsciousness, love and hatred, nature and artifice, aridity and fertility. In the microcosm described by Consolo, the Sicilian nature and its contradictions seem to recall the ones in the rest of the region. For example, the painting ‘Ignoto Marinaio’ is described as a contradictory painting. In fact, the sailor is seen as an ironic figure that smiles notwithstanding the tragedies he has encountered. The ‘Ignoto Marinaio’ has seen the culture and history of the Mediterranean unveil, he has therefore a strange smile that 33 expresses the deep knowledge acquired through his experience and a deep look that convey all the suffering he has come upon. In the novel by Consolo, the painting serves as a point of reference and in fact, the ‘Ignoto Marinio’ resembles another important character in the novel; Intemodato. Both figures share the ironic and poignant smile and the profound look. Intemodato is seen as a typical Sicilian revolutionary who embraces the sea but at the same time is not psychologically unattached to the situations that happened on land. He is part of the revolution and integral part of the Sicilian history.
2.4 The Harbour as a Metaphorical Door Consolo and Izzo with their accounts of sailors and the life in Mediterranean harbours brought us to the interpretation of the harbour as a metaphorical door. As in the seminal work of Predrag Matvejevic ‘Breviario Mediterraneo’,31 the harbour is tied to the concept of a metaphorical door. In Latin both ‘porto’ and ‘porta’ have the same root and etymological derivation. A harbour in fact is a metaphorical and physical entryway to a country. In the Roman period, the god Portunos was the deity of the harbour who facilitated the marine commerce and the life in the port in general. The various deities related to the sea in the Roman 31 Predrag Matvejevic II Mediterraneo e I ‘Europa, lezioni al college de France e altri saggi (Garzanti elefanti:2008)
34
and Greek traditions are an indication of a deep relation between the figure of the harbour and the physical and geographical figure of the door or entryway. The door may have many different shapes and may divide different spaces but it always signifies a threshold from one point to another. In literature the harbour signifies a metaphorical door between fantasy and reality, history and fiction, love and hatred, war and peace, safety and danger. The image of the door is concretized through the various border controls, visas and migration issues and in this regard the entryway becomes a question of membership. A piece of paper in this case detennines the access through that doorway, but from a cultural and
identity point of view the Mediterranean threshold is overcome through the encounter with history and fiction. Thierry Fabre in his contribution to the book series ‘Rappresentare ii Mediterraneo’; 32 in relation to the Mediterranean identity he states; ” … Non si situa forse proprio nel punto di incorcio tra la storia vera e i testi letterari che danno origine all’immaginario Mediterraneo?”33 ‘ Isn’t perhaps situated exactly at the meeting point between the real stories and the literature texts that give birth to the Mediterranean imagination?’ Fabre is conscious of the fact that the discourse about the Mediterranean limits itself to a constructed imaginary, the poet or artist in general that enters this metaphorical door is expected to conceive the Mediterranean imaginary; blending reality with fiction. The door is not always a static figure but is sometimes blurred and does not 32 Jean Claude Izzo, Thierry Fabre Rappresentare il Mediterraneo, lo sguardo fiwicese (Mesogea: 2000) 33 Ibid (Mesogea: 2000) pp.25
35
clearly divide and distinguish. The Mediterranean itself is a region of unclear lines the fonnation of a port and of a nation itself is sometimes not that clear. In Matvejevic’s ‘Il Mediterraneao e l’Europa’34 literature blends with facts and culture so does the geography around the Mediterranean region: ‘Tra terra e mare, in molti luoghi vi sono dei limiti: un inizio o una
fine, l’immagine o 1 ‘idea che li uniscono o li separano. Numerosi sono
i tratti in cui la terra e il mare s’incontrano senza irregolarita ne rotture,
al punto che non si puo detenninare dove comincia uno o finisce
l’altro.Queste relazioni multiple e reversibili, danno fonna alla costa. ’35 
‘Between land and sea, there are limits in many places: a start or a
finish, the image or the idea that joins or separates them. The places
where sea meets land without any irregularities or breaks are
numerous, to the extent that it’s not possible to detennine where one
starts or the other finishes. These multiple and reversible links that
give shape to the coast.’ The coast in this sense is made up of a set of relations between figures and fonns that meet without touching each other, the door is not always present; it sometimes disappears to give room to imagination and the fonnation of literature.
34 Predrag Matvejevic Il Mediterraneo e !’Europa, Lezioni al College de France e Altri Saggi
(Garzanti elefanti: 2008)
35 Ibid (Garzanti: 2008) pp.53
36
The concept of literature allows the analysis of culture and the way it 1s
envisioned and spread through Mediterranean harbours. The fluctuations of varied thoughts that have shaped the Mediterranean imagery through its harbours have no ties with everyday life, if not by the transmission of culture and the means of popular culture that served as a point of anchorage and sometimes as a point of departure for the fonnation of a deeply rooted but also enriching and contested collective imagination.
37
3 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse The harbour for many centuries has been an anchorage point and a safe place for sailors and travellers that navigate the Mediterranean. We perceive the safety of the harbour as something that is sometimes naturally part of its very makeup, as on such occasions where we encounter natural harbours. In other cases, to suit their needs, people have built around the shores and transfonned paii of the land into an artificial harbour which is able to welcome the foreigner and trade and at the same time to defend if needed the inland. Femand Braudel36 in his The Afediterranean and the Mediterranean World in thP AgP nf Philip TT <liscusse<l the importance of the Mediterranean shores for the traveller in an age when people were already able to explore the outer sea, but yet found it reassuring to travel in a sea where the shore was always in sight. The Mediterranean Sea has always instilled a sense of uncertainty in the traveller, because of its natural instability. Nevertheless, the fact that the shores and ts are always in the vicinity, the Mediterranean traveller is reassured that he can seek refuge whenever needed. The fascinating thing is that the ports in the age delineated by Femand Braudel were not only a means of safety but most of all of communication – a type of economic and cultural c01mnunication that went beyond 36 Fernand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 19 8 6)

38
the simple purpose of the port itself. The same simple modes of communications that Braudel describes may seem irrelevant when studying the Mediterranean history in its entirety, but we get to understand that they are actually the building blocks of the Mediterranean itself:
‘This is more that the picturesque sideshow of a highly coloured
history. It is the underlying reality. We are too inclined to pay attention only to the vital communications; they may be interrupted or
restored; all is not necessarily lost or saved. ‘ 37 The primordial modes of communication, the essential trade and the mixture of language and culture all have contributed to the creation of what we now sometimes romantically call the Mediterranean. The truth lies in the fact that
the harbour has always been prone to receiving and giving back; it has been a passing place of objects, customs and of words. We surely cannot deny the fact that trade has shifted not only by moving from different areas of interest but it also shifted into different forms changing the harbour’s initial function. This basic fonn of communication has contributed highly to the formation of a Mediterranean imaginary and a mixture of cultures that have left a deep resonance in language, literature and cultural expression as a whole.
37 Femand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 1986) pp.I 08
39
The risk and insecurity delivered by the sea have contributed to the
fonnation of various symbols that from their end contribute to the fonnation of an imaginary concerning the Mediterranean harbour. Amidst the uncertainties and hazards at sea, the light of the lighthouse that shows the surest path and warns the person travelling of the possible dangers, reassures the traveller while leading the way. The symbol of the lighthouse is tied to the representation of light and thus knowledge. Finding light in the middle of the sea gives the traveller the necessary means to have greater awareness of what is approaching. The geographical position and the architecture of the lighthouse are all an indication of their meaning beyond their primary objective. During the Roman period for example, the lighthouse was primarily an important source of safekeeping,38 but at the same time it represented a high expression of architectural and engineering knowledge. One example is the ancient roman lighthouse in Messina. Studies show that the architecture used was very functional, but at the same time it portrayed Neptune, thus mingling popular beliefs and superstitions. On the other hand, it was also a powerful way of delineating borders between Sicily and the Italian peninsula. Today the lighthouse in Messina has been replaced by fort San Remo and the architecture of the lighthouse has changed to a more functional one. Another powerful example is the ancient lighthouse in Alexandria, built on the island of Pharos where it stood alone as if wanting to replace the harbour itself. In Alexandria it is Poseidon who guards
the harbour, and the myth blends with the social and geographical importance of the lighthouse. Originally, the lighthouse in Alexandria was simply a landmark, but 38 Turismo La Coruna, Roman Lighthouses in the Mediterranean (2009) www.torredeherculesacoruna.com/index.php?s=79&l=en (accessed September, 2014)
40
eventually during the Roman Empire, it developed into a functional lighthouse. In the case of the old lighthouse built during the Roman period at the far eastern end of Spain, its dimension and position reflect the way Romans saw the world and how they believed Spain marked the far end of the world. What these lighthouses had in common was the fact that they were not just there to aid and support the traveller in his voyage but to define a border and to give spiritual assistance to the lost passenger. The symbol of the lighthouse is somehow deeply tied to a spiritual experience. In Messina where Neptune guarded the sea, and in many other places and different eras, the lighthouse was positioned in such way that it attracted a spiritual resonance and the light that emanated from the lighthouse may be compared to a spiritual guide. Matvejevic in his Breviario Mediterraneo39 compares lighthouses to sanctuaries and the lighthouse guardian to a spiritual hennit. He also adds that the crews responsible for the running of the lighthouse resemble a group of 1ponks, rather than sailors: ‘Gli equipaggi dei fari, cioe personale che somiglia piuttosto ai monaci dei conventi di un tempo che non ai marinai’ .40 ‘The crews of the lighthouses, that is staff that resembles more the convent’s monks of yore rather than the sailors’. The comparison is by no means striking, considering the mystical importance of the lighthouse. The lighthouse and its crew are seen and respected by the traveller, as they are their first encounter with land, safety and refuge. The link with spirituality is something that comes 39 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti:2010) pp.55-56 40 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti:2010) pp.56 41
naturally. The lighthouse crew for example is in some cases part of the ex-voto paintings found in the monasteries and convents. This illustrates the deep c01mection with the spiritual aspect. The question sometimes is to detennine whether the harbour and the lighthouse need to be two distinct features in the same space or whether they are part of the same geographical, social and cultural space. The answer may vary according to the way one perceives it. The lighthouse is the first encounter with land, but it is almost a feeling that precedes the real encounter with land, whilst the harbour is the first physical contact with land. The two elements may be taken into account separately, but for the purpose of this study they need to be taken in conjunction. The cultural value of both these elements goes beyond their physical value. In fact, both the lighthouse and the harbour share a common proximity to the sea, and receive cultural and social contributions from every traveller. The lighthouse and the harbour do not distinguish between different types of travellers -they accept everyone and their main gift for this act of pure love is the enrichment of culture, customs, language and food. The different elements intertwine and create a beautiful atmosphere that mixes sounds and tastes from various countries. This is not always distinguishable and it may not in all cases recreate the same atmosphere
in more than one country. What is sure is that the elements present in the harbours are of great relevance to what is portrayed on a higher artistic and cultural level. In this regard the harbour acts as a lighthouse for the country and sometimes for the region too, this time not to alann the traveller but to guide him spiritually and 42 artistically. The harbour was and still is a meeting place, where artists and thinkers stop and reflect. What comes out of these reflections sets deep roots in the cultural knit of the harbour and expands and grows until all the roots intertwine and create such a beautifully varied cultural atmosphere. Although the process may seem an easy and flowing one, we must not forget that the mixture of cultures and the setting up of such a variegated cultural atmosphere was not always flowing and peaceful. 3.1 Religious Cultural Mobility
The way the Mediterranean is geographically set up, contributed to an
expansion of religious pilgrimages that intertwined with marine commerce and
cultural richness. The image of the lighthouse and the harbour instil a sense of
spiritual refuge, and the large number of harbours and lighthouses in the
Mediterranean contribute to the mysticism of the region. Religious pilgrimage
throughout the Mediterranean is something that belongs to an older era and that
could have possibly started very early in the Greek empire, where Gods were
adored and ports and lighthouses had deep ties with different deities. As
Christianity started spreading in the Mediterranean, the Greek and Roman gods
were joined by saints and shrines for adoration.41 The coexistence of both pagan
and monotheistic religious expressions confinned a cultural motif related to
41 Peregring Horden, Nicholas Purcell The Corrupting sea, a study of the Mediterranean histmy (Blackwell publishing:2011)
43
divinity that has been a constant throughout Mediterranean history. In the Middle Ages the phenomena of the religious pilgrimage and the movement of saints’ relics gave to the Mediterranean voyage a different dimension. As noted in Borden and Purcell’s The Corrupting Sea, this age of pilgrimage and movement for religious purposes was brought about by a new discovery of sea routes in the Mediterranean and a different conception of religion as a c01mnodity. ‘Through the translation of his remains the saint himself, like the images of pre-Christian deities before him, in a very intense expression of the link between religion and redistribution, became a commodity’ .42 The redistribution of relics brought a new type of secular economy that involved bargaining and bartering. The movement of relics not only created a new wave of economic activity around the Mediterranean but also a movement of tales and accounts that pictured saints and voyages at sea, ‘Tales which echo real webs of communication, such as that of the arrival of St. Restitua from Carthage to Ischia’ .43 The stories seem to recall older stories from Greek culture, but are adapted to a newer setting.
The parallelism between good and bad, projected on the perilous voyage in
the Mediterranean, was always part of the account of a voyage itself, as we can
also recall in the various episodes of Ulysses’ journey. We are thus able to see that
in the voyages of pilgrims, the relationship between good and bad is often
projected onto the hard and extreme weather conditions in the Mediterranean.
42 Ibid pp.443
43 Ibid pp.443
44
Religious travellers had their own way of reading the map of the Mediterranean,
interpreting every danger and threat through religious imagery. From a cultural point of view, the accounts and echoes of religious travellers shaped the Mediterranean Sea itself and gave new life to the ports they anchored in. Apart from the movement of relics, another testimony of the great communication and cultural heritage -as we have previously mentioned- is the exvoto in the Mediterranean shores which gives witness to the cultural interaction and
customs based on faith. In many instances the objects collected for the ex-voto
have been taken up over time and placed in marine museums where cultural
interaction and exchange takes place. One example could be the ex-voto in
Marseille,44 where nowadays the objects collected are part of a collective cultural memory. In France, during the late seventies and the early eighties we have seen a great rediscovery of the ex-voto heritage that led to a deep cultural resonance in the area. The discovery of the ex-voto brought by a new inquiry of religious and harbour customs that were probably ignored previously. The paintings and objects dedicated to the saints and most of the time to the Virgin Mary represented the everyday life of sailors and travellers, the dangers at sea and most of all the miracles encountered during the arduous voyages. In the various exhibitions about ex-voto in France the concept of a Mediterranean ex-voto emerged and we are aware that at the time when the ex-voto was practiced in the majority of cases the 44 Jacques Bouillon ‘Ex-voto du terroir marsellais’ Revue d’histoire modern et contemporaine (1954) pp.342-344 45
voyage routes were sole1m1ly around the Mediterranean and the fact that marine exhibitions concerning the ex-voto claim a Mediterranean heritage calls for a collective cultural expe1ience. It is difficult though to distinguish between a
personal encounter with the harbour and a Mediterranean experience; one may
intertwine with the other. In this case, the Mediterranean reference is imposed and not implied, and one might therefore wonder if there are elements that are c01mnon in the region and thus justify the use of the word Mediterranean. In the case of the ex-voto, it has been noted that certain elements are common to the whole region.
It is interesting to note the areas of interest and the social groups to whom
the ex-voto applies. This may give a clearer idea of the criteria and the cultural
sphere that surrounded the practice of the ex-voto. In the majority of cases the exvoto represented the medium bourgeoisie and the lower classes, the setting mostly represented small nuclear families. In most of the ex-voto paintings, one can see that the terrestrial elements intertwine with celestial elements ‘Dans sa structure, un ex-voto presente deux espaces, celeste et terrestre’ .45 The anthropological and cultural importance of the ex-voto emerges through the various figures that appear especially in the paintings dedicated to the saints and the Virgin Mary. These figures have a particular placement in these paintings that reveals a deep connection with the cult of miracles and devotion.
In Malta, as in France, the ex-voto was a widespread custom that left a
great cultural heritage. The paintings and objects donated to the ex-voto, especially 45 Jacques Bouillon ‘Ex-voto du terroir marsellais’ Revue d’histoire modern et contemporaine (1954) pp.342-344 46
in connection to the sea, reveal a number of historical events and geographical
catastrophes that are tied with the Mediterranean region. The fact that the sea is
unpredictable makes the practice of the ex-voto much more relevant in an era
where the only means of transportation in the Mediterranean was by ways of sea. In the Maltese language there is a saying ‘il-bahar iaqqu ratba u rasu iebsa ‘ which literally translates to ‘the sea has a soft stomach but it is hard headed’. This saying is very significant as it shows the profound awareness of the Maltese community of the dangers at sea. The sea is unpredictable and therefore only through divine intercession can the traveller find peace and courage to overcome any dangerous situation. The different types of paintings that were donated portray different types of vessels and so indicate a precise period in history. At the Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille, one finds a number of models of different vessels from various historical periods. We also encounter very recent models of boats. This confirms that in a way the ex-voto is still present nowadays. Even in Malta, the practice of the ex-voto is still relatively present, although one may notice that the advance in technology and the new fonns of transport through the Mediterranean aided the voyage itself and therefore diminished the threats and deaths at sea. The types of vessels used in the paintings also shows the different modes of economic trading voyages in the Mediterranean. For example, in Malta during the nineteenth century, a great number of merchants were travellmg across the Mediterranean. This resulted in a number of ex-voto paintings that pictured merchants’ vessels and one could be made aware of their provenance. Various details in the ex-voto 47
paintings show many important aspects of the Mediterranean history as a whole
and of the connectivity in the region that went on building through time.
One interesting fact common to almost all the ex-voto paintings is the
acronyms V.F.G.A (votum facit et gratiam accepit) and sometimes P.G.R (Per
Grazia Ricevuta) that categorizes certain paintings into the ex-voto sphere. The
acronyms literally mean that we made a vow and we received grace and P.G.R
stands for the grace received. The acronyms are in Latin, for a long period of time which was the official language of Christianity. These acronyms, which may have indicated the tie of high literature -through the knowledge of Latin- and popular culture -through the concept of the ex-voto, usually associated to a medium to lower class- demonstrate that the use of language may tie the various social classes. Although everyone understood the acronyms, it doesn’t mean that Latin was fully understood amongst sailors and merchants of the sea. Language was a barrier to merchants, traders and seamen most of the time. The Mediterranean has a variety of languages coexist in the region; Semitic languages at its south and Romance languages at its north. The lines of intersection and influence of languages are not at all clear and the geography of the Mediterranean region forced its people to move and shift from one place to another for commerce or for other reasons which brought by a deep need for modes of communication.
48
3.2 The Lingua Franca Mediterranea as a Mode of Communication
The communication barrier between people in the Mediterranean coupled
with the profound need for interaction brought by a deep need of a common
language or at least common signals which would be understood by everyone. In
the case of the ex-voto, language or at least a reference made to a certain language, gives the possibility for people from different countries to understand the underlying message. In the Mediterranean harbours where interaction between people from different lands was the order of the day, the need for common signals and language was always deeply felt. Languages in the Mediterranean region contain linguistic elements that throughout history have been absorbed from other languages. In the Mediterranean region especially during the fifteenth century, the great need for communication resulted in the creation of a so-called Lingua fiw1ca, a spoken language that allowed people to communicate more freely within Mediterranean ports. One such language was known as ‘Sabir’, with words mainly from Italian and Spanish, but also words from Arabic and Greek. The interesting fact about Sabir was that the amount of words coming from different languages around the Mediterranean was an indication of the type of c01mnerce that was taking place at the time. Therefore, if at a given moment in time the amount of words from the Italian language was higher than that from the Spanish language, it meant that commerce originating and involving from Italy predominated. As Eva Martinez Diaz explains in her study about the Lingua ji-anca Mediterranea:
49
‘They created a new language from a mixture whose lexical and
morphological base – the base of pidgin – is the Romance component,
exactly the language of the most powerful group in these relations and
which varies according to historical period. ’46 During the 16th Century, for example, the Lingua franca Mediterranea acquired more Spanish vocabulary, due to certain historical events that shifted maritime commerce. This was also an indication of certain political events that shaped Mediterranean history. When a country invaded or colonialized another, as happened in Algeria after the French colonization, linguistic repercussions were observed. This mostly affected everyday language communication, especially with the simpler and more functional mixture of words and phrases from different languages in ports and the areas around them rather than at a political level. In Mediterranean ports, the need among sea people and traders to communicatee led to the creation of a variety like Sabir. Sabir comes from the Spanish word saber (to know), although, it is mostly noticeable that Italian fonned it in its prevalence.47 Sabir is known to be a pidgin language. A pidgin is a language used between two or more groups of people that 46 Eva Martinez Diaz ‘An approach to the lingua franca of the Mediterranean’ Quaderns de la Mediteranea, universidad de Barcelona pp: 224
47 Riccardi Contini, ‘Lingua franca in the Mediterranean by John Wansbrough’ Quaderni di Studi Arabi, Litermy Innovation in Modern Arabic Literature. Schools and Journals. Vol. 18 (2000) (pp. 245-247)
50
speak a different language but need to have a business relation, and so, need to find a common language or mode of communication. The word ‘pidgin’ is said to come from the Chinese pronunciation of the word ‘business’. The Lingua fi’anca
Mediterranea was a language that started fonning in the Mediterranean throughout the 15th century and continued to shape and change itself depending on where the political and commercial hub lay; Sabir, specifically as an offshoot of the lingua fiw1ca mediterranea, fonned after the 17th century. The first time that reference was made to sabir was in 1852, in the newspaper ‘L ‘Algerien’ in an article entitled ‘la langue sabir. Apart from a few references made to the language, it is quite rare to find sabir in writing because it was mostly used for colloquial purposes, but in some cases it may be found in marine records. When it was actually written down, the lingua franca mediterranea used the Latin alphabet, and the sentence structure and grammar were very straightforward. In Sabir the verb was always in the infinitive, as, for example, in ‘Quand moi gagner drahem, moi achetir moukere’48, that means ‘when I will have enough money, I will buy a wife’. The use of the infinitive indicated a less complex grammar that made it more functional to the user, as it was a secondary language mostly used for commerce. Although Sabir was in most cases referred to as a variety of the lingua franca mediterranea, we perceive that in the popular culture sphere the word Sabir is mostly used to refer to the common and functional language used in MeditelTanean harbours for communication. It is deceiving in fact, because the 48 Guido Cifoletti ‘Aggiomamenti sulla lingua franca Mediterranea’ Universita di Udine pp: 146
51
lingua fi’anca mediterranea, is the appropriate reference that needs to be made
when talking in general about the language used in harbours around the
Mediterranean. On the other hand, if we want to refer to Sabir we are reducing the
lingua fi’anca mediterranea to a definite period of time and almost a defined
territory association. Nevertheless, both Sabir and lingua fiw1ca mediterranea are two different words that express almost the same thing, it is thus important to establish the minimal difference between the two tenns. In arguing that the lingua franca mediterranea refers to a more general language used in the Mediterranean harbours during the Middle Ages and that went on changing and fonning and changing-assuming different fonns according to the harbour and place where it was spoken- we are looking at the language in a broader way. It is undeniable though that Sabir as a reference to a specific language that fonned in Algeria during the 17th century, is most of the time more appropriate to address specific arguments, especially when it comes to popular culture expedients. Popular culture and literature have expressed their interest in the language through expressions such as poems and songs recalling Sabir as a language that managed to mingle more words of different derivation into single cultural spaces. Nowadays, Sabir is no longer used; in fact we notice that English and Chinese are developing into new pidgin languages, understood almost by everyone, especially when it comes to trade and busmess.
In the Mediterranean we have encountered the rediscovery of Sabir in
culture as a language that has a deep cultural value for Mediterranean countries as 52 a whole. One of the examples of the presence of Sabir in cultural expedients is the famous play by Moliere Le bourgeois gentilhomme49 that was represented for the first time in 1967 at the court of Louis XIV. The story was a satiric expression of the life at court, Moliere was well aware of the life at court and he wanted to show that there was no difference between royals and nonnal people, especially with regards to emotions. Moliere associates the Sabir to the foreign Turks that by means of Sabir they managed to communicate:
‘Se ti sabir,
Ti respondir;
Se non sabir,
Tazir, tazir. ‘ 50
The use of Sabir for Moliere indicated a common language understood both by
French and Turks in this case. The fact that Moliere used Sabir, it meant that
gradually the resonance of Sabir could reach out to a different audience, than it’s
main purpose. In this case the meeting place as the harbour was not present but we may perceive that the mixture of cultures and the need for communication led to the use of Sabir as the common language. 49 Moliere, le bourgoise gentilhomme www.writingshome.com/ebook _files/l 3 l .pdf
50 Moliere, le bourgoise gentilhomme www.writingshome.com/ebook _files/13 l.pdf pp.143
53
Coming to the present day, it is difficult to say that Sabir or the lingua
franca mediterranea own a particular important space in the cultural sphere or in the language per se. We are mostly sure that in the Mediterranean harbours Sabir has no relevance anymore, nevertheless, we find the use of Sabir in popular culture. One example is the aiiist Stefano Saletti,51 who in his songs uses Sabir. Its use was obviously intentional. Saletti looked at the new uprisings in the North African countries and he could recall the same feelings, faces and atmosphere that southern European countries went through thirty years prior. With this in mind, he decided to use a language that had co1mnon elements to all Mediterranean languages, and so he chose Sabir. His albums are inspired by the notion of music and culture as a tie to the whole Mediterranean, being conscious on the other hand of the numerous contradictions and differences in the Mediterranean region. The CD Saletti and the Piccola banda ikona explain what Sabir is and why they chose this language to communicate a c01mnon message through the music: ‘Once upon a time there was a tongue shared by the peoples of the Mediterranean. This was Sabir, a lingua franca which sailors, pirates,
fishennen, merchants, ship-owners used in the ports to communicate
with each other. From Genoa to Tangiers, from Salonika to Istanbul,
from Marseilles to Algiers, from Valencia to Palenno, until the early
decades of the twentieth century this kind of sea-faring “Esperanto”
developed little by little availing of tenns from Spanish, Italian,
51 Stefano Saletti www.stefanosaletti.it/schede/ikonaeng.htm (accessed July, 2014)
54
French and Arabic. We like this language. We like to mix sounds and
words. We play Sabir. We sing Sabir.’ 52 The importance of Sabir for Saletti shows that the harbour’s cultural value has been transmitted through time. Does the use of Sabir by Saletti indicate a recreation of a language that was used in the harbour as a functional and common means of communication or does it have the pretext to artificially recreate a common language? It is difficult to understand the importance and relevance an old pidgin language used for a specific purpose might hold today. Nevertheless, the use of this specific language in the music of Saletti reveals a profound search for common cultural traits in the Mediterranean region, that in this case aim to opt for cultural and educational approach to unite a region that is fractured in its own
basis. Saletti refers to Sabir as resembling Esperanto; a failed attempt to
linguistically unite a region that cannot be united. Although we may find the same concept in Esperanto and Sabir, we are aware that they differ in the way they came to be. Esperanto was artificially constructed, whereas, Sabir was born and evolved in an almost natural way by a need that went beyond the actual artifice. This is probably the reason why Sabir and the lingua franca mediterranea lasted for a long period of time, while Esperanto was at its birth a failed attempt to create a language for a detennined sector in society. It is a fact that the main difference between the two languages is that one aimed to create a broader understanding based on a functional everyday life need, whereas the other aimed to create a 52 Stefano Saletti www.stefanosaletti.it/schede/ikonaeng.htm (accessed July, 2014)
55
language understood by few. In Saletti’s and Moliere’s works, we perceive the Mediterranean harbour as a point of intersection of cultures and ways of living that left a spill-over of cultural traits in the abovementioned artistic works and in many other works by various authors around the Mediterranean region. It is important to notice that the harbour in the expression of the ex-voto, Sabir, lingua franca mediterranea and various literal and artistic expressions, served almost as a lighthouse, where culture was projected and created, and recreated and changed to fit the ever changing needs of the Mediterranean differing cultures. In Jean-Claude Izzo’s Les Marins Perdus, the language used in the harbour is not mentioned often, although he refers to language
as a barrier that finds its purpose in the basic everyday needs. Jean-Claude Izzo
mentions an important point on language in Les Marins Perdus as he delves in the way the word ‘Mediterranean’ is seen in different languages across the region: ‘Il Mediterraneo e di genere neutro nelle lingue slave e latine. E in
maschile in italiano. Femminile in francese. Maschile e femminile in
spagnolo, dipende. Ha due nomi maschili in arabo. E il greco, nelle
sue molteplici definizioni, gli concede tutti I generi. ‘ 53
‘The Mediterranean is neutral in the Slavonic languages, and in Latin.
It’s masculine in Italian. Feminine in French. Sometimes masculine,
sometimes feminine in Spanish. It has two masculine names in Arabic.
53 Jean-Claude IzzoMarinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) pp.237
56
And Greek has many names for it, in different genders.’ Jean-Claude Izzo wants to prove that the word ‘Mediterranean’ in language is a sufficient proof of how people around the shores view the region. The gender of the word Mediterranean does in fact show that the languages in the region have
developed their own way of understanding and perceiving the region. Language as we have seen has deep ties to how popular culture and ideas have evolved and
developed. Sabir in its essence has proved that although the region has a myriad of contradictions and differing cultures, the harbour and everyday needs managed to combine the different languages into one. At the same time it is undeniable that the differences in the Mediterranean region make the region itself not only vast but also wonderful and enticing to the traveller and the artist. Literature and culture have fonned and mingled together, yet each maintained its distinct features at the the Mediterranean harbours; the place of various particular encounters. Jean Claude Izzo, Salletti and Moliere all managed to create a powerful work of art that has deep ties to the culture created and recreated over time in the Mediterranean harbours. Sabir and the ex-voto are only two examples of how harbours throughout
the Mediterranean have been a point of anchorage but also a locus of
Mediterranean cultural development. Harbours have been able to unite, divide and create such a diverse and yet common culture.
57
4 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo Inspired by the Port The Mediterranean as a discourse has been interpreted and reinterpreted, and idealized and mystified by a myriad of authors, thinkers and artists. In this modem era where globalization of thought is the nonn, the Mediterranean discourse is by far a difficult expression that finds obstacles in the concretization of its own thought. Nevertheless, today the Mediterranean is still capable of producing new artists and new expressions by which the discourse gets richer and deeper. The Mediterranean, as its name suggests, is a sea that is in between two lands, and as Franco Cassano 54 states, has never had the ambition to limit itself to only one of its shores. The Metlitenanean was fm a periotl of time consecutively and simultaneously Arab, Roman and/or Greek; it was everything and nothing at the same time. The Mediterranean never aspired to have a specific identity, and its strength lies in its conflicting identity; it embraces multiple languages and cultures in one sea. Franco Cassano in his L ‘alternativa mediterranea states that borders are always ahead of centres, ‘Il confine e sempre piu avanti di ogni centro’55, and this concept is very relevant when we think about the significance of the harbour, as a place at the border of the country and yet the centre of every interaction.
Cassano goes on explaining how the centre celebrates identity, whereas the border is always facing contradiction, war and suffering. The border cannot deny the suffering by which the conflicting and inhomogeneous Mediterranean identity has 54 Franco Cassano, Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2007) 55 Franco Cassano, Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2007) pp.80
58
been built upon. The border is the true expression of the Mediterranean and it is
undeniable here that the most important interactions and historical events in the
region have taken place.
The border is an important concept in the study of the Mediterranean
itself, and as already mentioned, the majority of intersection and cultural
exchanges have taken place in the harbours, which are the borders of a country yet the centre of every interaction. For the concept of a ‘Mediterranean identity’ to arise, the harbour has been a pivotal place economic and religious interactions
which consequently left an undeniable cultural baggage whose strong presence
allowed the Mediterranean shores to benefit from an enriching cultural melange.
Being a sea of proximity, the Mediterranean has always been prone to receive the
‘other’ with all its cultural baggage, and therefore the concept of fusion and
amalgamation of different aspects of every country has always contributed to the
region’s culture. Accounts about the Mediterranean and those set in it have always put at their centre the concept of ‘differences’ and the ‘other’ in contraposition to the conflicts found in the harbours and in its centres. Nevertheless, without expecting the ends to meet to a degree of totality, the Mediterranean has been able to create places where ends do not merely meet but coexist. The coexistence of different races, cultures and languages has been the founding stone of the region.
As Cassano states, an identity that claims to be pure is an identity that is destined
to fail because it is in the essence of a culture that it repels the ‘other’, and
therefore sees the answer to every problem in the elimination of the ‘other’. The
59
Mediterranean, on the other hand has embraced ‘the other’ or on occasion, ‘other’ has forcedly penetrated the Mediterranean, giving birth to a region of different cultures based on a coexistence which is sometimes peaceful but often hard. The Mediterranean nowadays has overcome the complex of Olientalism and moved forward from a vision of an exotic south or border; ‘non e piu una frontiera o una barriera tra il nord e il sud, o tra l’ est e l’ ovest, ma e piuttosto un luogo di incontli e correnti … di transiti continui’ .56 ‘it is not a border or bamer between North and South, or East and West anymore, but it is rather a place of encounters and trends of continuous transits’. The Mediterranean has become a region of transit and a meeting place.
Upon travelling across the Mediterranean, an important thing which makes
itself evident is the imaginary that keeps on building through the interaction
between authors and thinkers, especially through their works that focus on the
importance of stating a discourse about the Mediterranean.
4.1 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Izzo and Consolo
‘Il Mediterraneo none una semplice realta geografica, ma un temtorio
simbolico, un luogo sovraccalico di rappresentazioni. ’57
56 Franco Cassano,Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2007) pp.92 57Jean-Claude Izzo,Thierry Fabre Rappresentare il Mediterraneo, Lo sguardo francese
(Mesogea: 2000) pp.7
60
‘The Mediterranean is not a simple geographical reality, but a
symbolic territory, a place overloaded with representations.’
The Mediterranean is a region full of symbolism and representationswhich
would not exist if it were not supp01ied by the literature and culture that has
fonned on and around its shores. The Mediterranean as a region of imaginaries
built on the integration of different voices and stories has produced a number of
authors and thinkers that left a cultural and artistic patrimony to the discourse
about the Mediterranean. We have already seen how the harbour transmits a sense of insecurity and plays a role of threshold which is testified through the works of Izzo and Consolo. Both authors have not only shown the importance of the harbour but have also contributed arduously to the fonnation of a Mediterranean imaginary. The word imaginary, comprehends a number of images, figures and fonns that are created by the observers to define something -not solemnly by the mere reflection of facts and historical events, but by a personal evaluation- that sometimes goes beyond reality. In this sense, it is undeniable that the Mediterranean has gathered a number of observers who have been able to translate facts and create figures and images that represent a collective in a singular imagination. Consolo and Izzo have transfonned their personal encounter with the Mediterranean into a powerful imaginary.
Jean-Claude Izzo was born and raised in Marseille in a family of Italian
immigrants. His background and geographical position highly influenced his
61
writing. Both Izzo and Consolo shared a deep love for their country of origin
especially for the microcosm surrounding them. Vincenzo Consolo wrote about
his beloved Sicily, while Izzo always mentions Marseille. Both authors transpose
the love for the microcosm into a broader vision of the Mediterranean as a whole.
Jean Claude Izzo’s Mediterranean is based on a passionate encounter with the
region and states that his Mediterranean differs from the one found at travel
agencies, where beauty and pleasure are easily found.
‘Cio che avevo scoperto non era il Mediterraneo preconfezionato che
ci vendono i mercanti di viaggi e di sogni facili. Che era propio un
piacere possibile quello che questo mare offriva.’ 58
‘I had discovered a Mediterranean beyond the pre-packaged one
usually sold and publicised by Merchants, as an easy dream. The
Mediterranean offered an achievable pleasure.’
The Mediterranean hides its beauty only to reveal it to anyone who
wants to see it. The Mediterranean for Izzo is a mixture of tragedy and pleasure,
and one element cannot exist without the other. This image of beauty and
happiness shared with tragedy and war is a recurring one in the study of the
Mediterranean. Consolo’s writing is based on the concept of suffering. He
pictures human grief and misery as an integral part of the Mediterranean
58 Jean-Claude Izzo, Thierry Fabre Rappresentare il Mediterraneo, Lo sguardo francese (Mesogea:
2000) pp.17
62
imaginary and he feels that poetry and literature have the responsibility to transmit the human condition. Izzo in his writings not only shows that the Mediterranean imaginary is made up of tragedy, suffering and war but also shows that there is hope in the discourse about the Mediterranean itself. For Izzo, the Mediterranean is part of his future, part of his destiny, embodied in the geography of the region and in the tales and accounts that inhabit every comer of the region. Through his beloved Marseille, Izzo manages to look at the Mediterranean and thus find himself.
The word ‘imaginary’ in the academic sphere is tied to a concept used
for the definition of spaces, a definition that goes beyond the way things seem
externally, a definition that puts much more faith in how an author, thinker or
artist expresses and describes the space. In the case of the Mediterranean, since
the region is not an officially recognized political entity, identity is based on
interpretation more than anywhere else and the concept of an imaginary proves
that there are paths that still lead to thought about the Mediterranean. With this in mind, one cam1ot deny the fact that in the political or social sphere, the concept of Medite1Tanean is still being mentioned; however, one could argue that the Mediterranean that is being mentioned in a political and social sphere is somehow a constructed ‘Mediterranean’. The Mediterranean’s relevance nowadays is found in the hearth of the author and artist that from Tangiers or from Marseille is able to write about a sea that has thought him to be mobile, to travel not only physically but mentally and emotionally from one shore to another. Jean-Claude Izzo’s troubled identity gives us a hint of the way in which the Mediterranean is 63
perceived as a region and the way in which the personal ‘imaginary’ for Izzo was
fonned. Izzo himself was from a family of mixed origins and was raised in a
constant state of travel. Izzo found his Mediterranean identity in the imaginary
other authors had created but also found his roots in the very absence of more
organic roots. Every story and every country may be part of his own identity, and
so, the Mediterranean has the ability to preserve in the depths of its sea the stories and feelings collected from every shore and give a curious traveller the
opportunity to retrieve these treasures and make them his own.
The historical approach to the Mediterranean has been based on a
comparison between south and north, between the Mediterranean and Europe, and it usually focused much more on the contrasting elements than on its conjunctions and similarities. Braudel59 saw the Mediterranean as a static and unchanging region. Today, modem thought has led to a new perception of the Mediterranean, focusing rather on the points of conjunction than on the differences and contrasting elements, yet accepting the fact that the Mediterranean is diverse in its essence. In a paper by Miriam Cooke about the Mediterranean entitled Mediterranean thinking: from Netizen to Metizen60
, she delves into the importance of the juxtaposition between the liquidity of the sea and the immobility of the land in the rethinking process of the Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean imaginary, the sea serves as a mirror and as a fluid that is able to connect and remain welldefined.
It is able to give a sense of time that is very different from the one on
59 Femand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 1986) 60 Miriam Cooke ‘Mediterranean thinking: From Netizen to Medizen’ Geographical review, vol 89 pp.290-300
64
land. As we perceive in Jean-Claude Izzo, time is something that is completely
lost at the border between sea and land and especially in contact with the sea.
Sailors in Les Marins Perdus61 realize the concept of time only when they live in
the harbor and in other words, the sea has been able to preserve the sailor’s spirit in the illusion that time on land was as static as it was at sea. In the study about the Mediterranean region, the sea plays a fundamental role that must not be underestimated. Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo both refer extensively to the figure of the sea when addressing the Mediterranean imaginary. When pondering on the Mediterranean, Izzo always places himself facing the sea, embracing the liquidity of this region, whereas in his stories, Consolo always uses the sea as the main mode of transportation and giving it a mystical attribute.
The Mediterranean has a different meaning for the two authors, because
it is perceived from two different places and two different conceptions of the
Mediterranean arise. In much of Consolo’ s writing, the Mediterranean is seen
through the image of Odysseus which is an image that holds a special meaning for Consolo and to which he feels deeply tied. For Consolo, The Odyssey is a story
that has no specific ending and this is done on purpose because it is directly tied to the future. The door to the future was kept open with the specific purpose of
letting the figure of Odysseus trespass time. The importance of Ulysses in
Consolo’s discourse extends to a deep and personal search for identity and it is
identity itself and the search for knowledge that led Ulysses to embark on a
61 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010)
65
voyage around the Mediterranean region and afterwards to return to Ithaca. Like
Izzo, Consolo finds the essence of a Mediterranean imaginary in the act of
travelling and sometimes wandering from coast to coast, from harbour to harbour, somehow like a modem Ulysses that aims to find himself and find knowledge through the act of travelling and meandering. Many authors that have focused their attention on the figure of Ulysses have focused on Ulysses’ return to Ithaca in particular and the search for a Mediterranean identity through this return.
Consolo, however, mainly uses the metaphor of travel and wandering, and he
manages to tie them to the question of a Mediterranean imaginary that is being
built upon the various images that the author is faced with through his voyage. For Consolo the voyage and the constant search for knowledge are the founding
stones of a Mediterranean imaginary. This urge to push further and thus reach a
greater level of knowledge has driven the Mediterranean people to practice
violence, and therefore Consolo believes that violence tied to the expression of a
deep search for knowledge is what has constituted the Mediterranean region. In
L ‘Olivo e L ‘Olivastro 62
, Vincenzo Consolo uses Ulysses’ voyage as a metaphor of his own voyage and his personal relation with Sicily; being his homeland it holds
a special place for Consolo especially in his writings. Constant change in the
modern concept of a Mediterranean has left a deep impact on the Mediterranean
imaginary. The wandering Ulysses returns to a changed and metamorphosed
Ithaca, which is a recurring image in the Mediterranean. Consolo finds his home
62 Norma Bouchard, Massimo Lollini, ed, Reading and Writing the Mediterranean, Essays by Vincenzo Consolo (University of Toronto Press, 2006)
66 island ‘Sicily’ deeply changed by industrialization and although it may have
maintained features that recall the past, it has changed greatly. Images of the
harbour and of the Mediterranean itself have deeply changed. Change may be
positive, negative or may hold a nostalgic tone, although change is always a
positive factor that contributes to the fonnation of an ‘imaginary’. The way
Ulysses and authors such as Consolo and Izzo have wandered and fought their
battles in the Mediterranean has contributed to the change that we now perceive in the region. Through the voyage of Ulysses, Consolo gives testimony of the
Mediterranean violence and change to the rest of the world. For Consolo the
imaginary created around the Mediterranean is a mixture of his own reality such
as a modem Sicily devastated by industrialization and modernization, and the
recurring image of Ulysses. In fl Sorriso dell ‘Ignoto Marinaio, Consolo focuses
on the microcosm of Sicily as a metaphor of the larger Mediterranean. His
imaginary is characterized by the concept of conflict – a conflict that keeps on
repeating itself in the Mediterranean and is somehow tied to a general conception of the Mediterranean. The harbour acquires an important space in the novel, being the hub of the whole story. The violence mentioned in the novel is a projection of violence in view of an attempt at unifying two different spheres, in this case the unification of Italy, but in a broader sense the possible unification of a Mediterranean. The attempt is not only a failure but results in a continuous war to establish a dominant culture rather than a possible melange of cultures that manage to keep their personal identities.
67
Izzo on the other hand wrote about the Mediterranean imaginary from
the point of view of sailors, who construct a Mediterranean imaginary based on
the concept of a difficult intercultural relationship and a strange bond with the
Mediterranean harbour. In Les Marins Perdus, the microcosm of Marseille
managed to represent the macrocosm of the Mediterranean, and the figures of the sailors represents a modem Ulysses, with the aim of bringing about a
Mediterranean imaginary that mingled old and traditional conceptions of the
region with new and modem ideas. Jean Claude Izzo’s sailors had different ways
of perceiving the Mediterranean, but they had a similar way of seeing and
identifying the ‘sea’. Izzo’s protagonist, much like Consolo’s protagonist,
develops an interesting habit of collecting old Mediterranean maps. For the sailor, the collection of maps represents in a certain way the concretization of a
Mediterranean and the unification of the geographical conception of the region.
The act of collecting may be considered as an attempt at identifying something
that is common, something that is part of a collective memory.
The works of Consolo and Izzo are the literal expressions of a
Mediterranean imaginary, based on their personal encounter with the region and
on their individual research on the subject. The way in which literal texts shape
our conception and ideas with their powerful imagery proves that the personal
encounter becomes a collective encounter in the translation of facts that each
author perfonns in his writings. However, what is most fascinating is the meeting
of ideas brought about through writing which also share elements with popular
68
culture. In essence, popular culture manages to reach a higher audience but it
often takes inspiration directly from literature and its various expressions. In the
sphere of popular culture one may see that the concept of adve1iising and of
mixing various means of communication to reach a specific goal come into action. 
Popular culture comp1ises various levels of cultural and artistic expression, and is therefore well placed to reach a larger audience and to imprint in the audience
various powerful images related to the subject chosen. In this case, the
Mediterranean has collected a large amount of popular culture expressions that
managed to create a knit of ideas and interpretations that succeed in intertwining and creating ideas through the use of old traditions and seminal literal texts.
4.2 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Popular Culture
The way in which the Mediterranean has been projected in the sphere of
popular culture owes a lot to the dichotomy between sea and land, between a fixed object and a fluid matter. The fascination around the two contrasting elements managed to create an even more fascinating expression of popular culture, thus an idea about the region that is based on the way in which Mediterranean people view the sea and view the stable and immobile element of land. Moreover, the Mediterranean popular culture focuses a lot on the element of the harbour, a place where the two elements of water and land manage to intertwine, meet, discuss ideas and at times fight over who dominates. The conflict between the two elements, projected in the geographical distribution of the region, has deep 69 resonance in the emotional encounter with the region. Thus, the authors, artists and travellers are emotionally part of this dichotomy that is consequently reflected in their artistic expressions.
To talk about the Mediterranean nowadays is to reinvent the idea behind
the region in an innovative and appealing way. Culture and literature are new
means by which we re-conceptualize the region. The Medite1Tanean has been
compared to the Internet, because it is a place where near and far are not too well defined, where space is something fluid and where infonnation and culture are transmitted through a network of connections. In her study, Miriam Cooke63 notes how even the tenninology used on the Internet derives from marine tenninology.
One example could be the ‘port’ or ‘portal’. In relation to the web, it is defined as
a place of entry and usually signifies the first place that people see when entering
the web. Although virtually, the concept of harbour remains the first and most
relevant encounter a person makes when approaching a country or ‘page’ on the
internet. Although air transportation has gained a great deal of importance,
shipping networks used for merchandise are common and still very much in use.
The parallelism between the Mediterranean and the Internet opens a new way of
conceptualizing the Mediterranean as a physical and cybernetic space. Miriam
Cooke explains how the Mediterranean itself, just like the Internet, changes the
traditional concept of core and periphery: 63 Miriam Cooke ‘Mediterranean thinking: From Netizen to Medizen’ Geographical review, vol 89 pp.290-300
70
‘The islands that are geographically centered in the Mediterranean are
rarely centers of power; rather, they are crossroads, sometimes sleepy
but sometimes also dangerous places of mixing, where power is most
visibly contested and where difficult choices must be made.’ 64
The way in which the Mediterranean is seen geographically most of the
time does not appear to be consistent with the actual function and thought of the
place. As in the case of the islands in the Mediterranean, their main function lies
in the fact that they are crossroads rather than real centres. Usually, the
geographical centre of a country is the actual political, social and economic
centre, however, in the Mediterranean, the centre is where ideas are fonned, and
this usually lies in the harbours and in the cities located in close proximity to the
sea. The centre and marginality of a place according to Cooke depends on the
position of the viewer. Therefore, the explained and conceptualized Mediterranean may have different centres and borders depending on who is writing about it. The function of popular culture is to somehow give a view on where the centre is and where the margins lie.
When discussing the Mediterranean in advertisements and in the media
m general, there is a tendency to start from the past, from a presumed
Mediterranean origin that seems to tie the whole region. In this assumption, there is no truth but just a commercial way of proposing the historical elements that 64 Ibid pp.296 71
unite the region, therefore making it appealing at a touristic level. The audience at times does not have a precise idea of the differing elements and cultures residing in the region. To make it more appealing and coherent, especially in advertising, culture seems to be portrayed as a feature that holds similar elements that recur throughout the region. Even tastes and sometimes sounds seem to be homogenized tlu·oughout the region. The French documentary film entitled Mediteranee Notre Mer a Taus produced by Yan Arthus-Bertrand for France 2, aims to give an overview of the Mediterranean by focusing not just on the common features, but most of all on the fascination of the differences. The
documentary film traces how the Mediterranean has transfonned and shifted over time and it aims to show the deep cultural heritage it left in Europe. Rather than an advertisement or promotional video, this is an educational movie that rotates around the Mediterranean to explain each and every place while delineating its features and importance. The interesting fact about the movie is that it is filmed from above, giving almost an overview of the region, and that it talks about a Mediterranean future that ultimately lies in a supposed c01mnon past. When advertising a harbour in the Mediterranean, most of the short clips focus on the multiculturalism of the harbour and the projection of the place within a broader Mediterranean vision.
72
A particular advertising video, promoting Tangier65 as a harbour city
that looks onto the Mediterranean but remains predominantly African, focuses on the emotions that it can deliver and on the particular features that can attract the tourist such as traditional food and music. In everyday life, certain music and
traditional food would have probably disappeared, but in the projection of a place that needs to attract the tourist, the sensational aspect prevails and the tradition needs to be prioritized. In all the movies concerning advertisement of the Mediterranean harbours, what prevails is the conception of the harbours as
crossroads, as places where cultures meet, and obviously leave deep cultural
heritage. The movement of people in these short clips is shown as a movement
that has brought richness and cultural heritage to the country, ignoring the
ongoing debates about migration. These clips tend to ignore the ongoing problems in the Mediterranean and this is obviously done to increase tourism and project a nicer image of the region, succeeding in having a positive impact on the mind of the viewer.
Another peculiarity that is noticeable both in the clips about the
Mediterranean harbours and in many movies and stories is a concept of time
which is very different from reality. In short clips, such as the one portraying
Tangiers or the one promoting Valletta, it is noticeable that time slows down. In
the transposition of the novel Les Marins Perdus into a movie66, the concept of
65 Fabounab,Tangiers, port of Aji-ica and the Mediterranean (uploaded May, 2010) www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_IJ3zmxC6g (accessed July, 2014)
66 Les Marins Perdus, Claire Devers (2003)
73 time is a fundamental element, because it drastically slows down. The first scene opens up with the overview of the Aldebaran, the ship on which the story unfolds.
This scene is a very long scene that gives the viewer a hint of approaching trouble, from sea to land. It achieves this in a very calm and slow way. Throughout the movie the sense of time being slower than usual is something that finds its apex in the last minutes of the movie when all the tragedies unfold. The way in which the Mediterranean is described in short clips and in this movie shows a common perception of the Mediterranean people as a people who enjoy life at a slower rhytlnn, although in certain cases it might be true that this assumption lacks accuracy. Although it is undeniable that the juxtaposition between land and sea which we especially perceive in the harbour gives a sense of time as a rather fictitious concept, one may recall the Odyssey, where the voyage in the Mediterranean took an unusually long time. The Odyssey in fact bases on the fact that time almost seemed to have stopped and in fact, the time span that Odysseus spent travelling at sea does not match with the actual time that was passing on land in Ithaca. On the other hand we perceive that time is passing by rather slowly for Penelope who patiently raised her son and safeguarded Ithaca while waiting Odysseus.
What the concept of time in the Mediterranean proves is that the various
images that one finds both in writing and in new popular culture are constantly fed to our conception of the region and through time these various concepts fonn an imaginary. In many cases, when we look at popular culture we find elements that 74 we can reconnect to literature. This proves that the means by which an imaginary is constrncted is based on different elements but usually one may find recmTing elements both in popular culture and literature. In the concept of time we also find a common way of seeing life itself. Time in the Mediterranean seems to be stuck therefore we may argue that literature and popular culture have contributed to the fonnation of our ideas about life per se, whilst obviously not denying that everyday life was of constant inspiration to literature and culture. The way in which both popular culture and everyday life intersect, connect and find common points is something of fundamental importance in the study of the Mediterranean imaginary, as it gives different points of view and visions of the subject and therefore creates an imaginary that manages in a subtle way to unite what seems so distant. Jean-Claude Izzo, Vincenzo Consolo and many other authors, as well as different ‘texts’ of popular culture, create an ethos about the Mediterranean that aims to join what appears separate. The fact that nowadays the Mediterranean is still present in popular culture, as in the case of the previously mentioned film shown by France 2, proves that discourse about the region and the Mediterranean imaginary are still alive and they have a presence in the mind of the receiver.
The imaginary of the Mediterranean harbour is also constrncted by the
way it is advertised. A short, recent videob1 advertising the Maltese harbour
repeatedly used the word ‘Mediterranean’ to highlight the connection between
67 Valletta Waterfront, Valletta Cruise Port Malta- the door to the Mediterranean, (uploaded February, 2012) www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMThbEG95WA (accessed May, 2014)
75
Europe and Africa. The way in which the harbour is projected in the French
movie shows a deep connection to the historical and cultural heritage of the
country but it also aims to show how historically and culturally varied the country is. The advertisement’s aim was to create a sense of uniqueness whilst focusing on the broader vision of the Mediterranean as a whole. On the one hand it focuses on the fact that Malta is part of the European Union, therefore boasting high standards of security and maritime services, and on the other hand it promotes the various hist01 ical influences on Malta and its Grand Harbour and portrays it as the gateway both to the northern and to the southern shore. Being an island in the Mediterranean gave Malta the possibility to create its uniqueness, but also to affiliate itself to both Europe and Africa. In this sense, the sea serves as a unifying factor but at the same time it was always able to maintain the individuality of each place. The discourse about the Mediterranean is rendered possible thanks to the various factors that inhabit the region – factors that may differ from one shore to another, thus making the region a more interesting one to study.
4.3 Conclusion The discourse about the Mediterranean has always revolved around the projection of different images that supposedly recall a common feeling and common grounds. The Mediterranean is a region that is in essence a combination of a myriad of cultures; this factor is very relevant in the discourse on the region 76 as the attempt to unite the region in one cultural sphere is somehow a failed attempt. It is relevant to mention that in the production of literature and culture, these different expressions especially concerning the Mediterranean have produced a knit of sensations and feelings that are now mostly recognized as being ‘Mediterranean’. The harbour in this case has always been the locus of the Mediterranean imaginary because sea and land meet in the harbour, and therefore many cultures meet and interact in the harbours.
Harbours are places that live an ‘in between’ life but that still manage to
mingle the differences in a subtle way that feels almost nonnal and natural. The
harbour has inspired many authors as it has built a sense of awaiting and hope in the person. The Mediterranean port seems to suggest that everything is possible, and that imageries and ideas can unfold in the same harbour.
77
5 Conclusion
The Mediterranean city is a place where two myths come together: the
myth of the city and the myth of the Mediterranean. Both myths have developed
independently because both managed to create symbols and connotations that
have been able to survive till today. The myth of the city in relation to the myth of
the Mediterranean has been for a long time regarded independently and therefore it created a succession of elements that was able to reside in the same place but was in essence two different elements. 68
From antiquity, the ‘city’ has been seen as a symbol of social order – as a
place where reason and civilization reign in contrast with the ignorance of the
outskirts. The concept of a ‘city’ that is able to unify ideals and control society by
maintaining high levels of education and increasing cultural standards has
developed a division between the rural areas and the city itself. In conjunction
with the harbour, the concept of a civilized ‘city’ mingles with the idea of a
cultural mixture that is able to absorb what the sea has to offer.
In the Mediterranean port cities, the cultural emancipation and the centre
of trade and business in a way managed to intenningle with the idea of ‘squalor’,
most of the time being associated to the harbour. Nevertheless, in the
68 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo (Mesogea 2000) pp.83-100
78
Mediterranean harbour cities, the idea of cultural richness and emancipation was a concept that found concretization in the idealization of the ‘city’ itself by its
inhabitants. The ‘city’ as much as the Mediterranean itself found deep resonance
with the growth of literature. In the case of the ‘city’, various treaties and
literature expedients that promoted it as a centre of cultural riclmess and
architectural rigor helped the ‘city’ itself to find a place in the mind of the person
approaching it. The obvious consequence of this new fonnation of cities as a
symbol of 1igor and proliferation was that a great number of people migrated from the rural areas to the cities. The myth of the harbour cities as being the centre of business and a locus of culture went on cultivating with the accounts about these cities written by various authors. They managed to give life to a succession of images that are now imprints of harbour cities throughout the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean appears unified in anthropological69 discourse in which
assumptions are made about the way ‘Mediterraneaninsm’ is constituted and the
‘Mediterranean way of life’. A group of cultural anthropologists aimed to view
the Mediterranean as a whole for the purpose of identifying elements that
managed to tie the region and gave meaning to the unification itself. On the one
hand they managed to give international relevance to studies about the region
because they constructed what they regarded as common Mediterranean attributes.
On the other hand they were constructing a discourse that said more about their
own vision than about a region that is varied in its essence. In a way they also
69 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo (Mesogea 2000) pp.83-100
79 rendered the region ‘exotic’. The way in which anthropology managed to create an idea about the Mediterranean is interesting even though a person living in the region might argue that the picture given is incorrect. In this sense the imaginary of the Mediterranean projected by literature does not aspire to give a detailed account of life in the region but rather to actually transmit the feelings and passions that the region has. In this sense, literature was able to transfonn a passion and a detailed account of one’s own perspective about the region into an imaginary that is in its turn able to remain imprinted in the person’s conception of the Mediterranean. Literature and art in the Mediterranean had the ability to prove that there are common feelings in the region but they are distinguishable in their very essence and the harbour with its strategic position was able to give inspiration to the artist that approached it. The creation of an imaginary about the Mediterranean goes beyond the very need of knowing and apprehending facts that may be or may not be common to the whole region. In this sense, the artistic expedients and the literal world managed to relate to the reader and the spectator in a very special way by creating powerful images that construct society.
5.1 The ‘imaginary’ of the Mediterranean
One important definition of the ‘imaginary’ is given by Castoriadis in his
The Imaginary Institution of Society 70 in which he states that the human being
cannot exist without the collective and that the collective is fonned by different
7° Kostantino Kavoulakas Cornelius Castoriadis on social imaginaiy and truth(University of Crete, September 2000) pp.202-213
80
elements. One of the elements that is of great importance in the fonnation of the
collective is the symbol. The symbol or the collection of symbols is fonned from
reality and from an imaginary. In the composition of the imaginary, whatever
stems from reality and whatever stems from fiction remains in essence a question which is not resolved or which probably does not intend to be resolved. Therefore, the imaginary explained by Castoriadis gives a social meaning to certain questions that are fundamental in the complexity of reality. For example, the symbol of God was created for various reasons but its creation per se does not distinguish between elements that are true in its essence and elements that are imagined. The example given by Castoriadis on the symbol of God leads us to the conception of the Mediterranean region as a region fonned in its imaginary by reality and myth which intertwine and are not distinguishable. The Mediterranean created by the various authors and artists mentioned reinforces the imaginary that has at its basis the aim of giving a picture of the region which is not far from reality but on the other hand which is not that structured. Therefore we can argue that the difference between an anthropologist’s approach to the region and an artist’s approach is based on the difference in their point of focus. This statement one does not deny the importance of the anthropologist’s approach to the region where in fact social
structure appears and thus one can easily understand the way by which society is fonned. To fuiiher the study and understand it in its complexity one cannot deny the importance of literature and culture in the creation of an imaginary.
Castoriadis 71 states that society shares a number of undeniable truths that are
71 Kostantino Kavoulakas Cornelius Castoriadis on social imaginaiy and truth (University of 81
accepted by everyone. By analyzing the imaginary one manages to go beyond
these undeniable truths and thus manages to extend the life of the imaginary itself.
Therefore, if the Mediterranean exists, it is because it managed to create a number of myths and symbols able to renew themselves. The impo1iance of the imaginary for the region itself is based on the fruits that it gives. The Mediterranean that is being mentioned in the various books and poems is supported by the emotions and passions of each and every author. If the author is not moved by passion for the region it would be difficult to create an imaginary. The Mediterranean region is still present in our mind thanks to the imaginary created by the various authors and thinkers.
The choice of the harbour as the locus of a Mediterranean imaginary
comes almost naturally as the harbours facing the Mediterranean Sea have a great impact on culture in the Mediterranean and the threshold between sea and land is on the one hand the very basis of the Mediterranean life. The harbour and the city as two separate and yet same elements intertwine and are able to create rich and variegated cultures, yet they were also the first spectators of conflicts and wars.
From this point of view, it is undeniable that the harbour in the Mediterranean
holds a special place for the author and may be seen by many authors and thinkers as a place of inspiration where ideas concretize and where the emotions, thoughts and ideas brought by the voyage at sea are still very present in the memory.
Crete, September 2000) pp.202-213
82
Through the image of the harbour we come across the image of the sailor
who to many authors has been a point of reflection for the discourse on the
Mediterranean and has helped the connection between the real, almost “filthy” life of the harbor, and the ideas and concepts that fonn in the city. The various authors that integrated the image of the sailor to the idea of the harbour in the
Mediterranean were able to reinforce the Mediterranean imaginary by joining
different images and by giving them life and purpose in a way that goes beyond
the truth. The sailor in Jean-Claude Izzo’ s imaginary has a deep and developed
curiosity and a great knowledge of The Odyssey. While it is not be a surprise that
a sailor has a passion for literature, the point that Jean-Claude Izzo makes is that
Homer’s Mediterranean has definitely changed, yet it is still alive in the heart of
the ones that live the region in all its essence. Therefore, the sailor who is an
everyday image and thus is able to relate to a greater audience acquires almost
different attributes that do not match reality, but that are in essence part of a
shared Mediterranean imaginary.
The way in which authors and thinkers contribute to the fonnation of the
Mediterranean has been the principal focus of this dissertation. The pattern
created by art and literature all over the Mediterranean highlights the differences in the region but it also portrays the similarities that are able to give birth to a unified Mediterranean. As discussed throughout, the process of finding
similarities and the fonnation of an imaginary that is able to constitute the
83
Mediterranean was not a smooth one. The Mediterranean does not in fact appear
as a place that has a lot of common features. Even though politically and
sometimes socially it has been portrayed as a unified region, the unifying factors
are few. Literature does not aim to give a picture of the Mediterranean as one but
aims rather to give various personal and interpersonal interpretations of the region to fonn an imaginary able to be transported and reinterpreted in different
circumstances. It is important to understand that the word ‘imaginary’ does not
aim to conduct a political or social inquiry about the region and that the word in
itself actually aims to understand the underlying concept of the Mediterranean. It does not aim to state facts about the region but rather to give an account that is
able to connect the historical roots of the region to personal experience.
5.2 The Mediterranean ‘Imaginary’ Beyond the Harbour
Although the harbour was my main focus in identifying the Mediterranean
imaginary, it is definitely not the only point in the Mediterranean that could be
taken into account when studying its imaginary. Other aspects of the
Mediterranean could be of great relevance when expanding the various images of the region. One important aspect in all the literature expedients taken into account was the relationship of every author with their nation and their complex identity.
Therefore, in relation to the study conducted, it would be of great interest to expand the notion of ‘nationhood’ and the fonnation of various and complex
84
identities created in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean nowadays is seen as a region where ‘nationhood’ and identity are created through a complex of knits and relations. The latest ‘citizenship’ programs in all of the northern Mediterranean countries show how the borders and the concept of ‘nationhood’ are deeply changing, most probably opening to further possibilities that range from cultural enrichment to economic advance. When thinking about the Mediterranean JeanClaude Izzo emphasized the fact that he felt that part of himself resided in every harbour and his ‘identity’ was not limited to one place. He makes us realize that the Mediterranean existed before the creation of ‘nations’ and so, each Mediterranean person feels like he can relate to more than one country and more than one culture. The harbour has been the first impact with a deep association to the region, and the person approaching a Mediterranean harbour automatically abandons his roots and is able to relate to what the harbour has to offer. In this sense we have seen how the harbour was vital to the creation of a powerful imaginary. The question of identity and complex relations in the Mediterranean would be a next step in analysing the complexity of the region. The Mediterranean harbour teaches us that all Mediterranean people are prone to the ‘other’ and are open to various cultures, including the exposure to a number of languages and the creation of a lingua .fi’anca to facilitate communication. Therefore, with this exposure promoted by the harbour, the Mediterranean created various identities that sometimes are not distinguishable.
85
Jean-Claude Izzo felt he could relate to almost every country in the
Mediterranean and that part of him resided in every harbour. Nevertheless, he
always saw Marseille as a point of reference and as an anchorage point where his thoughts concretized. Contrarily, the difficult relation of Vincenzo Consolo with the Italian peninsula makes the issue of complex identitites particularly relevant. For a number of years, Consolo worked in northern Italy where he felt like a stranger in his own country. However, with the difference of enviromnent and in a way, a dissimilarity of culture, he was able to contemplate the meaning of the Mediterranean and his native ‘country’, Sicily. The question of a possible or
rather an impossible identity in the Mediterranean does not enrich or denigrate the concept of an ‘imaginary’ but rather enables the person studying the region to understand certain dynamics and the way in which authors and thinkers approach the region. It is rather difficult to paint a clear picture of the Mediterranean through understanding the complexity of ‘identity’, though it would be of great interest to find the way in which each and every Mediterranean person manages to relate to the concept of identity, which is an integral part of his or her social accomplishment. Society instils a deep sense of fulfilment and accomplishment in a person who is able to fully relate to their country of origin, and as Amin Maalouf states in In the Nmne of Identity, 72 identity is something that most of the time may lead to war between countries, and so it is undeniable that it plays a fundamental role in the way we view things.
72 Maalouf Amin, In the name of Identity: violence and the need to belong (Penguin books, 2000)
86
Amin Maalouf is an author of mixed origins. He is Lebanese but has lived
most of his life in France and when asked which of the two countries is his ‘real’
country, he found it difficult to answer as he states that both countries are part of
his identity. Thus identity for Amin Maalouf is something very personal. A person
living in France fonn a number of years has the ability to emich his previous
identity, therefore acquires an added identity to the previous one. The same person cannot deny the previous identity, yet he cannot deny that the present identity plays an important role in his personal fonnation. The Mediterranean as a region has always promoted the mixture of cultures and the voyage itself, therefore contributing to the fonnation of complex and variegated identities. Nowadays, we manage to relate both to a Greek and Roman descent, therefore geographically and historically the Mediterranean has been united in ideas and concepts that are now far from each other but yet undeniable.
The same geography and architectural heritage left by the Greeks and
Romans is still visible in most of the Mediterranean cities and harbours. This is
evident in the lighthouses that were for most of the time a symbol of greatness and architectural splendour, and we encountered a succession of ideas and cultures that mingled with the necessity of the lighthouse. Therefore the lighthouse that was on the one hand a powerful expression of artistic and cultural splendour, managed to create ideas and thoughts that stemmed from the actual need of ‘light’ and guidance. All these elements intertwine in the Mediterranean, rendering the 
87
concept of identity somewhat a complex one. Each person has an identity as
explained by Tarek Abdul Razek in his study about the Mediterranean identity:
‘Each one of us is the depositary of a dual legacy: the first is vertical,
coming from our ancestors, the traditions of our people and religious
c01mnunities; the other is horizontal and derives from our era and
contemporaries. Vertical identity is connected to memory and the past;
it is limited to a given territory within a given area. It usually
corresponds to national identity, the outcome of cultural policy
choices. Instead, horizontal identity extends towards the future,
though it remains open to the contemporary, reaching beyond national
borders, within a social context, in a postmodern approach. Thus,
horizontal identity is a project, a project for the future and not merely
a legacy of the past.’ 73
In relation to the Mediterranean, the horizontal and vertical identity may
be tied to the deep varied history that the Mediterranean holds. If Mediterranean
history is based on the interaction between people and cultures, then each and
everyone’s identity cannot just be based on the value of the nation as it is now.
The horizontal identity that leaves a door open to the future is in this sense very
important and gives substance to the discourse of a Mediterranean imaginary,
73 Abdul Razek ‘Common Mediterranean identity’ The Euro-Mediterranean student research multi-conference EMUNI RES (2009) pp.1-8
88
being the main contributor to the future of the Mediterranean. The imaginary that is the bringing together of both the vertical and horizontal identities manages to give hope to future discourse about the region. The imaginary does not deny the complexity of a possible Mediterranean identity, but merely shows a past where ideas flourished and have now become an integral paii of our own identity. It also proves that the future of a region is not solely made up of geographical, political and social features but is also made of different elements that manage to inte1iwine fanning a knit of images able to reside in the mind of every reader, artist and philosopher.
A search for a common identity is surely not the path to be taken in
understanding the relations in the Mediterranean because a common identity
usually instituted by the idea of a nation instills in the person a set of common
goals and ideals. In the case of the Mediterranean, the various conflicts and wars
show that there is no co1mnon identity tying the region. Therefore, it is quite
difficult to analyze a common identity and it should not be the purpose of a study
itself. It is interesting, however, to delve in the way authors and thinkers that
contributed to the fonnation of an imaginary in the Mediterranean deal with their personal identity, whether it is problematic for a great number of authors or whether authors find that their identity is not limited to their ‘national identity’.
All these factors could be of great interest to the person studying the region in the
sense that if each author writing about the Mediterranean finds the impulse to
write about the region, then he must feel a sense of association to the region,
89 irrespective of his roots or his identity, or the historical elements that he finds
residing in all the Mediterranean. This ‘affiliation’ has an element of identity that
I find interesting in the discourse about the Mediterranean. Jean-Claude Izzo in
his Les Marins Perdus states that every person travelling in the Mediterranean
needs to have a personal reason for it, and this personal reason resides mostly in
the search for an identity. One of the characters in Jean-Claude Izzo’s Les Marins
Perdus was in constant search of an identity; a personal one that could tie him
psychologically and emotionally to a harbour or to a land. The Mediterranean, as
a region, was the place where he could c01mnent, argue and question his own
identity. Whether the search actually resulted in finding his identity is not the
actual point of the novel but the focal point is that the constant search for an
‘affiliation’ and an anchorage point brought out a rich imaginary that is able to be
transported through time.
The Mediterranean imaginary constructed by the various authors and
thinkers created a vision of various concepts such as the sailor, the metaphor of
the harbour, and the thresholds that hold both a geographical and metaphorical
meaning. The imaginary of the region is meant to go beyond the initial sociopolitical meanings that the media tries to portray. The Mediterranean for
anthropologists, authors, politicians and the Mediterranean people themselves has in essence a different meaning for each person, and therefore by analyzing the narration and images about the region, it is possible to understand the relationship between each component of the Mediterranean society to society itself.
90
The aim of analyzing the imaginary in the Mediterranean through the help
of the harbour as a conceptual and geographical area was to focus on the way in
which literature and culture through the help of metaphors and the personal
encounter with the region, manages to leave an imprint on the imaginary of the
region. The region is not only a place where these figures meet, intertwine and are reinvented but it is also a place where politics should be discussed considering the deep historical and geographical ties as well as a place where issues such as ‘migration’ should be viewed with the history of the region in mind. The importance of the Mediterranean does not lie in the accomplishment of a common identity but in realizing that each and every complex identity that resides in and writes about the Mediterranean can contribute to the fonnation of the ‘imaginary’ to which everyone can relate – images and figures with which each Mediterranean person, with their diverse identities, can identify. The imaginary is the result of images, narratives and depictions that from a personal meaning and manage to acquire a deeper and more global meaning. The Mediterranean people would not feel that these common ideas and values are in any way limiting their freedom or restricting their identity, but on the contrary, feel that it is enriching to their personalized and contradictory identity.
91
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97 

I dedicate this thesis to you, dear father. You showed me with your constant love, that whatever I do with persistence and commitment will open the doors to my destiny. The long nights I spent awake, reading and researching reminded me of the long nights you spent awake working, pennitting me to study and build my future. Your sacrifices are always accompanied by a constant smile that continuously gives me courage in difficult moments.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The number of people to whom I owe my accomplishments is far too long to fit on this page, as many have inspired me and given me their constant support which has helped me realize that knowledge could open doors I did not even know existed. Nevertheless, there are a number of people who I would like to mention as they have been there for me during tough times and have given me the support I needed. I would like to thank my family without whom I would not have been able to further my studies, my boyfriend Terry, who has always believed in me and has always been there to support me with his constant love, and my uncle Carlo, who from an early age fed me with books and literature that fostered my love of knowledge and the curiosity to find my inner self. I would also like to thank my dearest colleague Ray Cassar, who always helped me grow both academically and as a person, as well as my tutor and mentor Adrian Grima, who directed me, allowing me to ground and express my ideas better whilst always respecting and valuing my opinions.
II
Table of Contents
1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
1.1 The Harbour as Threshold ………………………………………………………………. 7
1.2 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse ………………………………………………….. 10
1.3 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Izzo and Consolo Inspired by the Port12
1.4 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 16
2 The Harbour as Threshold …………………………………………………………………… 1 7
2.1 Natural Landscape and the Development of Literature …………………….. 20
2.2 Instability vs. Stability in the Mediterranean Harbour ………………………. 23
2.3 The Prototypical Sailor …………………………………………………………………. 27
2.4 The Harbour as a Metaphorical Door ……………………………………………… 34
3 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse ………………………………………………………… 38
3.1 Religious Cultural Mobility ………………………………………………………….. 43
3.2 The Lingua Franca Mediterranea as a Mode of Communication ………. 49
4 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo
Inspired by the Port ………………………………………………………………………………….. 58
4.1 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Izzo and Consolo ………………………….. 60
4.2 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Popular Culture ……………………………. 69
4.3 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………….. 76
5 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………… 78
5.1 The ‘Imaginary’ of the Mediterranean ……………………………………………. 80
5.2 The Mediterranean ‘Imaginary’ Beyond the Harbour ……………………….. 84
6 BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………….. .. 9?.
III
Abstract

The Mediterranean harbour is a place of meeting, of encounters between
civilizations, of clashes, wars, destructions, peace; a place where culture comes to live, where art is expressed in various ways and where authors and thinkers have found inspiration in every comer. The harbour imposes a number of thresholds to the person approaching it. This threshold could have different fonns which could be emotional, geographical, spiritual or cultural. Authors such as Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo lived and experienced the Mediterranean harbour in all its aspects and expressions; their powerful experience resulted in the formation of important images referred to as ‘imaginary’. The Mediterranean imaginary is the vision of various authors who have been able to translate facts and create figures and images that represent a collective, but at the same time singular imagination. The harbour is an important part of the Mediterranean geographical structure and thus it has been the main point of study for many examining the region. Factors such as language have transformed and suited the needs of the harbour, being a cultural melting pot.
1 Introduction
The Mediterranean is represented by chaos, especially in the harbour cities that are witness to the myriad of cultures which meet each and every day to discuss and interact in the harbour. It is imperative to state that chaos, as the very basis of a Mediterranean discourse has been fed through the different voices fonned in the region. These same voices, images and interpretations have found a suitable home in the Mediterranean harbours, places where literature and culture managed to flourish and where the so-called ‘margins’, both geographical and social, found centrality. The harbour has acquired significance in the discourse on the Mediterranean and thus on how literature and cultural expedients and the vaiious authors and artists recall the harbour as an anchorage point for their deep thoughts about the region. 1
Nowadays, the unification of the Mediterranean seems a ‘utopia’, since the Mediterranean is politically perceived as a region full of borders and security plans. One may easily mention the various strategic moves put forward by the European Union to safeguard the northern Mediterranean countries from migration from North African shores. By applying and reinforcing these security plans, the Mediterranean has become ever increasingly a region of borders. It is also important not to idealize the Mediterranean past as a unified past, because the 1 Georges Duby Gli ideali def Mediterraneo, storia, jilosojia e letteratura nella cultura europea
(Mesogea, 2000) pp.80-104
2
region was always characterized by conflict and chaos. Despite the chaos that was always part of the Mediterranean, being a region of clashing civilizations, it managed to produce a mosaic of various cultures that is visible to the eye of the philosopher or the artist. The artist and the philosopher manage to project their thoughts and ambitions for the region; therefore they are able to see hannony in a region that seems so incoherent. The aim of my thesis is to understand why the harbour is crucial in the construction of the Mediterranean imaginary. Both open space and border, the port, as in the case of Alexandria or Istanbul, has for a long time been a center for trade, commerce and interaction. Therefore, it is imperative to focus on the study of the harbour and harbour cities to be able to give substance to a study about the Mediterranean as a complex of imaginaries. The boundaries in the study about the Mediterranean have a special place; in fact a boundary that may be either geographical or political has the ability to project and create very courageous individuals that manage to transgress and go over their limits when facing the ‘other’. In the Mediterranean we perceive that the actual reason for transgressing and overcoming a limit is the need of confonning or confronting the ‘other’, sometimes a powerful ‘other’ able to change and shift ideas, able to transpose or impose cultural traits. Yet, the Mediterranean in its multicultural environment has been able to maintain certain traits that have shaped what it is today. Through movement of people in the region, the Mediterranean has been able to produce a number of great innovations, such as the movement of the Dorians who moved from the south all along the 3 Greek peninsula, and also the ‘sea people’ that came from Asia and, being hungry and thirsty, destroyed whatever they found. The same destruction and movement resulted in the creation of three important factors for the Mediterranean: the creation of currency, the alphabet, and marine navigation as we know it today. The various movements also contributed to the fonnation of the person as a free being with the ability to move freely. Therefore, movement and the overcoming of boundaries in the Mediterranean have contributed greatly to the fonnation of civilization itself.2 A board, today found in the museum of Damascus, with an alphabet very similar to the Latin one written on it, was very useful as it was very simple in its structure. This confirms a high level of democracy, as civilization meant that each individual had the possibility of knowing and understanding what his leaders understood. We get to understand that in the Mediterranean each person can practice his freedom by travelling out at sea and engage in trading. All this was made possible by the same interactions and conflicts raised in the region. Conflicts though are not the only factor that promoted the interaction and the fonnation of interesting cultural and literature in the Mediterranean, as we know it today. Art and culture have been means by which the various conflicts and interactions took life and expressed the deep feelings that inhabited the soul 2 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo, storia, filosofia e letteratura nella cultura europea (Mesogea,2000) pp. 80-104
4
of the artist. Karl Popper3 states that the cultural mixture alone is not sufficient to put the grounds for a civilization and he gives the example of Pisistratus, a Greek tyrant that ordered to collect and copy all the works of Homer. This made it possible to have a book fair a century later and thus spread the knowledge of Homer. Karl Popper wants to tell us that art and culture have deeply influence the fonnation of a general outset of the region and that the fonnation of the general public is not something that comes naturally, but is rather encouraged. The Greeks in this sense were directly fed the works of Homer by the diffusion of the works themselves. On the other hand, the majority of Greeks already knew how to read and write, further enabling the diffusion of knowledge. Art and architecture are two important factors that have detennined the survival of empires and cultures through time. When artists such as Van Gogh were exposed to the Mediterranean, they expressed art in a different way and when Van Gogh came in contact with the Mediterranean region, the French Riviera and Provence in particular, he discovered a new way of conceiving art. In a letter that Van Gogh wrote to his sister in 1888, he explained that the impact the Mediterranean had on him had changed the way he expressed art itself. He told her that the colours are now brighter, being directly inspired by the nature and passions of the region. The Mediterranean inspired Van Gogh to use a different kind of colour palette. If the art expressed by Van Gogh that is inspired by the Mediterranean is directly 3 Georges Duby Gli ideali del Mediterraneo, storia, jilosofia e letteratura nella cultura europea (Mesogea,2000) pp. 80-104
5 represented and interpreted by the spectator, the region manages to be transposed through the action of art itself.4 The way in which the thesis is structured aims to focus on the vanous images created by poets, popular music and art. Each chapter provides evidence that the harbour has been the centre of attention for the many authors and thinkers who wrote, discussed and painted the Mediterranean. The thesis aims to prove that certain phenomena such as language and religion have contributed to a knit of imaginaries, the layout of certain events such as the ex-voto in the Mediterranean and the use of Sabir or Lingua Franca Mediterranea, which shows how the harbour managed to be the center of events that shaped the cultural heritage of the Mediterranean. The language and religious movement mentioned have left their mark on the Mediterranean countries, especially the harbour cities, which were the first cities encountered. The choice of the harbour cities as the representation and the loci of a Mediterranean imaginary vision is by no means a casual one. In fact, the harbour for many centuries has been the anchorage point not only in the physical sense but also emotionally and philosophically for many authors and thinkers, two of which are Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo, extensively mentioned in the dissertation. These two authors are relevant for the purpose of this study as they manage to create a vision of the Mediterranean, based on their personal experience and influenced by 4 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo, storia, jilosojia e letteratura nella cultura europea (Mesogea,2000) pp.43-55
6 the harbour from which they are looking at the region and observing the
Mediterranean. Popular culture ‘texts’ such as movies and music based on the interaction between the person and the Mediterranean region have an important role in the study, as they represent the first encounter with the harbour. It is a known fact that in the postmodern era where technological means have a broader and deeper reach, popular culture has become the first harbour in which many find anchorage. Therefore it would be difficult to mention literature works that have shaped the Mediterranean without mentioning the popular texts that have constructed images about the region that intertwine and fonn a complete and powerful image. The relevance of each factor is well defined in this study, delving deep in not only popular culture but also in language and various historical events that have transformed the Mediterranean, providing examples of how factors such as geographical elements, spirituality, devotion and passion have transfonned the way in which we perceive a region.
1.1 The Harbour as Threshold The first chapter focuses on the harbour as a threshold between stability and instability, between wealth and poverty, between mobility and ilmnobility. The various elements that constitute the harbour always convey a sense of ‘in between’ to the person approaching. The very fact that the harbour seems to be a place of insecurity gives the artists and authors a more stimulating environment to 7 write about their feelings and to contrast them with the ever-changing and chaotic enviromnent of the harbour. The way in which the natural landscape manages to influence the poetic and artistic expression is of great relevance to the study of the Mediterranean region, especially with regards to the study of the harbour. Poets such as Saba and Montale wrote about the way in which nature felt as a personified figure, able to give hope and change the way poets look at the world. 
They also wrote about nature in the Mediterranean as being an impmiant feature
shaping the way in which history and culture developed.
The sailor as a representation of a Mediterranean traveller is often found in
literature especially with regards to the notion of the harbour as an image of the
Mediterranean culture. Many authors such as Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo
Consolo wrote about the figure of the sailor in relation to the sea and everyday life in Mediterranean harbours. The novels fl Sorriso dell ‘Ignoto Marinaio by
Vincenzo Consolo and Les Marins Perdus by Jean-Claude Izzo are written in two
different geographical areas of the Mediterranean and reflect two different
periods, but they are tied by an expression of a Meditemm~im i1rn1eirn1ry and
somehow recall common features and aspects of the harbour. Both novels manage to transpose their authors’ personal encounter with the Mediterranean, therefore
recalling their own country of birth. The novels are somewhat personal to the
authors; Consolo recalls Sicily while Izzo often refers to Marseille. The fact that
the novels are projecting two different areas and two different points of view on
8
the Mediterranean proves that by gathering different experiences related to the
region, a rich imaginary is created.
The harbour is a door, an entryway to a new world, and borders. Security
and expectations are all part of the experience of the threshold when entering a
country, especially in the Mediterranean, where thresholds are constantly present and signify a new and exciting experience that leads to a new interpretation of a Mediterranean imaginary. The way in which the harbour acts as an entryway suggests that what lies beyond the harbour is sometimes a mystery to the traveller.
Literature greatly contributes to the fonnation of ideas, especially in regard to the fonnation of thoughts such as the idea of a Mediterranean imaginary, but there is another element of fundamental importance to the formation of ideas on a generic line, which is popular culture. High-culture, referring to elements such as art, literature, philosophy and scholarly writings, creates a common understanding between an educated public. Popular culture refers to the section of culture that has a common understanding between the public. High-culture and popular culture have the power to transform what is mostly regarded as pertaining to high society; literature is constantly being reinterpreted and transfonned by popular culture to be able to reach a greater audience.
9
1.2 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse The imp01iance of natural landscape which detennines the success or failure of a harbour, also detennines a number of historical events. In this sense, the Mediterranean is a region that has been naturally set up with a number of very important harbours that consequently fonned a particular history. The image of the harbour could be compared to the image of the lighthouse, which is part of the harbour itself but at the same is a distinct entity that in some cases had a role which went beyond its initial role of guidance and assumed almost a function of spiritual assistance. 5 The symbol of the lighthouse is also tied to knowledge and therefore the lighthouse has the ability to give knowledge to the lost traveller at sea, it is able to show the way even in uncertainties. The lighthouses in the Mediterranean had the ability to change through ages and maintain a high historical and cultural meaning; their function is a matter of fact to give direction to the traveller, but in certain cases it has been used to demarcate a border or as a symbol of power.
The Mediterranean Sea has witnessed different exchanges, based on belief,
need and sometimes even based solely on the search of sel£ Among these modes
of exchange and these pretexts of voyage in the Mediterranean, we find the exvoto and the movement of relics. Both types of exchange in the region have in
common at the basis religion that instilled in the traveller a deep wish to follow a
5 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti: 2010)
10
spiritual path. These exchanges resulted in an increasing cultural exchange. The
ex-voto6 shows a number of things. One of these things is that the very existence
of ex-voto proves a deep connection with the geographical aspect in the
Mediterranean and therefore proving that the region is a dangerous one. In this
sense, people in the Mediterranean have shown their gratitude to God or the
Virgin Mary in the fonn of ex-voto after a difficult voyage at sea. On the other
hand, the ex-voto shows how popular culture mingles with the spiritual experience and the way in which a person expresses gratitude to the divine. The ex-voto paintings have a special way of being identified. The saint or in most cases Virgin Mary, is usually set in a cloud or unattached from the sea in a tempest. Another element that shows if a painting is or is not part of an ex-voto collection, is the acronyms found in the bottom of every painting V.F.G.A (votum facit et gratiam accepit). The use of Latin demonstrates the vicinity to Christianity, whilst the words meaning that ‘I made a vow and I received grace’ prove the tie between the tragedies at sea and the grace given by God. The difficult Mediterranean geographical predisposition, discussed by Femand Braudel7 has developed an abundance of devotion that transformed to shrines and objects of adoration and gratitude. These same shrines, objects and materials that were most of the time exchanged and taken from one place to another, have deeply enriched the Mediterranean with cultural objects and the same shrines are nowadays part of a collective cultural heritage.
6 Joseph Muscat Il-Kwadri ex-voto Martittimi Maltin (Pubblikazzjonijiet Indipendenza, 2003) 7 Fernand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II
(Fontana press: 19 8 6)
11
1.3 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Izzo and Consolo Inspired by the
Port The Mediten-anean for Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo revolves around the idea of a harbour that gives inspiration because it is in essence a border where ideas meet and sometimes find concretization. The Mediterranean harbour for centuries has been a meeting place for people and cultures, thus creating a region full of interactions on different levels. The imaginary for both authors has been shaped by both cultural elements and by the literary elements that find a special place in the mindset of the author. Culture as a popular expression of the concept of the Mediten-anean has developed in different ways, one of which is the projection of the harbour and the Mediterranean itself through media and advertising. Various elements such as the touristic publicity or the actual reportage about the harbour and the Mediten-anean have widened the horizon and the imaginary of the region. In advertisements, the Mediterranean has been idealized in some ways and tends to ignore controversial issues such as ‘migration’; advertising also tends to generalize about the Mediterranean and so mentions elements such as the peaceful and relaxing way of life in the region. Advertisement obviously has its own share in the building of an ‘imaginary’ of the region, but it may also create confusion as to what one can expect of the region. On the other hand, the reportage about the Mediterranean harbour and the region itself focuses more on everyday life in the Mediterranean and common interactions such as encounters with fishennen. Nevertheless, when mentioning 12 the MediteITanean even the reportage at times makes assumptions that try to unite the MediteITanean into an ideal space and it sometimes aims to give an exotic feel to the region. Yet there are a number of informative films that have gathered important material about the MediteITanean, such as the French production Mediteranee Notre Mer a Taus, produced by Yan Arthus-Bertrand for France 2.8 The difference between the usual promotional or adve1iising video clips and the documentary film produced for France 2 was that in the latter the focus points were an expression of the beauty of the whole, whereas in the fonner, beauty usually lies in the common features that for marketing purposes aim to synthesize the image of the Mediterranean for a better understating and a more clear approach to the region. The harbour and other vanous words associated to the concept of the harbour have been used in many different spaces and areas of study to signify many different things other than its original meaning, and this makes us realize that the harbour itself may hold various metaphorical meanings. We have seen the way in which the harbour served as a first spiritual refuge or as an initial salvation point, but it is also interesting to note how the harbour is conceptually seen today,
in an era where globalization has shortened distances and brought down barriers. Nowadays, the harbour is also used as a point of reference in the various technological terms especially in relation to the internet, where the ‘port’ or 8 Yan Arthus-Betrand Mediteranee notre mer a taus (France 2, 2014)
www.yannarthusbertrand.org/ en/films-tv/–mediterranee-notre-mer-a-tous (accessed February,
2014)
13
‘portal’ refers to a point of entry and thus we perceive the main purpose of the harbour as being the first point of entry as is in the context of infonnation technology. The concept of core and periphery has deeply changed in the world of Internet and technology, as the concept of core and periphery almost disappeared. Similarly, the Mediterranean’s core and pe1iphery have always been in a way different from what is considered to be the nonn. Geographically, the core could be seen as the central area, the place where things happen, whereas in the Mediterranean, the periphery acquires almost the function of the core. The harbour is the geographical periphery; neve1iheless, it acquires the function of the core. The islands for example are usually centres, whereas in the Mediterranean they are crossroads rather than real centres of power. In nonnal circumstances the relation between core and periphery is something that denotes not only the geographical location of a place but it usually also refers to economical, social and cultural advancement. Therefore, in the Mediterranean region the concept of geographical centre and economical and social centres are different from their usual intended meaning.
The Mediterranean imaginary has developed in such a way that it
purposely distorted the concepts such as the standard core and periphery or the usual relationship between men and nature or between men and the various borders. In the Mediterranean imaginary, which as we have mentioned is being fed by various authors and popular discourse, has the ability to remain imprinted in our own thoughts and thus has the ability to reinterpret the region itself; we find 14 that the usual conceptions change because they suit not only the region but the author that is writing about the region. The way in which the various authors and artists who describe the Mediterranean are faced with the ongoing challenges presented by the region shows how in essence each and every author has their own personal approach to the region. Their works are essentially a personal project which lead to the enriclunent of the region’s imaginary. The differences between each and every author makes the ‘imaginary’ and the accounts about the Mediterranean much more interesting and ersonalized. 
Consolo9 and Izzo10 have different ways of perceiving the region and
although they both aim to create an ‘imaginary’ that may recall similar features, it is undeniable that there are substantial differences in their approach. Consolo on the one hand focuses a lot on the image of Ulysses as a figure that represents him in his voyage in search of the self. Ulysses for Consolo is a figure that manages to preserve a meaning even in the modem era, a figure that is able to travel through time all the while reinventing the Mediterranean. Izzo as well feels that the figure of Ulysses is imperative to the study of the Mediterranean, but he mostly focuses on the impact of the present experience of the region on the conception of a Mediterranean ‘imaginary’ rather than focusing on the past as a representation of the present situation. 9 Vincenzo Consolo Il Sorriso dell’Ignoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori: 2012) 10 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) 15
1.4 Conclusion
The Mediterranean has been seen as a region full of inconsistencies,
contradictions and conflicts, based mainly on the divergent ideas and cultures residing in the same area. The Mediterranean imaginary does not exclude the conflicts that are present in the region and does not aim to unify the region, and in doing so it aims to give voice to the region. For the various authors and thinkers that are mentioned in the thesis, the Mediterranean has transmitted an emotion or has been able to create the right environment to express ideas and fonn thoughts. The relevance of each and every author within the framework of this thesis shows that without analyzing the single expression about the region, through the various works, one cannot fonn an imaginary of the Mediterranean region. The various concepts of borders, thresholds, conflicts and cultural clashes manage to mingle with each other in everyday life in the Mediterranean – greater ideas and fundamental questions find resonance and meaning in simple everyday interaction between a common sailor and a woman at a bar. The Mediterranean in essence is the voyage between the search for deep roots and the analysis of the clashes that result from this search for roots. The study of the Mediterranean is the constant evaluation of boundaries and the search for the ‘self’ through a wholly subjective analysis of the ‘other’. The imaginary plays a fundamental role in bringing near the ‘roots’ and the ‘present’, and the ‘self’ and the ‘other’.
16
2 The Harbour as Threshold The Mediterranean harbour for many authors and thinkers is a starting point as well as a dying point of the so called ‘Mediterranean culture’. In fact many sustain that the ‘MediteITanean culture’ takes place and transfonns itself in its harbours. This concept does not have to confuse us in assuming that a ‘Mediterranean culture’ in its wholesomeness really does exist. There are elements and features that seem to tie us; that the sea so generously brought ashore. On the other hand the same sea has been keeping things well defined and separate. The harbour as the first encounter with land has always maintained an important role in the formation of ideas and collective imagination. The harbour is not selective in who can or cannot approach it and so the fonnation of this collective imagination is a vast one. It is also important to state that the harbour in itself is a place of contradictions, a place where everything and nothing meet. The contrasting elements and the contradictions that reside in Mediterranean ports are of inspiration to the various authors and thinkers who study the Mediterranean. In this sense they have contributed in the formation of this Mediterranean imagination. Literature is an important factor that contributes to a fonnation of a collective imagination; it would be otherwise difficult to analyze the Mediterranean without the help of literature, as the fonnation of a collective imagination was always fed through literature and cultural expedients.
17
The Mediterranean region, as we shall see, is an area that is somehow
constructed; a person in France may not be aware of what a person in Morocco or in Turkey is doing. The concept of a constructed Mediterranean may be tied to the anthropological study conducted by Benedict Anderson 11 where he states that the ‘nation’ is a constructed concept and may serve as a political and somehow economic pretext. The sea is navigated by both tragic boat people and luxurious cruise liners, and these contradictions seem to be legitimized in the Mediterranean region. To give two recent examples we can observe on a political sphere, the European Union’s decision to fonn a Task Force for the Mediterranean (TFM) whose aims are to enhance the security of its shores and to drastically reduce deaths at sea. The TFM is a recent initiative that follows a number of proposals at a political level that have the Mediterranean security at heart. 12 This idea was triggered by a particular event that saw the death of 500 migrants off Lampedusa. It clearly poses a question whether the Mediterranean is a safe place or not, and whether it remains in this sense appealing to touristic and economic investment. The TFM probably reinforces the idea that the Mediterranean is a problematic region and thus requires ongoing ‘security’. To reconnect to the main idea, the TFM reinforces the notion that the Mediterranean is a constructed idea where access from one shore to another is denied and where one shore is treated as a security threat whereas the other shore is treated as an area to be protected or an 11 Benedict Anderson, Imagined communities (Verso, 1996)
12 Brussels, 4.12.2013 COM (2013) 869 Communicationjiwn the commission to the European Parliament and the council on the work of the Task Force Mediterranean 18 area that is unreachable. The contradictions keep on adding up when we see the way the Mediterranean is portrayed for economic and touristic purposes. One example is the ‘Mediterranean port association’ that helps the promotion of cruising in the Mediterranean region providing assistance to tourists who would like to travel in the region. In this context the Mediterranean is used in a positive way in relation to the touristic appeal it may have. The construction of a Mediterranean idea is by no means restricted to an economical or a political discourse; it has deeper roots and meanings that have fonned through a history of relations between countries and of fonnations of literary expedients. For Franco Cassano13, the Mediterranean is a region that in essence is made of differences, it would be otherwise difficult to justify the clashes that have characterized the Mediterranean history, if it was not for the fact that we are all aware that it is a region made up of dissimilarities On the other hand it is due to these dissimilarities that the Mediterranean is an appealing region both for authors and for travelers alike.
13 Franco Cassano,Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano:Feltrinelli, 2007)
19
2.1 Natural Landscape and the Development of Literature Nature and literature are two elements that intertwine and thus create a collective imagination around the concept of the Mediterranean harbour. In fact, the dialectic between natural landscape and poetic expression was always a matter of great relevance as nature constantly managed to aid the development of poetic expression. The natural landscape helps the fonnation of existential thoughts, such as life, death and the existence of men – thoughts that are always reinterpreted and reinvented through literature. This relation between men and nature was always important in configuring spaces and detennining them according to a common understanding. 14 In the poem of Giacomo Leopardi Dialogo delta Natura e di un Islandese, Nature is personified, and although the indifference and coldness of nature is palpable, we sense that the poet is being aided by nature in fanning his ideas about life itself. Through time and especially through globalization, the world is being interpreted in terms of geographical maps and technology is subsequently narrowing our concept of space and enlarging our concept of life. In the new modem dimension, where the concept of space has acquired an abstract meaning, literature leaves the possibility of dialectic relationship between men and nature, thus enabling men to perceive the places they inhabit as a significant part of their self-construction process. This concept takes us to the perception created around the Mediterranean region and especially the way people look at 14 Massimo Lollini fl Mediterraneo de/la contingenza metafisica di montale all’apertura etica di Saba (Presses Universitaires Paris Quest: 2009) pp.358-372
20
figures such as the sea, the ports and the shores. In Giambattista Vico’s15 poetic geography we understand that the representation of geography through poetic expression is something that dates back in time, through a cosmic representation of senses and feelings. In this regard, Montale and Saba both express in a relatively modem tone the deep representation of the Mediterranean through a mixture of contrasting feelings and ideas. The image of the harbor and any other images in the Mediterranean are deeply felt and analyzed, through the eyes of the poets that live in the region. Montale uses the dialectic of memory to explain his relationship with the Mediterranean, a region locked in its golden age that lives through the memory of poets and authors. He refers to the Mediterranean as ‘Antico ‘ emphasizing the fact that it is an old region. The word ‘Antico ‘ does not merely refer to oldness, but to oldness combined with prestige. The memory characterizes the Mediterranean for Montale, the image of the sea for instance is an archaic image that notwithstanding holds a modem and yet spiritual meaning as it expresses a sense of purification. The sea with its movement brings ashore all the useless and unwanted elements. On the other hand the sea may be seen as a fatherly figure that becomes severe in its actions and makes the poet feel insignificant and intimidated. Montale’s aim was to overcome the threshold between artistic expression and natural landscape through a dialogue with the Mediterranean Sea. This aim was not fulfilled. Montale tried hard to express artistically what the Mediterranean Sea meant but ended his poem humbly putting himself at a lower stage in comparison to the greatness of the Sea. Montale fills 15Massimo Lollini Il Mediterraneo della contingenza metafisica di montale all’apertura etica di Saba (Presses Universitaires Paris Ouest: 2009)
21 his poetry with a mixture of humility and paradoxes; two elements that keep on repeating themselves in the poetry concerning the MeditelTanean.
Furthennore, in Umberto Saba’s ‘Medite1Taneet16 we encounter the same
contrasts and paradoxes used by Montale to develop the figure of the
MeditetTanean Sea. Saba uses the microcosm of Trieste to explain a larger
macrocosm: The MeditetTanean. This technique renders his work more personal and gives it a deeper meaning. Saba and Montale both rely on the memory to express a feeling of deep ties with the element of the sea and the life of the MeditelTanean harbour. Saba’s MeditelTanean resides in his microcosm, personal encounters and experiences fonn his ideas about the region; a region he perceives as being full of fascinating contradictions.

‘Ebbri canti si levano e bestemmie
nell’Osteria suburbana. Qui pure
-penso- e Mediterraneo. E il mio pensiero
all’azzulTo s’inebbria di quel nome.’ 17
‘Drunken songs and curses rise up
in the suburban tavern. Here, too,
I think, is the Mediterranean. And my mind is
drunk with the azure of that name.’ 18
16 Umberto Saba, translated by George Hochfield: Song book the selected poems of Umberto Saba
\V\V\V. worldrepublicofletters.com/excerpts/songbook excerpt.pdf (accessed, July 2014)
17 Massimo Lollini fl Mediterraneo della contingenza metafisica di montale all’apertura etica di Saba (Presses Universitaires Paris Ouest: 2009) pp.358-372
22
Saba mingles his personal classicist fonnation expressed in the ‘all’azzurro’
with the poorest part of the Mediterranean harbour ‘l’osteria’. Both factors are intertwining, and so, the Mediterranean for Saba is the combination of both the richness of classicist thoughts that fonned in the Mediterranean as well as the meager elements that fonned in its po1is; yet they embellish and enrich the concept of the Mediterranean. Saba is searching for his personal identity through the search for a definition to the Mediterranean. In his art he attempts to portray the very heart of the MediteITanean which is found in his abyss of culture and knowledge with the everyday simple life of the harbours. 2.2 Instability vs. Stability in the Mediterranean Harbour In Saba and Montale’s works, the fascinating inconsistencies in the Mediterranean seem to find a suitable place in the ports and in the minds of each and every author and thinker who encounters it. The notion of stability and instability finds its apex in the port. The sea is the synonym of instability, especially in the Mediterranean, being depicted as dangerous and unpredictable. As in the recounts of the Odyssey, the sea, and the Mediterranean as a whole, is a synonym of instability and thus prone to natural catastrophes. The Homeric recounts of Ulysses’ journey explore the Mediterranean that was previously an unknown place. Although the places mentioned by Homer are fictitious, they now 18 Umberto Saba, translated by George Hochfield: Song book the selected poems of Umberto Saba
www.worldrepublicofletters.com/excerpts/song:book _excerpt.pdf (accessed, July 2014)
23
have a general consensus over the definition of the actual places. As time went by historians and authors went on confinning what Homer had depicted in his Odyssey – a Mediterranean that constantly poses a challenge, danger and fascination at the same time. Femand Braudel in his ‘Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip the II’ 19 sustains the view of a difficult Mediterranean, of a succession of events that have helped the success of the Mediterranean for a period of time. Its instability and complication have not aided the area in maintaining its ‘golden age’. This discourse was reinvented by Horden and Purcell in ‘The Corrupting Sea’20 where the Mediterranean meets geographically, historically and anthropologically. In ‘The Corrupting Sea’ the view of Femand Braudel is expanded into what the Mediterranean meant
geographically and historically, therefore Horden and Purcell explain that the inconsistencies and natural features in the Mediterranean really contributed to bring the ‘golden age’ to an end, but they were the same features that brought on the rich culture around the Mediterranean countries in the first place. Where literature is concerned, the inconsistencies and natural features served as an inspiration to various authors who went on fonning the collective imagination around the Mediterranean. Therefore, it could be argued that the geographical
complexity of the region is in fact the tying point to the ‘Mediterranean’ itself that resides in the unconscious and that otherwise would have died with its economical shift towards other areas of interest. The problematic identity and the challenging 19 Femand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 1986)
20 Peregring Horden, Nicholas Purcell The Corrupting sea, a study of the Mediterranean histmy (Blackwell publishing: 2011)
24
natural enviromnent brought by an ongomg sense of curiosity and attraction towards the Mediterranean region. The port is the first encounter with stability after a journey that is characterized by instability, at the surprise of the inexperienced traveler. However, the port does not always covey immovability. The p01i gives a sense of limbo to the traveller that has just arrived. It is a safe place on the one hand but on the other hand due to its vicinity to the sea, it is as unpredictable as the sea itself The sailor is a frequent traveler who knows and embraces the sea. He chose or has been forced to love the sea, to accept the sea as his second home. The sailor is in fact the figure that can help us understand the fascination around the Mediterranean and its ports. It is not an unknown factor that sailors and their voyages have captured the attention of many authors that tried extensively to understand the affinity sailors have to the sea. The sailor21 is a man defined by his relation with the sea and is a recurrent figure in a number of literature works all over Europe and the rest of the world. The sailor is the incarnation of the concept of human marginality, he lives in the margin of life and he embraces the marginality of the harbour with the different aspects of the port. The thresholds present in the port are represented by the sailor; a figure that lives between the sea and land, between betrayal and pure love,
between truth and lie. Like the portrayal of Odysseus, the concept of a sailor has 21 Nora Moll Marinai Ignoti,perduti (e nascosti). fl Mediterraneo di Vincenzo Consolo, JeanClaude Izzo e Waciny Lare} (Roma: Bulzoni 2008) pp.94-95
25
infidelic properties. He carnally betrays his loved one, but he is psychologically anchored to one women for his whole life; a women who is always present in various thoughts but at the same time she is always physically distant. As we will see in various works, the sailor is in constant search of knowledge – the very same knowledge that brought him to love and embrace the sea. The knowledge that is conveyed through the action of travelling itself is another question that would require a deep analysis, but for the sake of our study the fact that knowledge is transmitted through the depth of the sea is enough to make a com1ection with the purpose by which the sailor travels. The sailor fluctuates between sea and land, between danger and security, between knowledge and inexperience. The thresholds are constantly overcome by the curious and free spirited sailor that embarks in this voyage to the discovery of his inner-self. The literary voyage of the sailor in the Mediterranean takes a circular route while it goes deep in ancient history and ties it to modem ideas. Since the sailor is not a new character but a recurring one in literature and culture it has the ability to transfonn and create ideas giving new life to the Mediterranean harbours. While the seamen are the link between the high literature and the popular culture, the sailor does not have a specific theme in literature but the archetype of ‘the sailor’ has a deep resonance in many literary themes. As Nora Moll states in one of her studies about the image of the sailor, she puts forward a list of common themes associated with the image of the sailor:
26
‘Tra i complessi tematici, a cm m parte ho gia accem1ato,si
annoverano l’avventura, il viaggio, l’eros, l’adulterio, il ritorno, il
superamento di limiti (interiori) e di sfide ( esterne ), la liberta, la vita
come “navigatio” e come intrigo conflittuale di esperienze. ’22
‘Amongst the complex themes, which I partly already mentioned, we
find adventure, travel, Eros, adultery, the return, the overcoming of
limits (interior) and challenges (exterior), freedom, life as “navigatio”
and as a conflictual intrigue (or scheme) of experiences.’
2.3 The Prototypical Sailor The interesting fact about the study conducted by Nora Moll is that the sailor in her vision is not merely a figure tied to a specific social class, but as we can see the themes listed are themes that can be tied also to the figure of Ulysses. It is difficult to say that Ulysses or the image of the sailor own a predestined set of themes, and in fact they do not necessarily do so. Ulysses is a character that comprehends certain themes, but these change and shift in accordance to space, time and circumstances. What does not change is the thresholds that are always present in the life of a sailor, the limits that are constantly there to be overcome and the external challenges that need to be confronted. The harbour conveys a 22 Nora Moll Marinai Jgnoti,perduti (e nascosti). I! Mediterraneo di Vincenzo Consolo, JeanClaude Izzo e Waciny Larej (Roma: Bulzoni 2008) pp.94-95
27
number of thresholds; as we have seen these are embodied in the figure of the manner. Jean Claude Izzo in his Les Marins Perdus23 wrote about the discomfort of sailors having to forcedly stay on land and their relationship with the harbor, a passing place that has a special meaning. The harbor is in fact a special place for the mariner, as it is the only place where they can have human contact beyond that of the crew. The mariner in Jean Clause Izzo does not feel that he belongs to any nation or country. He belongs to the sea; a sea that managed to give meaning to his life but at the same time managed to destroy it. Jean Claude Izzo uses strong images of the port to describe the tie the sailor has to the harbour itself, he uses sexual and erotic images and ties them to legends and popular culture expedients. The story is interesting because of the way Jean Claude Izzo reverses the way sailors live. In fact he recreates a story where the sailor is trapped in the harbour and so he is forced to view the sea from land and not the other way round as he usually does. The psychological discomfort that Jean Claude Izzo creates portrays the Mediterranean archetypes and the life in the ports from a reverse point of view. Everyday life in the harbour is analyzed through a succession of tragedies that on one hand recall the classicist view of the Mediterranean, and on the other hand, due to references to everyday life elements, may be easily connected to the modem conception of the Mediterranean port. The links created by Jean Claude Izzo are made on purpose to create an ongoing bond between the classic Homeric 23 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) pp.238
28
Mediterranean and the modem Mediterranean. In fact, Diamantis -the mam character of the novel- is portrayed as a modem Ulysses trying to cope with ongoing temptations and with the constant drive for knowledge. The Odyssey is for Diamantis a point of anchorage. He reads the Odyssey while attempting to define himself: ‘In effetti l’Odissea non ha mai smesso di essere raccontata, da una taverna all’altra,di bar in bar: … e Ulisse e sempre fra noi. La sua eterna giovinezza e nelle storie che continuiamo a raccontarci anche oggi se abbiamo ancora un avvenire nel Mediterraneo e di sicuro li. [ … ]I porti del Mediterraneo … sono delle strade. ’24 ‘Yes … In fact, the Odyssey has constantly been retold, in every tavern
or bar … And Odysseus is still alive among us. Eternally young, in the
stories we tell, even now. If we have a future in the Mediterranean,
that’s where it lies.” [ … ] “The Mediterranean means … routes. Sea
routes and land routes. All joined together. Connecting cities. Large
and small. Cities holding each other by the hand.’ In this quote we see the continuous threshold between space and time being overcome, that serves to keep alive the Mediterranean itself. It is clear that the classic Homeric recount is always reinterpreted and reinvented. The Odyssey
is not the only point of reflection for Diamantis. In fact the protagonist is seen as a 24 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) pp.238
29
deep character that reflects on the various incidents in his life and it could be argued that Diamantis is the expression of Jean Claude Izzo’s thoughts. The sailors in Jean Claude Izzo’s novel chose to be Mediterranean; naval commerce exists beyond the enclosed sea, but these men chose to sail with inadequate ships in a region where geographical beauty and historical richness meet. The port for Izzo, has multiple meanings and he defines the Mediterranean harbours as differing from other harbours, because of the way they are accessed. Izzo uses the image of the harbour as a representation of love: ‘Vedi, e’ il modo in cui puo essere avvicinato a detenninare la natura di un porto. A detenninarlo veramente [ … ] Il Mediterraneo e’ un mare di prossimita’. ’25
‘You see, it’s the way it can be approached that detennines the nature of
a port. Really detennines it. [ … ] The Mediterranean, a sea of closeness.’
This passage shows the influence of thought, Izzo inherited from
Matvej evic. In fact the approach used to describe the harbour and to depict the nature is very similar to the one used by Matvejevic in his ‘Breviario Mediterraneo’. 26 We perceive that the harbour is substantially a vehicle of devotion, love, passion and Eros, though we may also observe the threshold between the love and passion found in the port and the insecurity and natural brutality that the sea may convey. In this novel, the port is transfonned in a secure 25 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) ppl22 26 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti:2010)
30
place whilst the sea is a synonym of tragedy. At the same time the port is seen as a filthy and conupt place. While for Izzo the past is used as a background to tie with the present and moreover to show a link with the future, Consolo uses a different technique. He goes deep in one focal historical point to highlight certain Mediterranean features and problematic issues. Consolo uses the period of time where Sicily was undergoing various political changes. He describes the revolution and the Italian unification, and portrays real events and characters tied to Sicilian history. In Vincenzo Consolo, the image of the sailor is used as a metaphor through the work of Antonello ‘il Sorriso dell’Ignoto Marinaio’.27 The title itself gives us a hint of the tie between art and everyday life. The voices that intertwine and form the discourse around the Mediterranean are hard to distinguish as they have fanned the discourse itself to a point where a voice or an echo is part of another. The work of Consolo28 goes through a particular historical period in Sicily to describe present situations and ongoing paradoxes in the Mediterranean region. It is difficult to resume and give a name and specific allocation to the works on the Mediterranean as the multiple faces and voices have consequently fanned a variety of literature and artistic works. The beauty behind works on the Mediterranean is that archetypes such as the concept of a ‘sailor’ or the ‘harbour’ are revisited and reinterpreted, thus acquiring a deeper meaning and at the same time enriching the meaning of ‘the Mediterranean’ itself.
27 Vincenzo Consolo fl sorriso dell’Jgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012)
28 Vincenzo Consolo fl sorriso dell’lgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012)
31
Consolo focuses on the microcosm of Sicily and he portrays a fluctuation
between sea and land. He locates Sicily in an ideal sphere where the thresholds are nonexistent: ‘La Sicilia! La Sicilia! Pareva qualcosa di vaporoso laggiù nell’azzurro tra mare e cielo, me era l’isola santa! ’29 ‘Sicily! Sicily! It seemed something vaporous down there in the blue between sea and sky, but it was the holy island!’ Sicily is placed in an ideal sphere where beautiful natural elements coexist with famine, degradation and war. The imagery created around the island of Sicily may be comparable to the imagery around the Mediterranean region. As for the harbour it is described by Consolo as a place of contradictions, comparable to the ones found in the whole Mediterranean. The detail given to the life in the port is extremely in depth and the type of sentences used expresses the frenetic lifestyle of the port itself: ‘Il San Cristofaro entrava dentro il porto mentre ne uscivano le barche, caicchi e gozzi, coi pescatori ai rami alle corde vele reti lampe sego stoppa feccia, trafficanti con voce urale e con richiami, dentro la barca, tra barca e barca, tra barca e la banchina, affollata di vecchi, di donne e di bambini, urlanti parimenti e agitati [ … ].’30 29 Vincenzo Consolo fl sorriso dell’Jgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012) pp:56
30 Vincenzo Consolo fl so1-riso dell’Jgnoto Marinaio (Oscar Mondadori:2012) pp:29
32
‘The San Cristoforo sailed into the harbour whilst the boats, caiques
and other fishing boats, sailed out with the fishennen holding the
ropes sails nets tallow oakum lee, traffickers beckoning with an ural
voice, inside the boat, from one boat to another, from one boat to the
quay, crowded with the elderly, women and children, screaming
equally and agitated’ [ … ] The tension around the port is well transmitted in the explanation given by Consolo, there seems to be a point of nothingness and a point of departure at the same time. We perceive that there is plenty of life in the port but at the same time confusion reigns, therefore we could argue that people in ports are not really conscious of life and that they are letting things turn. Nevertheless, the port is the starting point of life that develops either in the sea or inland. Both by Consolo and in Izzo we are made aware of the importance of life at the ‘starting point’, therefore the port in the works of both authors acquires the title of a ‘threshold’ between life and death, consciousness and unconsciousness, love and hatred, nature and artifice, aridity and fertility. In the microcosm described by Consolo, the Sicilian nature and its contradictions seem to recall the ones in the rest of the region. For example, the painting ‘Ignoto Marinaio’ is described as a contradictory painting. In fact, the sailor is seen as an ironic figure that smiles notwithstanding the tragedies he has encountered. The ‘Ignoto Marinaio’ has seen the culture and history of the Mediterranean unveil, he has therefore a strange smile that 33 expresses the deep knowledge acquired through his experience and a deep look that convey all the suffering he has come upon. In the novel by Consolo, the painting serves as a point of reference and in fact, the ‘Ignoto Marinio’ resembles another important character in the novel; Intemodato. Both figures share the ironic and poignant smile and the profound look. Intemodato is seen as a typical Sicilian revolutionary who embraces the sea but at the same time is not psychologically unattached to the situations that happened on land. He is part of the revolution and integral part of the Sicilian history.
2.4 The Harbour as a Metaphorical Door Consolo and Izzo with their accounts of sailors and the life in Mediterranean harbours brought us to the interpretation of the harbour as a metaphorical door. As in the seminal work of Predrag Matvejevic ‘Breviario Mediterraneo’,31 the harbour is tied to the concept of a metaphorical door. In Latin both ‘porto’ and ‘porta’ have the same root and etymological derivation. A harbour in fact is a metaphorical and physical entryway to a country. In the Roman period, the god Portunos was the deity of the harbour who facilitated the marine commerce and the life in the port in general. The various deities related to the sea in the Roman 31 Predrag Matvejevic II Mediterraneo e I ‘Europa, lezioni al college de France e altri saggi (Garzanti elefanti:2008)
34
and Greek traditions are an indication of a deep relation between the figure of the harbour and the physical and geographical figure of the door or entryway. The door may have many different shapes and may divide different spaces but it always signifies a threshold from one point to another. In literature the harbour signifies a metaphorical door between fantasy and reality, history and fiction, love and hatred, war and peace, safety and danger. The image of the door is concretized through the various border controls, visas and migration issues and in this regard the entryway becomes a question of membership. A piece of paper in this case detennines the access through that doorway, but from a cultural and
identity point of view the Mediterranean threshold is overcome through the encounter with history and fiction. Thierry Fabre in his contribution to the book series ‘Rappresentare ii Mediterraneo’; 32 in relation to the Mediterranean identity he states; ” … Non si situa forse proprio nel punto di incorcio tra la storia vera e i testi letterari che danno origine all’immaginario Mediterraneo?”33 ‘ Isn’t perhaps situated exactly at the meeting point between the real stories and the literature texts that give birth to the Mediterranean imagination?’ Fabre is conscious of the fact that the discourse about the Mediterranean limits itself to a constructed imaginary, the poet or artist in general that enters this metaphorical door is expected to conceive the Mediterranean imaginary; blending reality with fiction. The door is not always a static figure but is sometimes blurred and does not 32 Jean Claude Izzo, Thierry Fabre Rappresentare il Mediterraneo, lo sguardo fiwicese (Mesogea: 2000) 33 Ibid (Mesogea: 2000) pp.25
35
clearly divide and distinguish. The Mediterranean itself is a region of unclear lines the fonnation of a port and of a nation itself is sometimes not that clear. In Matvejevic’s ‘Il Mediterraneao e l’Europa’34 literature blends with facts and culture so does the geography around the Mediterranean region: ‘Tra terra e mare, in molti luoghi vi sono dei limiti: un inizio o una
fine, l’immagine o 1 ‘idea che li uniscono o li separano. Numerosi sono
i tratti in cui la terra e il mare s’incontrano senza irregolarita ne rotture,
al punto che non si puo detenninare dove comincia uno o finisce
l’altro.Queste relazioni multiple e reversibili, danno fonna alla costa. ’35 
‘Between land and sea, there are limits in many places: a start or a
finish, the image or the idea that joins or separates them. The places
where sea meets land without any irregularities or breaks are
numerous, to the extent that it’s not possible to detennine where one
starts or the other finishes. These multiple and reversible links that
give shape to the coast.’ The coast in this sense is made up of a set of relations between figures and fonns that meet without touching each other, the door is not always present; it sometimes disappears to give room to imagination and the fonnation of literature.
34 Predrag Matvejevic Il Mediterraneo e !’Europa, Lezioni al College de France e Altri Saggi
(Garzanti elefanti: 2008)
35 Ibid (Garzanti: 2008) pp.53
36
The concept of literature allows the analysis of culture and the way it 1s
envisioned and spread through Mediterranean harbours. The fluctuations of varied thoughts that have shaped the Mediterranean imagery through its harbours have no ties with everyday life, if not by the transmission of culture and the means of popular culture that served as a point of anchorage and sometimes as a point of departure for the fonnation of a deeply rooted but also enriching and contested collective imagination.
37
3 The Port as a Cultural Lighthouse The harbour for many centuries has been an anchorage point and a safe place for sailors and travellers that navigate the Mediterranean. We perceive the safety of the harbour as something that is sometimes naturally part of its very makeup, as on such occasions where we encounter natural harbours. In other cases, to suit their needs, people have built around the shores and transfonned paii of the land into an artificial harbour which is able to welcome the foreigner and trade and at the same time to defend if needed the inland. Femand Braudel36 in his The Afediterranean and the Mediterranean World in thP AgP nf Philip TT <liscusse<l the importance of the Mediterranean shores for the traveller in an age when people were already able to explore the outer sea, but yet found it reassuring to travel in a sea where the shore was always in sight. The Mediterranean Sea has always instilled a sense of uncertainty in the traveller, because of its natural instability. Nevertheless, the fact that the shores and ts are always in the vicinity, the Mediterranean traveller is reassured that he can seek refuge whenever needed. The fascinating thing is that the ports in the age delineated by Femand Braudel were not only a means of safety but most of all of communication – a type of economic and cultural c01mnunication that went beyond 36 Fernand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 19 8 6)

38
the simple purpose of the port itself. The same simple modes of communications that Braudel describes may seem irrelevant when studying the Mediterranean history in its entirety, but we get to understand that they are actually the building blocks of the Mediterranean itself:
‘This is more that the picturesque sideshow of a highly coloured
history. It is the underlying reality. We are too inclined to pay attention only to the vital communications; they may be interrupted or
restored; all is not necessarily lost or saved. ‘ 37 The primordial modes of communication, the essential trade and the mixture of language and culture all have contributed to the creation of what we now sometimes romantically call the Mediterranean. The truth lies in the fact that
the harbour has always been prone to receiving and giving back; it has been a passing place of objects, customs and of words. We surely cannot deny the fact that trade has shifted not only by moving from different areas of interest but it also shifted into different forms changing the harbour’s initial function. This basic fonn of communication has contributed highly to the formation of a Mediterranean imaginary and a mixture of cultures that have left a deep resonance in language, literature and cultural expression as a whole.
37 Femand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 1986) pp.I 08
39
The risk and insecurity delivered by the sea have contributed to the
fonnation of various symbols that from their end contribute to the fonnation of an imaginary concerning the Mediterranean harbour. Amidst the uncertainties and hazards at sea, the light of the lighthouse that shows the surest path and warns the person travelling of the possible dangers, reassures the traveller while leading the way. The symbol of the lighthouse is tied to the representation of light and thus knowledge. Finding light in the middle of the sea gives the traveller the necessary means to have greater awareness of what is approaching. The geographical position and the architecture of the lighthouse are all an indication of their meaning beyond their primary objective. During the Roman period for example, the lighthouse was primarily an important source of safekeeping,38 but at the same time it represented a high expression of architectural and engineering knowledge. One example is the ancient roman lighthouse in Messina. Studies show that the architecture used was very functional, but at the same time it portrayed Neptune, thus mingling popular beliefs and superstitions. On the other hand, it was also a powerful way of delineating borders between Sicily and the Italian peninsula. Today the lighthouse in Messina has been replaced by fort San Remo and the architecture of the lighthouse has changed to a more functional one. Another powerful example is the ancient lighthouse in Alexandria, built on the island of Pharos where it stood alone as if wanting to replace the harbour itself. In Alexandria it is Poseidon who guards
the harbour, and the myth blends with the social and geographical importance of the lighthouse. Originally, the lighthouse in Alexandria was simply a landmark, but 38 Turismo La Coruna, Roman Lighthouses in the Mediterranean (2009) www.torredeherculesacoruna.com/index.php?s=79&l=en (accessed September, 2014)
40
eventually during the Roman Empire, it developed into a functional lighthouse. In the case of the old lighthouse built during the Roman period at the far eastern end of Spain, its dimension and position reflect the way Romans saw the world and how they believed Spain marked the far end of the world. What these lighthouses had in common was the fact that they were not just there to aid and support the traveller in his voyage but to define a border and to give spiritual assistance to the lost passenger. The symbol of the lighthouse is somehow deeply tied to a spiritual experience. In Messina where Neptune guarded the sea, and in many other places and different eras, the lighthouse was positioned in such way that it attracted a spiritual resonance and the light that emanated from the lighthouse may be compared to a spiritual guide. Matvejevic in his Breviario Mediterraneo39 compares lighthouses to sanctuaries and the lighthouse guardian to a spiritual hennit. He also adds that the crews responsible for the running of the lighthouse resemble a group of 1ponks, rather than sailors: ‘Gli equipaggi dei fari, cioe personale che somiglia piuttosto ai monaci dei conventi di un tempo che non ai marinai’ .40 ‘The crews of the lighthouses, that is staff that resembles more the convent’s monks of yore rather than the sailors’. The comparison is by no means striking, considering the mystical importance of the lighthouse. The lighthouse and its crew are seen and respected by the traveller, as they are their first encounter with land, safety and refuge. The link with spirituality is something that comes 39 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti:2010) pp.55-56 40 Predrag Matvejevic Breviario Mediterraneo (Garzanti:2010) pp.56 41
naturally. The lighthouse crew for example is in some cases part of the ex-voto paintings found in the monasteries and convents. This illustrates the deep c01mection with the spiritual aspect. The question sometimes is to detennine whether the harbour and the lighthouse need to be two distinct features in the same space or whether they are part of the same geographical, social and cultural space. The answer may vary according to the way one perceives it. The lighthouse is the first encounter with land, but it is almost a feeling that precedes the real encounter with land, whilst the harbour is the first physical contact with land. The two elements may be taken into account separately, but for the purpose of this study they need to be taken in conjunction. The cultural value of both these elements goes beyond their physical value. In fact, both the lighthouse and the harbour share a common proximity to the sea, and receive cultural and social contributions from every traveller. The lighthouse and the harbour do not distinguish between different types of travellers -they accept everyone and their main gift for this act of pure love is the enrichment of culture, customs, language and food. The different elements intertwine and create a beautiful atmosphere that mixes sounds and tastes from various countries. This is not always distinguishable and it may not in all cases recreate the same atmosphere
in more than one country. What is sure is that the elements present in the harbours are of great relevance to what is portrayed on a higher artistic and cultural level. In this regard the harbour acts as a lighthouse for the country and sometimes for the region too, this time not to alann the traveller but to guide him spiritually and 42 artistically. The harbour was and still is a meeting place, where artists and thinkers stop and reflect. What comes out of these reflections sets deep roots in the cultural knit of the harbour and expands and grows until all the roots intertwine and create such a beautifully varied cultural atmosphere. Although the process may seem an easy and flowing one, we must not forget that the mixture of cultures and the setting up of such a variegated cultural atmosphere was not always flowing and peaceful. 3.1 Religious Cultural Mobility
The way the Mediterranean is geographically set up, contributed to an
expansion of religious pilgrimages that intertwined with marine commerce and
cultural richness. The image of the lighthouse and the harbour instil a sense of
spiritual refuge, and the large number of harbours and lighthouses in the
Mediterranean contribute to the mysticism of the region. Religious pilgrimage
throughout the Mediterranean is something that belongs to an older era and that
could have possibly started very early in the Greek empire, where Gods were
adored and ports and lighthouses had deep ties with different deities. As
Christianity started spreading in the Mediterranean, the Greek and Roman gods
were joined by saints and shrines for adoration.41 The coexistence of both pagan
and monotheistic religious expressions confinned a cultural motif related to
41 Peregring Horden, Nicholas Purcell The Corrupting sea, a study of the Mediterranean histmy (Blackwell publishing:2011)
43
divinity that has been a constant throughout Mediterranean history. In the Middle Ages the phenomena of the religious pilgrimage and the movement of saints’ relics gave to the Mediterranean voyage a different dimension. As noted in Borden and Purcell’s The Corrupting Sea, this age of pilgrimage and movement for religious purposes was brought about by a new discovery of sea routes in the Mediterranean and a different conception of religion as a c01mnodity. ‘Through the translation of his remains the saint himself, like the images of pre-Christian deities before him, in a very intense expression of the link between religion and redistribution, became a commodity’ .42 The redistribution of relics brought a new type of secular economy that involved bargaining and bartering. The movement of relics not only created a new wave of economic activity around the Mediterranean but also a movement of tales and accounts that pictured saints and voyages at sea, ‘Tales which echo real webs of communication, such as that of the arrival of St. Restitua from Carthage to Ischia’ .43 The stories seem to recall older stories from Greek culture, but are adapted to a newer setting.
The parallelism between good and bad, projected on the perilous voyage in
the Mediterranean, was always part of the account of a voyage itself, as we can
also recall in the various episodes of Ulysses’ journey. We are thus able to see that
in the voyages of pilgrims, the relationship between good and bad is often
projected onto the hard and extreme weather conditions in the Mediterranean.
42 Ibid pp.443
43 Ibid pp.443
44
Religious travellers had their own way of reading the map of the Mediterranean,
interpreting every danger and threat through religious imagery. From a cultural point of view, the accounts and echoes of religious travellers shaped the Mediterranean Sea itself and gave new life to the ports they anchored in. Apart from the movement of relics, another testimony of the great communication and cultural heritage -as we have previously mentioned- is the exvoto in the Mediterranean shores which gives witness to the cultural interaction and
customs based on faith. In many instances the objects collected for the ex-voto
have been taken up over time and placed in marine museums where cultural
interaction and exchange takes place. One example could be the ex-voto in
Marseille,44 where nowadays the objects collected are part of a collective cultural memory. In France, during the late seventies and the early eighties we have seen a great rediscovery of the ex-voto heritage that led to a deep cultural resonance in the area. The discovery of the ex-voto brought by a new inquiry of religious and harbour customs that were probably ignored previously. The paintings and objects dedicated to the saints and most of the time to the Virgin Mary represented the everyday life of sailors and travellers, the dangers at sea and most of all the miracles encountered during the arduous voyages. In the various exhibitions about ex-voto in France the concept of a Mediterranean ex-voto emerged and we are aware that at the time when the ex-voto was practiced in the majority of cases the 44 Jacques Bouillon ‘Ex-voto du terroir marsellais’ Revue d’histoire modern et contemporaine (1954) pp.342-344 45
voyage routes were sole1m1ly around the Mediterranean and the fact that marine exhibitions concerning the ex-voto claim a Mediterranean heritage calls for a collective cultural expe1ience. It is difficult though to distinguish between a
personal encounter with the harbour and a Mediterranean experience; one may
intertwine with the other. In this case, the Mediterranean reference is imposed and not implied, and one might therefore wonder if there are elements that are c01mnon in the region and thus justify the use of the word Mediterranean. In the case of the ex-voto, it has been noted that certain elements are common to the whole region.
It is interesting to note the areas of interest and the social groups to whom
the ex-voto applies. This may give a clearer idea of the criteria and the cultural
sphere that surrounded the practice of the ex-voto. In the majority of cases the exvoto represented the medium bourgeoisie and the lower classes, the setting mostly represented small nuclear families. In most of the ex-voto paintings, one can see that the terrestrial elements intertwine with celestial elements ‘Dans sa structure, un ex-voto presente deux espaces, celeste et terrestre’ .45 The anthropological and cultural importance of the ex-voto emerges through the various figures that appear especially in the paintings dedicated to the saints and the Virgin Mary. These figures have a particular placement in these paintings that reveals a deep connection with the cult of miracles and devotion.
In Malta, as in France, the ex-voto was a widespread custom that left a
great cultural heritage. The paintings and objects donated to the ex-voto, especially 45 Jacques Bouillon ‘Ex-voto du terroir marsellais’ Revue d’histoire modern et contemporaine (1954) pp.342-344 46
in connection to the sea, reveal a number of historical events and geographical
catastrophes that are tied with the Mediterranean region. The fact that the sea is
unpredictable makes the practice of the ex-voto much more relevant in an era
where the only means of transportation in the Mediterranean was by ways of sea. In the Maltese language there is a saying ‘il-bahar iaqqu ratba u rasu iebsa ‘ which literally translates to ‘the sea has a soft stomach but it is hard headed’. This saying is very significant as it shows the profound awareness of the Maltese community of the dangers at sea. The sea is unpredictable and therefore only through divine intercession can the traveller find peace and courage to overcome any dangerous situation. The different types of paintings that were donated portray different types of vessels and so indicate a precise period in history. At the Notre Dame de la Garde in Marseille, one finds a number of models of different vessels from various historical periods. We also encounter very recent models of boats. This confirms that in a way the ex-voto is still present nowadays. Even in Malta, the practice of the ex-voto is still relatively present, although one may notice that the advance in technology and the new fonns of transport through the Mediterranean aided the voyage itself and therefore diminished the threats and deaths at sea. The types of vessels used in the paintings also shows the different modes of economic trading voyages in the Mediterranean. For example, in Malta during the nineteenth century, a great number of merchants were travellmg across the Mediterranean. This resulted in a number of ex-voto paintings that pictured merchants’ vessels and one could be made aware of their provenance. Various details in the ex-voto 47
paintings show many important aspects of the Mediterranean history as a whole
and of the connectivity in the region that went on building through time.
One interesting fact common to almost all the ex-voto paintings is the
acronyms V.F.G.A (votum facit et gratiam accepit) and sometimes P.G.R (Per
Grazia Ricevuta) that categorizes certain paintings into the ex-voto sphere. The
acronyms literally mean that we made a vow and we received grace and P.G.R
stands for the grace received. The acronyms are in Latin, for a long period of time which was the official language of Christianity. These acronyms, which may have indicated the tie of high literature -through the knowledge of Latin- and popular culture -through the concept of the ex-voto, usually associated to a medium to lower class- demonstrate that the use of language may tie the various social classes. Although everyone understood the acronyms, it doesn’t mean that Latin was fully understood amongst sailors and merchants of the sea. Language was a barrier to merchants, traders and seamen most of the time. The Mediterranean has a variety of languages coexist in the region; Semitic languages at its south and Romance languages at its north. The lines of intersection and influence of languages are not at all clear and the geography of the Mediterranean region forced its people to move and shift from one place to another for commerce or for other reasons which brought by a deep need for modes of communication.
48
3.2 The Lingua Franca Mediterranea as a Mode of Communication
The communication barrier between people in the Mediterranean coupled
with the profound need for interaction brought by a deep need of a common
language or at least common signals which would be understood by everyone. In
the case of the ex-voto, language or at least a reference made to a certain language, gives the possibility for people from different countries to understand the underlying message. In the Mediterranean harbours where interaction between people from different lands was the order of the day, the need for common signals and language was always deeply felt. Languages in the Mediterranean region contain linguistic elements that throughout history have been absorbed from other languages. In the Mediterranean region especially during the fifteenth century, the great need for communication resulted in the creation of a so-called Lingua fiw1ca, a spoken language that allowed people to communicate more freely within Mediterranean ports. One such language was known as ‘Sabir’, with words mainly from Italian and Spanish, but also words from Arabic and Greek. The interesting fact about Sabir was that the amount of words coming from different languages around the Mediterranean was an indication of the type of c01mnerce that was taking place at the time. Therefore, if at a given moment in time the amount of words from the Italian language was higher than that from the Spanish language, it meant that commerce originating and involving from Italy predominated. As Eva Martinez Diaz explains in her study about the Lingua ji-anca Mediterranea:
49
‘They created a new language from a mixture whose lexical and
morphological base – the base of pidgin – is the Romance component,
exactly the language of the most powerful group in these relations and
which varies according to historical period. ’46 During the 16th Century, for example, the Lingua franca Mediterranea acquired more Spanish vocabulary, due to certain historical events that shifted maritime commerce. This was also an indication of certain political events that shaped Mediterranean history. When a country invaded or colonialized another, as happened in Algeria after the French colonization, linguistic repercussions were observed. This mostly affected everyday language communication, especially with the simpler and more functional mixture of words and phrases from different languages in ports and the areas around them rather than at a political level. In Mediterranean ports, the need among sea people and traders to communicatee led to the creation of a variety like Sabir. Sabir comes from the Spanish word saber (to know), although, it is mostly noticeable that Italian fonned it in its prevalence.47 Sabir is known to be a pidgin language. A pidgin is a language used between two or more groups of people that 46 Eva Martinez Diaz ‘An approach to the lingua franca of the Mediterranean’ Quaderns de la Mediteranea, universidad de Barcelona pp: 224
47 Riccardi Contini, ‘Lingua franca in the Mediterranean by John Wansbrough’ Quaderni di Studi Arabi, Litermy Innovation in Modern Arabic Literature. Schools and Journals. Vol. 18 (2000) (pp. 245-247)
50
speak a different language but need to have a business relation, and so, need to find a common language or mode of communication. The word ‘pidgin’ is said to come from the Chinese pronunciation of the word ‘business’. The Lingua fi’anca
Mediterranea was a language that started fonning in the Mediterranean throughout the 15th century and continued to shape and change itself depending on where the political and commercial hub lay; Sabir, specifically as an offshoot of the lingua fiw1ca mediterranea, fonned after the 17th century. The first time that reference was made to sabir was in 1852, in the newspaper ‘L ‘Algerien’ in an article entitled ‘la langue sabir. Apart from a few references made to the language, it is quite rare to find sabir in writing because it was mostly used for colloquial purposes, but in some cases it may be found in marine records. When it was actually written down, the lingua franca mediterranea used the Latin alphabet, and the sentence structure and grammar were very straightforward. In Sabir the verb was always in the infinitive, as, for example, in ‘Quand moi gagner drahem, moi achetir moukere’48, that means ‘when I will have enough money, I will buy a wife’. The use of the infinitive indicated a less complex grammar that made it more functional to the user, as it was a secondary language mostly used for commerce. Although Sabir was in most cases referred to as a variety of the lingua franca mediterranea, we perceive that in the popular culture sphere the word Sabir is mostly used to refer to the common and functional language used in MeditelTanean harbours for communication. It is deceiving in fact, because the 48 Guido Cifoletti ‘Aggiomamenti sulla lingua franca Mediterranea’ Universita di Udine pp: 146
51
lingua fi’anca mediterranea, is the appropriate reference that needs to be made
when talking in general about the language used in harbours around the
Mediterranean. On the other hand, if we want to refer to Sabir we are reducing the
lingua fi’anca mediterranea to a definite period of time and almost a defined
territory association. Nevertheless, both Sabir and lingua fiw1ca mediterranea are two different words that express almost the same thing, it is thus important to establish the minimal difference between the two tenns. In arguing that the lingua franca mediterranea refers to a more general language used in the Mediterranean harbours during the Middle Ages and that went on changing and fonning and changing-assuming different fonns according to the harbour and place where it was spoken- we are looking at the language in a broader way. It is undeniable though that Sabir as a reference to a specific language that fonned in Algeria during the 17th century, is most of the time more appropriate to address specific arguments, especially when it comes to popular culture expedients. Popular culture and literature have expressed their interest in the language through expressions such as poems and songs recalling Sabir as a language that managed to mingle more words of different derivation into single cultural spaces. Nowadays, Sabir is no longer used; in fact we notice that English and Chinese are developing into new pidgin languages, understood almost by everyone, especially when it comes to trade and busmess.
In the Mediterranean we have encountered the rediscovery of Sabir in
culture as a language that has a deep cultural value for Mediterranean countries as 52 a whole. One of the examples of the presence of Sabir in cultural expedients is the famous play by Moliere Le bourgeois gentilhomme49 that was represented for the first time in 1967 at the court of Louis XIV. The story was a satiric expression of the life at court, Moliere was well aware of the life at court and he wanted to show that there was no difference between royals and nonnal people, especially with regards to emotions. Moliere associates the Sabir to the foreign Turks that by means of Sabir they managed to communicate:
‘Se ti sabir,
Ti respondir;
Se non sabir,
Tazir, tazir. ‘ 50
The use of Sabir for Moliere indicated a common language understood both by
French and Turks in this case. The fact that Moliere used Sabir, it meant that
gradually the resonance of Sabir could reach out to a different audience, than it’s
main purpose. In this case the meeting place as the harbour was not present but we may perceive that the mixture of cultures and the need for communication led to the use of Sabir as the common language. 49 Moliere, le bourgoise gentilhomme www.writingshome.com/ebook _files/l 3 l .pdf
50 Moliere, le bourgoise gentilhomme www.writingshome.com/ebook _files/13 l.pdf pp.143
53
Coming to the present day, it is difficult to say that Sabir or the lingua
franca mediterranea own a particular important space in the cultural sphere or in the language per se. We are mostly sure that in the Mediterranean harbours Sabir has no relevance anymore, nevertheless, we find the use of Sabir in popular culture. One example is the aiiist Stefano Saletti,51 who in his songs uses Sabir. Its use was obviously intentional. Saletti looked at the new uprisings in the North African countries and he could recall the same feelings, faces and atmosphere that southern European countries went through thirty years prior. With this in mind, he decided to use a language that had co1mnon elements to all Mediterranean languages, and so he chose Sabir. His albums are inspired by the notion of music and culture as a tie to the whole Mediterranean, being conscious on the other hand of the numerous contradictions and differences in the Mediterranean region. The CD Saletti and the Piccola banda ikona explain what Sabir is and why they chose this language to communicate a c01mnon message through the music: ‘Once upon a time there was a tongue shared by the peoples of the Mediterranean. This was Sabir, a lingua franca which sailors, pirates,
fishennen, merchants, ship-owners used in the ports to communicate
with each other. From Genoa to Tangiers, from Salonika to Istanbul,
from Marseilles to Algiers, from Valencia to Palenno, until the early
decades of the twentieth century this kind of sea-faring “Esperanto”
developed little by little availing of tenns from Spanish, Italian,
51 Stefano Saletti www.stefanosaletti.it/schede/ikonaeng.htm (accessed July, 2014)
54
French and Arabic. We like this language. We like to mix sounds and
words. We play Sabir. We sing Sabir.’ 52 The importance of Sabir for Saletti shows that the harbour’s cultural value has been transmitted through time. Does the use of Sabir by Saletti indicate a recreation of a language that was used in the harbour as a functional and common means of communication or does it have the pretext to artificially recreate a common language? It is difficult to understand the importance and relevance an old pidgin language used for a specific purpose might hold today. Nevertheless, the use of this specific language in the music of Saletti reveals a profound search for common cultural traits in the Mediterranean region, that in this case aim to opt for cultural and educational approach to unite a region that is fractured in its own
basis. Saletti refers to Sabir as resembling Esperanto; a failed attempt to
linguistically unite a region that cannot be united. Although we may find the same concept in Esperanto and Sabir, we are aware that they differ in the way they came to be. Esperanto was artificially constructed, whereas, Sabir was born and evolved in an almost natural way by a need that went beyond the actual artifice. This is probably the reason why Sabir and the lingua franca mediterranea lasted for a long period of time, while Esperanto was at its birth a failed attempt to create a language for a detennined sector in society. It is a fact that the main difference between the two languages is that one aimed to create a broader understanding based on a functional everyday life need, whereas the other aimed to create a 52 Stefano Saletti www.stefanosaletti.it/schede/ikonaeng.htm (accessed July, 2014)
55
language understood by few. In Saletti’s and Moliere’s works, we perceive the Mediterranean harbour as a point of intersection of cultures and ways of living that left a spill-over of cultural traits in the abovementioned artistic works and in many other works by various authors around the Mediterranean region. It is important to notice that the harbour in the expression of the ex-voto, Sabir, lingua franca mediterranea and various literal and artistic expressions, served almost as a lighthouse, where culture was projected and created, and recreated and changed to fit the ever changing needs of the Mediterranean differing cultures. In Jean-Claude Izzo’s Les Marins Perdus, the language used in the harbour is not mentioned often, although he refers to language
as a barrier that finds its purpose in the basic everyday needs. Jean-Claude Izzo
mentions an important point on language in Les Marins Perdus as he delves in the way the word ‘Mediterranean’ is seen in different languages across the region: ‘Il Mediterraneo e di genere neutro nelle lingue slave e latine. E in
maschile in italiano. Femminile in francese. Maschile e femminile in
spagnolo, dipende. Ha due nomi maschili in arabo. E il greco, nelle
sue molteplici definizioni, gli concede tutti I generi. ‘ 53
‘The Mediterranean is neutral in the Slavonic languages, and in Latin.
It’s masculine in Italian. Feminine in French. Sometimes masculine,
sometimes feminine in Spanish. It has two masculine names in Arabic.
53 Jean-Claude IzzoMarinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010) pp.237
56
And Greek has many names for it, in different genders.’ Jean-Claude Izzo wants to prove that the word ‘Mediterranean’ in language is a sufficient proof of how people around the shores view the region. The gender of the word Mediterranean does in fact show that the languages in the region have
developed their own way of understanding and perceiving the region. Language as we have seen has deep ties to how popular culture and ideas have evolved and
developed. Sabir in its essence has proved that although the region has a myriad of contradictions and differing cultures, the harbour and everyday needs managed to combine the different languages into one. At the same time it is undeniable that the differences in the Mediterranean region make the region itself not only vast but also wonderful and enticing to the traveller and the artist. Literature and culture have fonned and mingled together, yet each maintained its distinct features at the the Mediterranean harbours; the place of various particular encounters. Jean Claude Izzo, Salletti and Moliere all managed to create a powerful work of art that has deep ties to the culture created and recreated over time in the Mediterranean harbours. Sabir and the ex-voto are only two examples of how harbours throughout
the Mediterranean have been a point of anchorage but also a locus of
Mediterranean cultural development. Harbours have been able to unite, divide and create such a diverse and yet common culture.
57
4 The Mediterranean Imaginary of Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo Inspired by the Port The Mediterranean as a discourse has been interpreted and reinterpreted, and idealized and mystified by a myriad of authors, thinkers and artists. In this modem era where globalization of thought is the nonn, the Mediterranean discourse is by far a difficult expression that finds obstacles in the concretization of its own thought. Nevertheless, today the Mediterranean is still capable of producing new artists and new expressions by which the discourse gets richer and deeper. The Mediterranean, as its name suggests, is a sea that is in between two lands, and as Franco Cassano 54 states, has never had the ambition to limit itself to only one of its shores. The Metlitenanean was fm a periotl of time consecutively and simultaneously Arab, Roman and/or Greek; it was everything and nothing at the same time. The Mediterranean never aspired to have a specific identity, and its strength lies in its conflicting identity; it embraces multiple languages and cultures in one sea. Franco Cassano in his L ‘alternativa mediterranea states that borders are always ahead of centres, ‘Il confine e sempre piu avanti di ogni centro’55, and this concept is very relevant when we think about the significance of the harbour, as a place at the border of the country and yet the centre of every interaction.
Cassano goes on explaining how the centre celebrates identity, whereas the border is always facing contradiction, war and suffering. The border cannot deny the suffering by which the conflicting and inhomogeneous Mediterranean identity has 54 Franco Cassano, Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2007) 55 Franco Cassano, Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2007) pp.80
58
been built upon. The border is the true expression of the Mediterranean and it is
undeniable here that the most important interactions and historical events in the
region have taken place.
The border is an important concept in the study of the Mediterranean
itself, and as already mentioned, the majority of intersection and cultural
exchanges have taken place in the harbours, which are the borders of a country yet the centre of every interaction. For the concept of a ‘Mediterranean identity’ to arise, the harbour has been a pivotal place economic and religious interactions
which consequently left an undeniable cultural baggage whose strong presence
allowed the Mediterranean shores to benefit from an enriching cultural melange.
Being a sea of proximity, the Mediterranean has always been prone to receive the
‘other’ with all its cultural baggage, and therefore the concept of fusion and
amalgamation of different aspects of every country has always contributed to the
region’s culture. Accounts about the Mediterranean and those set in it have always put at their centre the concept of ‘differences’ and the ‘other’ in contraposition to the conflicts found in the harbours and in its centres. Nevertheless, without expecting the ends to meet to a degree of totality, the Mediterranean has been able to create places where ends do not merely meet but coexist. The coexistence of different races, cultures and languages has been the founding stone of the region.
As Cassano states, an identity that claims to be pure is an identity that is destined
to fail because it is in the essence of a culture that it repels the ‘other’, and
therefore sees the answer to every problem in the elimination of the ‘other’. The
59
Mediterranean, on the other hand has embraced ‘the other’ or on occasion, ‘other’ has forcedly penetrated the Mediterranean, giving birth to a region of different cultures based on a coexistence which is sometimes peaceful but often hard. The Mediterranean nowadays has overcome the complex of Olientalism and moved forward from a vision of an exotic south or border; ‘non e piu una frontiera o una barriera tra il nord e il sud, o tra l’ est e l’ ovest, ma e piuttosto un luogo di incontli e correnti … di transiti continui’ .56 ‘it is not a border or bamer between North and South, or East and West anymore, but it is rather a place of encounters and trends of continuous transits’. The Mediterranean has become a region of transit and a meeting place.
Upon travelling across the Mediterranean, an important thing which makes
itself evident is the imaginary that keeps on building through the interaction
between authors and thinkers, especially through their works that focus on the
importance of stating a discourse about the Mediterranean.
4.1 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Izzo and Consolo
‘Il Mediterraneo none una semplice realta geografica, ma un temtorio
simbolico, un luogo sovraccalico di rappresentazioni. ’57
56 Franco Cassano,Danilo Zolo L ‘alternativa mediterranea (Milano: Feltrinelli, 2007) pp.92 57Jean-Claude Izzo,Thierry Fabre Rappresentare il Mediterraneo, Lo sguardo francese
(Mesogea: 2000) pp.7
60
‘The Mediterranean is not a simple geographical reality, but a
symbolic territory, a place overloaded with representations.’
The Mediterranean is a region full of symbolism and representationswhich
would not exist if it were not supp01ied by the literature and culture that has
fonned on and around its shores. The Mediterranean as a region of imaginaries
built on the integration of different voices and stories has produced a number of
authors and thinkers that left a cultural and artistic patrimony to the discourse
about the Mediterranean. We have already seen how the harbour transmits a sense of insecurity and plays a role of threshold which is testified through the works of Izzo and Consolo. Both authors have not only shown the importance of the harbour but have also contributed arduously to the fonnation of a Mediterranean imaginary. The word imaginary, comprehends a number of images, figures and fonns that are created by the observers to define something -not solemnly by the mere reflection of facts and historical events, but by a personal evaluation- that sometimes goes beyond reality. In this sense, it is undeniable that the Mediterranean has gathered a number of observers who have been able to translate facts and create figures and images that represent a collective in a singular imagination. Consolo and Izzo have transfonned their personal encounter with the Mediterranean into a powerful imaginary.
Jean-Claude Izzo was born and raised in Marseille in a family of Italian
immigrants. His background and geographical position highly influenced his
61
writing. Both Izzo and Consolo shared a deep love for their country of origin
especially for the microcosm surrounding them. Vincenzo Consolo wrote about
his beloved Sicily, while Izzo always mentions Marseille. Both authors transpose
the love for the microcosm into a broader vision of the Mediterranean as a whole.
Jean Claude Izzo’s Mediterranean is based on a passionate encounter with the
region and states that his Mediterranean differs from the one found at travel
agencies, where beauty and pleasure are easily found.
‘Cio che avevo scoperto non era il Mediterraneo preconfezionato che
ci vendono i mercanti di viaggi e di sogni facili. Che era propio un
piacere possibile quello che questo mare offriva.’ 58
‘I had discovered a Mediterranean beyond the pre-packaged one
usually sold and publicised by Merchants, as an easy dream. The
Mediterranean offered an achievable pleasure.’
The Mediterranean hides its beauty only to reveal it to anyone who
wants to see it. The Mediterranean for Izzo is a mixture of tragedy and pleasure,
and one element cannot exist without the other. This image of beauty and
happiness shared with tragedy and war is a recurring one in the study of the
Mediterranean. Consolo’s writing is based on the concept of suffering. He
pictures human grief and misery as an integral part of the Mediterranean
58 Jean-Claude Izzo, Thierry Fabre Rappresentare il Mediterraneo, Lo sguardo francese (Mesogea:
2000) pp.17
62
imaginary and he feels that poetry and literature have the responsibility to transmit the human condition. Izzo in his writings not only shows that the Mediterranean imaginary is made up of tragedy, suffering and war but also shows that there is hope in the discourse about the Mediterranean itself. For Izzo, the Mediterranean is part of his future, part of his destiny, embodied in the geography of the region and in the tales and accounts that inhabit every comer of the region. Through his beloved Marseille, Izzo manages to look at the Mediterranean and thus find himself.
The word ‘imaginary’ in the academic sphere is tied to a concept used
for the definition of spaces, a definition that goes beyond the way things seem
externally, a definition that puts much more faith in how an author, thinker or
artist expresses and describes the space. In the case of the Mediterranean, since
the region is not an officially recognized political entity, identity is based on
interpretation more than anywhere else and the concept of an imaginary proves
that there are paths that still lead to thought about the Mediterranean. With this in mind, one cam1ot deny the fact that in the political or social sphere, the concept of Medite1Tanean is still being mentioned; however, one could argue that the Mediterranean that is being mentioned in a political and social sphere is somehow a constructed ‘Mediterranean’. The Mediterranean’s relevance nowadays is found in the hearth of the author and artist that from Tangiers or from Marseille is able to write about a sea that has thought him to be mobile, to travel not only physically but mentally and emotionally from one shore to another. Jean-Claude Izzo’s troubled identity gives us a hint of the way in which the Mediterranean is 63
perceived as a region and the way in which the personal ‘imaginary’ for Izzo was
fonned. Izzo himself was from a family of mixed origins and was raised in a
constant state of travel. Izzo found his Mediterranean identity in the imaginary
other authors had created but also found his roots in the very absence of more
organic roots. Every story and every country may be part of his own identity, and
so, the Mediterranean has the ability to preserve in the depths of its sea the stories and feelings collected from every shore and give a curious traveller the
opportunity to retrieve these treasures and make them his own.
The historical approach to the Mediterranean has been based on a
comparison between south and north, between the Mediterranean and Europe, and it usually focused much more on the contrasting elements than on its conjunctions and similarities. Braudel59 saw the Mediterranean as a static and unchanging region. Today, modem thought has led to a new perception of the Mediterranean, focusing rather on the points of conjunction than on the differences and contrasting elements, yet accepting the fact that the Mediterranean is diverse in its essence. In a paper by Miriam Cooke about the Mediterranean entitled Mediterranean thinking: from Netizen to Metizen60
, she delves into the importance of the juxtaposition between the liquidity of the sea and the immobility of the land in the rethinking process of the Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean imaginary, the sea serves as a mirror and as a fluid that is able to connect and remain welldefined.
It is able to give a sense of time that is very different from the one on
59 Femand Braudel The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II (Fontana press: 1986) 60 Miriam Cooke ‘Mediterranean thinking: From Netizen to Medizen’ Geographical review, vol 89 pp.290-300
64
land. As we perceive in Jean-Claude Izzo, time is something that is completely
lost at the border between sea and land and especially in contact with the sea.
Sailors in Les Marins Perdus61 realize the concept of time only when they live in
the harbor and in other words, the sea has been able to preserve the sailor’s spirit in the illusion that time on land was as static as it was at sea. In the study about the Mediterranean region, the sea plays a fundamental role that must not be underestimated. Jean-Claude Izzo and Vincenzo Consolo both refer extensively to the figure of the sea when addressing the Mediterranean imaginary. When pondering on the Mediterranean, Izzo always places himself facing the sea, embracing the liquidity of this region, whereas in his stories, Consolo always uses the sea as the main mode of transportation and giving it a mystical attribute.
The Mediterranean has a different meaning for the two authors, because
it is perceived from two different places and two different conceptions of the
Mediterranean arise. In much of Consolo’ s writing, the Mediterranean is seen
through the image of Odysseus which is an image that holds a special meaning for Consolo and to which he feels deeply tied. For Consolo, The Odyssey is a story
that has no specific ending and this is done on purpose because it is directly tied to the future. The door to the future was kept open with the specific purpose of
letting the figure of Odysseus trespass time. The importance of Ulysses in
Consolo’s discourse extends to a deep and personal search for identity and it is
identity itself and the search for knowledge that led Ulysses to embark on a
61 Jean-Claude Izzo Marinai Perduti (Tascabili e/o: 2010)
65
voyage around the Mediterranean region and afterwards to return to Ithaca. Like
Izzo, Consolo finds the essence of a Mediterranean imaginary in the act of
travelling and sometimes wandering from coast to coast, from harbour to harbour, somehow like a modem Ulysses that aims to find himself and find knowledge through the act of travelling and meandering. Many authors that have focused their attention on the figure of Ulysses have focused on Ulysses’ return to Ithaca in particular and the search for a Mediterranean identity through this return.
Consolo, however, mainly uses the metaphor of travel and wandering, and he
manages to tie them to the question of a Mediterranean imaginary that is being
built upon the various images that the author is faced with through his voyage. For Consolo the voyage and the constant search for knowledge are the founding
stones of a Mediterranean imaginary. This urge to push further and thus reach a
greater level of knowledge has driven the Mediterranean people to practice
violence, and therefore Consolo believes that violence tied to the expression of a
deep search for knowledge is what has constituted the Mediterranean region. In
L ‘Olivo e L ‘Olivastro 62
, Vincenzo Consolo uses Ulysses’ voyage as a metaphor of his own voyage and his personal relation with Sicily; being his homeland it holds
a special place for Consolo especially in his writings. Constant change in the
modern concept of a Mediterranean has left a deep impact on the Mediterranean
imaginary. The wandering Ulysses returns to a changed and metamorphosed
Ithaca, which is a recurring image in the Mediterranean. Consolo finds his home
62 Norma Bouchard, Massimo Lollini, ed, Reading and Writing the Mediterranean, Essays by Vincenzo Consolo (University of Toronto Press, 2006)
66 island ‘Sicily’ deeply changed by industrialization and although it may have
maintained features that recall the past, it has changed greatly. Images of the
harbour and of the Mediterranean itself have deeply changed. Change may be
positive, negative or may hold a nostalgic tone, although change is always a
positive factor that contributes to the fonnation of an ‘imaginary’. The way
Ulysses and authors such as Consolo and Izzo have wandered and fought their
battles in the Mediterranean has contributed to the change that we now perceive in the region. Through the voyage of Ulysses, Consolo gives testimony of the
Mediterranean violence and change to the rest of the world. For Consolo the
imaginary created around the Mediterranean is a mixture of his own reality such
as a modem Sicily devastated by industrialization and modernization, and the
recurring image of Ulysses. In fl Sorriso dell ‘Ignoto Marinaio, Consolo focuses
on the microcosm of Sicily as a metaphor of the larger Mediterranean. His
imaginary is characterized by the concept of conflict – a conflict that keeps on
repeating itself in the Mediterranean and is somehow tied to a general conception of the Mediterranean. The harbour acquires an important space in the novel, being the hub of the whole story. The violence mentioned in the novel is a projection of violence in view of an attempt at unifying two different spheres, in this case the unification of Italy, but in a broader sense the possible unification of a Mediterranean. The attempt is not only a failure but results in a continuous war to establish a dominant culture rather than a possible melange of cultures that manage to keep their personal identities.
67
Izzo on the other hand wrote about the Mediterranean imaginary from
the point of view of sailors, who construct a Mediterranean imaginary based on
the concept of a difficult intercultural relationship and a strange bond with the
Mediterranean harbour. In Les Marins Perdus, the microcosm of Marseille
managed to represent the macrocosm of the Mediterranean, and the figures of the sailors represents a modem Ulysses, with the aim of bringing about a
Mediterranean imaginary that mingled old and traditional conceptions of the
region with new and modem ideas. Jean Claude Izzo’s sailors had different ways
of perceiving the Mediterranean, but they had a similar way of seeing and
identifying the ‘sea’. Izzo’s protagonist, much like Consolo’s protagonist,
develops an interesting habit of collecting old Mediterranean maps. For the sailor, the collection of maps represents in a certain way the concretization of a
Mediterranean and the unification of the geographical conception of the region.
The act of collecting may be considered as an attempt at identifying something
that is common, something that is part of a collective memory.
The works of Consolo and Izzo are the literal expressions of a
Mediterranean imaginary, based on their personal encounter with the region and
on their individual research on the subject. The way in which literal texts shape
our conception and ideas with their powerful imagery proves that the personal
encounter becomes a collective encounter in the translation of facts that each
author perfonns in his writings. However, what is most fascinating is the meeting
of ideas brought about through writing which also share elements with popular
68
culture. In essence, popular culture manages to reach a higher audience but it
often takes inspiration directly from literature and its various expressions. In the
sphere of popular culture one may see that the concept of adve1iising and of
mixing various means of communication to reach a specific goal come into action. 
Popular culture comp1ises various levels of cultural and artistic expression, and is therefore well placed to reach a larger audience and to imprint in the audience
various powerful images related to the subject chosen. In this case, the
Mediterranean has collected a large amount of popular culture expressions that
managed to create a knit of ideas and interpretations that succeed in intertwining and creating ideas through the use of old traditions and seminal literal texts.
4.2 The Mediterranean Imaginary in Popular Culture
The way in which the Mediterranean has been projected in the sphere of
popular culture owes a lot to the dichotomy between sea and land, between a fixed object and a fluid matter. The fascination around the two contrasting elements managed to create an even more fascinating expression of popular culture, thus an idea about the region that is based on the way in which Mediterranean people view the sea and view the stable and immobile element of land. Moreover, the Mediterranean popular culture focuses a lot on the element of the harbour, a place where the two elements of water and land manage to intertwine, meet, discuss ideas and at times fight over who dominates. The conflict between the two elements, projected in the geographical distribution of the region, has deep 69 resonance in the emotional encounter with the region. Thus, the authors, artists and travellers are emotionally part of this dichotomy that is consequently reflected in their artistic expressions.
To talk about the Mediterranean nowadays is to reinvent the idea behind
the region in an innovative and appealing way. Culture and literature are new
means by which we re-conceptualize the region. The Medite1Tanean has been
compared to the Internet, because it is a place where near and far are not too well defined, where space is something fluid and where infonnation and culture are transmitted through a network of connections. In her study, Miriam Cooke63 notes how even the tenninology used on the Internet derives from marine tenninology.
One example could be the ‘port’ or ‘portal’. In relation to the web, it is defined as
a place of entry and usually signifies the first place that people see when entering
the web. Although virtually, the concept of harbour remains the first and most
relevant encounter a person makes when approaching a country or ‘page’ on the
internet. Although air transportation has gained a great deal of importance,
shipping networks used for merchandise are common and still very much in use.
The parallelism between the Mediterranean and the Internet opens a new way of
conceptualizing the Mediterranean as a physical and cybernetic space. Miriam
Cooke explains how the Mediterranean itself, just like the Internet, changes the
traditional concept of core and periphery: 63 Miriam Cooke ‘Mediterranean thinking: From Netizen to Medizen’ Geographical review, vol 89 pp.290-300
70
‘The islands that are geographically centered in the Mediterranean are
rarely centers of power; rather, they are crossroads, sometimes sleepy
but sometimes also dangerous places of mixing, where power is most
visibly contested and where difficult choices must be made.’ 64
The way in which the Mediterranean is seen geographically most of the
time does not appear to be consistent with the actual function and thought of the
place. As in the case of the islands in the Mediterranean, their main function lies
in the fact that they are crossroads rather than real centres. Usually, the
geographical centre of a country is the actual political, social and economic
centre, however, in the Mediterranean, the centre is where ideas are fonned, and
this usually lies in the harbours and in the cities located in close proximity to the
sea. The centre and marginality of a place according to Cooke depends on the
position of the viewer. Therefore, the explained and conceptualized Mediterranean may have different centres and borders depending on who is writing about it. The function of popular culture is to somehow give a view on where the centre is and where the margins lie.
When discussing the Mediterranean in advertisements and in the media
m general, there is a tendency to start from the past, from a presumed
Mediterranean origin that seems to tie the whole region. In this assumption, there is no truth but just a commercial way of proposing the historical elements that 64 Ibid pp.296 71
unite the region, therefore making it appealing at a touristic level. The audience at times does not have a precise idea of the differing elements and cultures residing in the region. To make it more appealing and coherent, especially in advertising, culture seems to be portrayed as a feature that holds similar elements that recur throughout the region. Even tastes and sometimes sounds seem to be homogenized tlu·oughout the region. The French documentary film entitled Mediteranee Notre Mer a Taus produced by Yan Arthus-Bertrand for France 2, aims to give an overview of the Mediterranean by focusing not just on the common features, but most of all on the fascination of the differences. The
documentary film traces how the Mediterranean has transfonned and shifted over time and it aims to show the deep cultural heritage it left in Europe. Rather than an advertisement or promotional video, this is an educational movie that rotates around the Mediterranean to explain each and every place while delineating its features and importance. The interesting fact about the movie is that it is filmed from above, giving almost an overview of the region, and that it talks about a Mediterranean future that ultimately lies in a supposed c01mnon past. When advertising a harbour in the Mediterranean, most of the short clips focus on the multiculturalism of the harbour and the projection of the place within a broader Mediterranean vision.
72
A particular advertising video, promoting Tangier65 as a harbour city
that looks onto the Mediterranean but remains predominantly African, focuses on the emotions that it can deliver and on the particular features that can attract the tourist such as traditional food and music. In everyday life, certain music and
traditional food would have probably disappeared, but in the projection of a place that needs to attract the tourist, the sensational aspect prevails and the tradition needs to be prioritized. In all the movies concerning advertisement of the Mediterranean harbours, what prevails is the conception of the harbours as
crossroads, as places where cultures meet, and obviously leave deep cultural
heritage. The movement of people in these short clips is shown as a movement
that has brought richness and cultural heritage to the country, ignoring the
ongoing debates about migration. These clips tend to ignore the ongoing problems in the Mediterranean and this is obviously done to increase tourism and project a nicer image of the region, succeeding in having a positive impact on the mind of the viewer.
Another peculiarity that is noticeable both in the clips about the
Mediterranean harbours and in many movies and stories is a concept of time
which is very different from reality. In short clips, such as the one portraying
Tangiers or the one promoting Valletta, it is noticeable that time slows down. In
the transposition of the novel Les Marins Perdus into a movie66, the concept of
65 Fabounab,Tangiers, port of Aji-ica and the Mediterranean (uploaded May, 2010) www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_IJ3zmxC6g (accessed July, 2014)
66 Les Marins Perdus, Claire Devers (2003)
73 time is a fundamental element, because it drastically slows down. The first scene opens up with the overview of the Aldebaran, the ship on which the story unfolds.
This scene is a very long scene that gives the viewer a hint of approaching trouble, from sea to land. It achieves this in a very calm and slow way. Throughout the movie the sense of time being slower than usual is something that finds its apex in the last minutes of the movie when all the tragedies unfold. The way in which the Mediterranean is described in short clips and in this movie shows a common perception of the Mediterranean people as a people who enjoy life at a slower rhytlnn, although in certain cases it might be true that this assumption lacks accuracy. Although it is undeniable that the juxtaposition between land and sea which we especially perceive in the harbour gives a sense of time as a rather fictitious concept, one may recall the Odyssey, where the voyage in the Mediterranean took an unusually long time. The Odyssey in fact bases on the fact that time almost seemed to have stopped and in fact, the time span that Odysseus spent travelling at sea does not match with the actual time that was passing on land in Ithaca. On the other hand we perceive that time is passing by rather slowly for Penelope who patiently raised her son and safeguarded Ithaca while waiting Odysseus.
What the concept of time in the Mediterranean proves is that the various
images that one finds both in writing and in new popular culture are constantly fed to our conception of the region and through time these various concepts fonn an imaginary. In many cases, when we look at popular culture we find elements that 74 we can reconnect to literature. This proves that the means by which an imaginary is constrncted is based on different elements but usually one may find recmTing elements both in popular culture and literature. In the concept of time we also find a common way of seeing life itself. Time in the Mediterranean seems to be stuck therefore we may argue that literature and popular culture have contributed to the fonnation of our ideas about life per se, whilst obviously not denying that everyday life was of constant inspiration to literature and culture. The way in which both popular culture and everyday life intersect, connect and find common points is something of fundamental importance in the study of the Mediterranean imaginary, as it gives different points of view and visions of the subject and therefore creates an imaginary that manages in a subtle way to unite what seems so distant. Jean-Claude Izzo, Vincenzo Consolo and many other authors, as well as different ‘texts’ of popular culture, create an ethos about the Mediterranean that aims to join what appears separate. The fact that nowadays the Mediterranean is still present in popular culture, as in the case of the previously mentioned film shown by France 2, proves that discourse about the region and the Mediterranean imaginary are still alive and they have a presence in the mind of the receiver.
The imaginary of the Mediterranean harbour is also constrncted by the
way it is advertised. A short, recent videob1 advertising the Maltese harbour
repeatedly used the word ‘Mediterranean’ to highlight the connection between
67 Valletta Waterfront, Valletta Cruise Port Malta- the door to the Mediterranean, (uploaded February, 2012) www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMThbEG95WA (accessed May, 2014)
75
Europe and Africa. The way in which the harbour is projected in the French
movie shows a deep connection to the historical and cultural heritage of the
country but it also aims to show how historically and culturally varied the country is. The advertisement’s aim was to create a sense of uniqueness whilst focusing on the broader vision of the Mediterranean as a whole. On the one hand it focuses on the fact that Malta is part of the European Union, therefore boasting high standards of security and maritime services, and on the other hand it promotes the various hist01 ical influences on Malta and its Grand Harbour and portrays it as the gateway both to the northern and to the southern shore. Being an island in the Mediterranean gave Malta the possibility to create its uniqueness, but also to affiliate itself to both Europe and Africa. In this sense, the sea serves as a unifying factor but at the same time it was always able to maintain the individuality of each place. The discourse about the Mediterranean is rendered possible thanks to the various factors that inhabit the region – factors that may differ from one shore to another, thus making the region a more interesting one to study.
4.3 Conclusion The discourse about the Mediterranean has always revolved around the projection of different images that supposedly recall a common feeling and common grounds. The Mediterranean is a region that is in essence a combination of a myriad of cultures; this factor is very relevant in the discourse on the region 76 as the attempt to unite the region in one cultural sphere is somehow a failed attempt. It is relevant to mention that in the production of literature and culture, these different expressions especially concerning the Mediterranean have produced a knit of sensations and feelings that are now mostly recognized as being ‘Mediterranean’. The harbour in this case has always been the locus of the Mediterranean imaginary because sea and land meet in the harbour, and therefore many cultures meet and interact in the harbours.
Harbours are places that live an ‘in between’ life but that still manage to
mingle the differences in a subtle way that feels almost nonnal and natural. The
harbour has inspired many authors as it has built a sense of awaiting and hope in the person. The Mediterranean port seems to suggest that everything is possible, and that imageries and ideas can unfold in the same harbour.
77
5 Conclusion
The Mediterranean city is a place where two myths come together: the
myth of the city and the myth of the Mediterranean. Both myths have developed
independently because both managed to create symbols and connotations that
have been able to survive till today. The myth of the city in relation to the myth of
the Mediterranean has been for a long time regarded independently and therefore it created a succession of elements that was able to reside in the same place but was in essence two different elements. 68
From antiquity, the ‘city’ has been seen as a symbol of social order – as a
place where reason and civilization reign in contrast with the ignorance of the
outskirts. The concept of a ‘city’ that is able to unify ideals and control society by
maintaining high levels of education and increasing cultural standards has
developed a division between the rural areas and the city itself. In conjunction
with the harbour, the concept of a civilized ‘city’ mingles with the idea of a
cultural mixture that is able to absorb what the sea has to offer.
In the Mediterranean port cities, the cultural emancipation and the centre
of trade and business in a way managed to intenningle with the idea of ‘squalor’,
most of the time being associated to the harbour. Nevertheless, in the
68 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo (Mesogea 2000) pp.83-100
78
Mediterranean harbour cities, the idea of cultural richness and emancipation was a concept that found concretization in the idealization of the ‘city’ itself by its
inhabitants. The ‘city’ as much as the Mediterranean itself found deep resonance
with the growth of literature. In the case of the ‘city’, various treaties and
literature expedients that promoted it as a centre of cultural riclmess and
architectural rigor helped the ‘city’ itself to find a place in the mind of the person
approaching it. The obvious consequence of this new fonnation of cities as a
symbol of 1igor and proliferation was that a great number of people migrated from the rural areas to the cities. The myth of the harbour cities as being the centre of business and a locus of culture went on cultivating with the accounts about these cities written by various authors. They managed to give life to a succession of images that are now imprints of harbour cities throughout the Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean appears unified in anthropological69 discourse in which
assumptions are made about the way ‘Mediterraneaninsm’ is constituted and the
‘Mediterranean way of life’. A group of cultural anthropologists aimed to view
the Mediterranean as a whole for the purpose of identifying elements that
managed to tie the region and gave meaning to the unification itself. On the one
hand they managed to give international relevance to studies about the region
because they constructed what they regarded as common Mediterranean attributes.
On the other hand they were constructing a discourse that said more about their
own vision than about a region that is varied in its essence. In a way they also
69 Georges Duby Gli ideali de! Mediterraneo (Mesogea 2000) pp.83-100
79 rendered the region ‘exotic’. The way in which anthropology managed to create an idea about the Mediterranean is interesting even though a person living in the region might argue that the picture given is incorrect. In this sense the imaginary of the Mediterranean projected by literature does not aspire to give a detailed account of life in the region but rather to actually transmit the feelings and passions that the region has. In this sense, literature was able to transfonn a passion and a detailed account of one’s own perspective about the region into an imaginary that is in its turn able to remain imprinted in the person’s conception of the Mediterranean. Literature and art in the Mediterranean had the ability to prove that there are common feelings in the region but they are distinguishable in their very essence and the harbour with its strategic position was able to give inspiration to the artist that approached it. The creation of an imaginary about the Mediterranean goes beyond the very need of knowing and apprehending facts that may be or may not be common to the whole region. In this sense, the artistic expedients and the literal world managed to relate to the reader and the spectator in a very special way by creating powerful images that construct society.
5.1 The ‘imaginary’ of the Mediterranean
One important definition of the ‘imaginary’ is given by Castoriadis in his
The Imaginary Institution of Society 70 in which he states that the human being
cannot exist without the collective and that the collective is fonned by different
7° Kostantino Kavoulakas Cornelius Castoriadis on social imaginaiy and truth(University of Crete, September 2000) pp.202-213
80
elements. One of the elements that is of great importance in the fonnation of the
collective is the symbol. The symbol or the collection of symbols is fonned from
reality and from an imaginary. In the composition of the imaginary, whatever
stems from reality and whatever stems from fiction remains in essence a question which is not resolved or which probably does not intend to be resolved. Therefore, the imaginary explained by Castoriadis gives a social meaning to certain questions that are fundamental in the complexity of reality. For example, the symbol of God was created for various reasons but its creation per se does not distinguish between elements that are true in its essence and elements that are imagined. The example given by Castoriadis on the symbol of God leads us to the conception of the Mediterranean region as a region fonned in its imaginary by reality and myth which intertwine and are not distinguishable. The Mediterranean created by the various authors and artists mentioned reinforces the imaginary that has at its basis the aim of giving a picture of the region which is not far from reality but on the other hand which is not that structured. Therefore we can argue that the difference between an anthropologist’s approach to the region and an artist’s approach is based on the difference in their point of focus. This statement one does not deny the importance of the anthropologist’s approach to the region where in fact social
structure appears and thus one can easily understand the way by which society is fonned. To fuiiher the study and understand it in its complexity one cannot deny the importance of literature and culture in the creation of an imaginary.
Castoriadis 71 states that society shares a number of undeniable truths that are
71 Kostantino Kavoulakas Cornelius Castoriadis on social imaginaiy and truth (University of 81
accepted by everyone. By analyzing the imaginary one manages to go beyond
these undeniable truths and thus manages to extend the life of the imaginary itself.
Therefore, if the Mediterranean exists, it is because it managed to create a number of myths and symbols able to renew themselves. The impo1iance of the imaginary for the region itself is based on the fruits that it gives. The Mediterranean that is being mentioned in the various books and poems is supported by the emotions and passions of each and every author. If the author is not moved by passion for the region it would be difficult to create an imaginary. The Mediterranean region is still present in our mind thanks to the imaginary created by the various authors and thinkers.
The choice of the harbour as the locus of a Mediterranean imaginary
comes almost naturally as the harbours facing the Mediterranean Sea have a great impact on culture in the Mediterranean and the threshold between sea and land is on the one hand the very basis of the Mediterranean life. The harbour and the city as two separate and yet same elements intertwine and are able to create rich and variegated cultures, yet they were also the first spectators of conflicts and wars.
From this point of view, it is undeniable that the harbour in the Mediterranean
holds a special place for the author and may be seen by many authors and thinkers as a place of inspiration where ideas concretize and where the emotions, thoughts and ideas brought by the voyage at sea are still very present in the memory.
Crete, September 2000) pp.202-213
82
Through the image of the harbour we come across the image of the sailor
who to many authors has been a point of reflection for the discourse on the
Mediterranean and has helped the connection between the real, almost “filthy” life of the harbor, and the ideas and concepts that fonn in the city. The various authors that integrated the image of the sailor to the idea of the harbour in the
Mediterranean were able to reinforce the Mediterranean imaginary by joining
different images and by giving them life and purpose in a way that goes beyond
the truth. The sailor in Jean-Claude Izzo’ s imaginary has a deep and developed
curiosity and a great knowledge of The Odyssey. While it is not be a surprise that
a sailor has a passion for literature, the point that Jean-Claude Izzo makes is that
Homer’s Mediterranean has definitely changed, yet it is still alive in the heart of
the ones that live the region in all its essence. Therefore, the sailor who is an
everyday image and thus is able to relate to a greater audience acquires almost
different attributes that do not match reality, but that are in essence part of a
shared Mediterranean imaginary.
The way in which authors and thinkers contribute to the fonnation of the
Mediterranean has been the principal focus of this dissertation. The pattern
created by art and literature all over the Mediterranean highlights the differences in the region but it also portrays the similarities that are able to give birth to a unified Mediterranean. As discussed throughout, the process of finding
similarities and the fonnation of an imaginary that is able to constitute the
83
Mediterranean was not a smooth one. The Mediterranean does not in fact appear
as a place that has a lot of common features. Even though politically and
sometimes socially it has been portrayed as a unified region, the unifying factors
are few. Literature does not aim to give a picture of the Mediterranean as one but
aims rather to give various personal and interpersonal interpretations of the region to fonn an imaginary able to be transported and reinterpreted in different
circumstances. It is important to understand that the word ‘imaginary’ does not
aim to conduct a political or social inquiry about the region and that the word in
itself actually aims to understand the underlying concept of the Mediterranean. It does not aim to state facts about the region but rather to give an account that is
able to connect the historical roots of the region to personal experience.
5.2 The Mediterranean ‘Imaginary’ Beyond the Harbour
Although the harbour was my main focus in identifying the Mediterranean
imaginary, it is definitely not the only point in the Mediterranean that could be
taken into account when studying its imaginary. Other aspects of the
Mediterranean could be of great relevance when expanding the various images of the region. One important aspect in all the literature expedients taken into account was the relationship of every author with their nation and their complex identity.
Therefore, in relation to the study conducted, it would be of great interest to expand the notion of ‘nationhood’ and the fonnation of various and complex
84
identities created in the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean nowadays is seen as a region where ‘nationhood’ and identity are created through a complex of knits and relations. The latest ‘citizenship’ programs in all of the northern Mediterranean countries show how the borders and the concept of ‘nationhood’ are deeply changing, most probably opening to further possibilities that range from cultural enrichment to economic advance. When thinking about the Mediterranean JeanClaude Izzo emphasized the fact that he felt that part of himself resided in every harbour and his ‘identity’ was not limited to one place. He makes us realize that the Mediterranean existed before the creation of ‘nations’ and so, each Mediterranean person feels like he can relate to more than one country and more than one culture. The harbour has been the first impact with a deep association to the region, and the person approaching a Mediterranean harbour automatically abandons his roots and is able to relate to what the harbour has to offer. In this sense we have seen how the harbour was vital to the creation of a powerful imaginary. The question of identity and complex relations in the Mediterranean would be a next step in analysing the complexity of the region. The Mediterranean harbour teaches us that all Mediterranean people are prone to the ‘other’ and are open to various cultures, including the exposure to a number of languages and the creation of a lingua .fi’anca to facilitate communication. Therefore, with this exposure promoted by the harbour, the Mediterranean created various identities that sometimes are not distinguishable.
85
Jean-Claude Izzo felt he could relate to almost every country in the
Mediterranean and that part of him resided in every harbour. Nevertheless, he
always saw Marseille as a point of reference and as an anchorage point where his thoughts concretized. Contrarily, the difficult relation of Vincenzo Consolo with the Italian peninsula makes the issue of complex identitites particularly relevant. For a number of years, Consolo worked in northern Italy where he felt like a stranger in his own country. However, with the difference of enviromnent and in a way, a dissimilarity of culture, he was able to contemplate the meaning of the Mediterranean and his native ‘country’, Sicily. The question of a possible or
rather an impossible identity in the Mediterranean does not enrich or denigrate the concept of an ‘imaginary’ but rather enables the person studying the region to understand certain dynamics and the way in which authors and thinkers approach the region. It is rather difficult to paint a clear picture of the Mediterranean through understanding the complexity of ‘identity’, though it would be of great interest to find the way in which each and every Mediterranean person manages to relate to the concept of identity, which is an integral part of his or her social accomplishment. Society instils a deep sense of fulfilment and accomplishment in a person who is able to fully relate to their country of origin, and as Amin Maalouf states in In the Nmne of Identity, 72 identity is something that most of the time may lead to war between countries, and so it is undeniable that it plays a fundamental role in the way we view things.
72 Maalouf Amin, In the name of Identity: violence and the need to belong (Penguin books, 2000)
86
Amin Maalouf is an author of mixed origins. He is Lebanese but has lived
most of his life in France and when asked which of the two countries is his ‘real’
country, he found it difficult to answer as he states that both countries are part of
his identity. Thus identity for Amin Maalouf is something very personal. A person
living in France fonn a number of years has the ability to emich his previous
identity, therefore acquires an added identity to the previous one. The same person cannot deny the previous identity, yet he cannot deny that the present identity plays an important role in his personal fonnation. The Mediterranean as a region has always promoted the mixture of cultures and the voyage itself, therefore contributing to the fonnation of complex and variegated identities. Nowadays, we manage to relate both to a Greek and Roman descent, therefore geographically and historically the Mediterranean has been united in ideas and concepts that are now far from each other but yet undeniable.
The same geography and architectural heritage left by the Greeks and
Romans is still visible in most of the Mediterranean cities and harbours. This is
evident in the lighthouses that were for most of the time a symbol of greatness and architectural splendour, and we encountered a succession of ideas and cultures that mingled with the necessity of the lighthouse. Therefore the lighthouse that was on the one hand a powerful expression of artistic and cultural splendour, managed to create ideas and thoughts that stemmed from the actual need of ‘light’ and guidance. All these elements intertwine in the Mediterranean, rendering the 
87
concept of identity somewhat a complex one. Each person has an identity as
explained by Tarek Abdul Razek in his study about the Mediterranean identity:
‘Each one of us is the depositary of a dual legacy: the first is vertical,
coming from our ancestors, the traditions of our people and religious
c01mnunities; the other is horizontal and derives from our era and
contemporaries. Vertical identity is connected to memory and the past;
it is limited to a given territory within a given area. It usually
corresponds to national identity, the outcome of cultural policy
choices. Instead, horizontal identity extends towards the future,
though it remains open to the contemporary, reaching beyond national
borders, within a social context, in a postmodern approach. Thus,
horizontal identity is a project, a project for the future and not merely
a legacy of the past.’ 73
In relation to the Mediterranean, the horizontal and vertical identity may
be tied to the deep varied history that the Mediterranean holds. If Mediterranean
history is based on the interaction between people and cultures, then each and
everyone’s identity cannot just be based on the value of the nation as it is now.
The horizontal identity that leaves a door open to the future is in this sense very
important and gives substance to the discourse of a Mediterranean imaginary,
73 Abdul Razek ‘Common Mediterranean identity’ The Euro-Mediterranean student research multi-conference EMUNI RES (2009) pp.1-8
88
being the main contributor to the future of the Mediterranean. The imaginary that is the bringing together of both the vertical and horizontal identities manages to give hope to future discourse about the region. The imaginary does not deny the complexity of a possible Mediterranean identity, but merely shows a past where ideas flourished and have now become an integral paii of our own identity. It also proves that the future of a region is not solely made up of geographical, political and social features but is also made of different elements that manage to inte1iwine fanning a knit of images able to reside in the mind of every reader, artist and philosopher.
A search for a common identity is surely not the path to be taken in
understanding the relations in the Mediterranean because a common identity
usually instituted by the idea of a nation instills in the person a set of common
goals and ideals. In the case of the Mediterranean, the various conflicts and wars
show that there is no co1mnon identity tying the region. Therefore, it is quite
difficult to analyze a common identity and it should not be the purpose of a study
itself. It is interesting, however, to delve in the way authors and thinkers that
contributed to the fonnation of an imaginary in the Mediterranean deal with their personal identity, whether it is problematic for a great number of authors or whether authors find that their identity is not limited to their ‘national identity’.
All these factors could be of great interest to the person studying the region in the
sense that if each author writing about the Mediterranean finds the impulse to
write about the region, then he must feel a sense of association to the region,
89 irrespective of his roots or his identity, or the historical elements that he finds
residing in all the Mediterranean. This ‘affiliation’ has an element of identity that
I find interesting in the discourse about the Mediterranean. Jean-Claude Izzo in
his Les Marins Perdus states that every person travelling in the Mediterranean
needs to have a personal reason for it, and this personal reason resides mostly in
the search for an identity. One of the characters in Jean-Claude Izzo’s Les Marins
Perdus was in constant search of an identity; a personal one that could tie him
psychologically and emotionally to a harbour or to a land. The Mediterranean, as
a region, was the place where he could c01mnent, argue and question his own
identity. Whether the search actually resulted in finding his identity is not the
actual point of the novel but the focal point is that the constant search for an
‘affiliation’ and an anchorage point brought out a rich imaginary that is able to be
transported through time.
The Mediterranean imaginary constructed by the various authors and
thinkers created a vision of various concepts such as the sailor, the metaphor of
the harbour, and the thresholds that hold both a geographical and metaphorical
meaning. The imaginary of the region is meant to go beyond the initial sociopolitical meanings that the media tries to portray. The Mediterranean for
anthropologists, authors, politicians and the Mediterranean people themselves has in essence a different meaning for each person, and therefore by analyzing the narration and images about the region, it is possible to understand the relationship between each component of the Mediterranean society to society itself.
90
The aim of analyzing the imaginary in the Mediterranean through the help
of the harbour as a conceptual and geographical area was to focus on the way in
which literature and culture through the help of metaphors and the personal
encounter with the region, manages to leave an imprint on the imaginary of the
region. The region is not only a place where these figures meet, intertwine and are reinvented but it is also a place where politics should be discussed considering the deep historical and geographical ties as well as a place where issues such as ‘migration’ should be viewed with the history of the region in mind. The importance of the Mediterranean does not lie in the accomplishment of a common identity but in realizing that each and every complex identity that resides in and writes about the Mediterranean can contribute to the fonnation of the ‘imaginary’ to which everyone can relate – images and figures with which each Mediterranean person, with their diverse identities, can identify. The imaginary is the result of images, narratives and depictions that from a personal meaning and manage to acquire a deeper and more global meaning. The Mediterranean people would not feel that these common ideas and values are in any way limiting their freedom or restricting their identity, but on the contrary, feel that it is enriching to their personalized and contradictory identity.
91
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