In Italian Cultural Lineages, Jonathan White seeks answers to the elusive questions: what is Italian culture and what is the Italian identity? By tracing Italian life and art through several themes - viewing and spectatorship, fantasy, passion, justice, reputation, and lifestyles - White offers new ways of perceiving an ancient cultural tradition in the twenty-first century. In doing so, he challenges readers to discern rich poetic seams that bind together his varied subject matter.

Italian Cultural Lineages is primarily concerned with factors that unify Italians,...