The Sublime and the Pastoral in John Fante’s Works: The Symbolism of the Natural Landscapes of Colorado and California

Abstract

Together with Pietro di Donato and Jerre Mangione, John Fante is considered one of the founding voices of Italian American literature. The author’s sectorial inscription within Italian American Studies has however contributed to his categorization as a niche author. Highlighting the author’s attention to the specificities of place, this work aligns with recent studies that have underlined the primary relevance of space in Fante’s literary production. While the majority of these works have almost uniquely concentrated on Los Angeles, this study explores the symbolism of the natural landscapes of Colorado and California represented in the author’s works, attempting to encase them within the juxtaposed but often overlapping categories of the pastoral and the sublime. Following Elisa Bordin’s categorization of Fante’s works according to their spatial setting (Un’etnicità 32), this study develops in three chapters. While the first chapter defines the categories of the pastoral and the sublime in relation to the environmental history of the American West, the second concentrates on Fante’s works set in mountainous environments, focusing on the landscape of Colorado represented in Wait Until Spring, Bandini and 1933 Was a Bad Year and on the Northern California environments of the The Brotherhood of the Grape. The last chapter analyzes the manifestations of the sublime within the urban spatial dimension of Los Angeles and Southern California in Ask the Dust. Recurring to the categories of the pastoral and the sublime, this work ultimately aims at emancipating Fante’s works from the often restricting categorization of Italian American literature, recognizing their primary relevance within the literary history of the American West.