Abstract

The article makes use of postcolonial theory, in particular of Said’s notion of orientalism, to investigate the refined play of implicit and explicit cultural assimilations involved in Stäel’s choice to represent Italy through an extemporaneous woman poet. In this study we look at Corinne in a different light: rather than accentuating those elements of the book, which anticipate modern comparativism, the author investigates its judging glance – that proceeds in a polarized fashion, typical of the imperialist epoch – and highlights the outsider perspective, from which Mme de Stäel imposes over Italy and the Italians a model for perceiving themselves as European.