The mythologem of rural Russia in Italian travel prose of the 1920-1960s

The article analyzes the concept of “rural Russia” in Italian Travel Prose about the USSR of the 1920-1960s, including the works by such pre-war authors as Vincenzo Cardarelli and Corrado Alvaro, and a number of travelogues written after World War II by Italo Calvino, Sibilla Aleramo, Anna Maria Ortese, Carlo Levi, Alberto Moravia, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Goffredo Parise. The image of rural Russia is considered as a key element of the so called Russian myth, which took shape during the 18th and the 19th centuries and determined the European (and Italian) perception of the USSR throughout a large portion of its history. We consider this mythologem as a part of the binary opposition of city and country, which, subsequently, constitutes a part of the dichotomy of civilization and barbarity, progress and backwardness, where the “rural” and “barbaric” Russia is perceived as an uncultivated territory dominated by elemental forces of nature, as opposed to the civilized urban Italy, the champion of high culture and European values. The 1950s witness a serious transformation of the image of rural Russia under the influence of certain socio-political factors, including the interaction with another mythological complex, known as the “Soviet myth”: the concept loses its traditional negative implications and takes on a romantic and nostalgic hue. Since 1960 the “rural” mythologems in Italian travel prose about the USSR gradually become less important, which may be seen as a sign of a larger tendency towards a decrease of mythological components in Italian perception of the Soviet Union in the period of 1960-1980s.