Offering queer analyses of paintings by Caravaggio and Puccini and films by Özpetek, Amelio, and Grimaldi, Champagne argues that Italian masculinity has often been articulated through melodrama. Wide in scope and multidisciplinary in approach, this much-needed study shows the vital role of affect for both Italian history and masculinity studies.

Autorentext
John Champagne is Professor of English at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, USA.

Inhalt
Introduction: Italian Masculinity and Melodrama 1. Caravaggio and the Melodramatic Sensibility 2. Caravaggio's Melodramatic Male Bodies 3. Tosca and Social Melodrama 4. Puccini's Sparrow: Longing and La Rondine 5. "Normality . . . what an ugly word!": Contemporary Queer Melodrama 6. Özpetek's Queer Cinema Conclusion