European Literary History Essay | Invisible Cities
Invisible cities, if you can't see them, you can still imagine them. Where are these cities and who
created them? Did I do myself or was I told what they must look like? In this essay I will look into the
book called "Le città invisibili" by Italo Calvino, in English known as Invisible Cities. This book
contains a story that is based on fictional experiences by European traveller Marco Polo. The real
Marco Polo was a world renowned traveller who's travel accounts became very influential in its time.
His book continue to be a big influence in the modern world and his works have inspired many1. In
this novel, Polo meets emperor Kublai Khan of Mongolia. Polo went into service of Khan and
travelled his empire to report back to Kahn about what his empire looked like. However, the emperor
does not believe everything Marco Polo tells him when he describes the cities he visited on his
journey's through the empire.
The idea I will be arguing about in this essay is: "Every story creates its own Europe".
I will start this essay off by telling about how the novel is structured and the narrative that is taken
with regards to the story. After that, I will place the book into a genre and look at what Calvino said
about his own novel regarding the genre. Furthermore, I will discuss the mode of the book, and in
what way the idea's of the author on urban life, might come forward. Adding to that I will look into
Calvino's life and how his life experiences might have influenced his writing in this novel.
Additionally, I will discuss the book publication and how it was perceived by critics. Finally, I will
discuss in short how Calvino thinks about his novel, followed by my own view on the novel and
together I will explain how every story can create its own Europe.
To find more information on the book, learn more about the context and form my academic opinion on
the statement that every story can create its own Europe, I will use the novel Invisible Cities, which I
read in English translated by William Weaver2. Furthermore, I will use academic internet sources and
books which I have given footnotes to, making clear that I further researched certain subjects. Based
on the information I found and with my own take of the novel, I will answer how I believe Invisible
cities creates its own Europe.
By arguing the statement: "Every story creates its own Europe", I will provide an insight on how this
novel, Invisible Cities, presents the idea of Europe in its very own setting. But also how Calvino's
ideas, opinions and background impacted the story.
1
Whitfield, S. Marco Polo. oxfordbibliographies.com. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-
9780199920082/obo-9780199920082-0170.xml
2
Calvino, I. Invisible Cities; Translated by William Weaver. New York: Harcourt Inc, 1974. hmhbooks.com.
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