Exile and memory: The emotional lens (Italy, Carlo Levi, Michael Radford, England, Antonio Skarmeta, Chile)

This paper explores the connection between exile and memory through the critical analysis of the memoir Cristo si e fermato a Eboli by Carlo Levi and the 1994 film Il Postino directed by Michael Radford. The theme of exile is explored from the perspective of Carlo Levi, who spent a year exiled to the southern Italian town Gagliano. Through his account of the peasant he introduces the reader to this sub-culture of sorts. Il Postino based on the novel El cartero de Neruda by Antonio Skarmeta, explores the theme of exile through the story of the poet Pablo Neruda's exile to an island in the south of Italy and also through the lives of the inhabitants. The theme of memory in both works serves as a source for establishing the connection to one's home and allows one to view home as a multi-layered concept and not as an idealized place.