Re-reading Serao through Anglocentric Eyes

This essay discusses some critical evaluations of Matilde Serao’s writings from her own time, focussing mainly on the English-language context (American, English and Irish) in which her work was received and analysed. Important factors in considering her reception in these contexts are gender-related issues and her Neapolitan-ness, Southernness and/or Italian-ness. These factors are often as revealing of her critics and the views of their societies as they are of the author and her work.