As traditional social hierarchies fall away, ever steeper levels of economic inequality and the entrenchment of new class distinctions lend a new glamor to the idea of aristocracy: witness the worldwide popularity of Downton Abbey, or the seemingly insatiable public fascination with the private lives of the British royal family. This collection of essays investigates the enduring attraction with the icon of the aristocrat and the spectacle of aristocratic society. It traces the ambivalent reactions the aristocracy provokes and the needs (political, ideological, psychological, and otherwise) it caters to in modern times when the economic power of the landed classes have been eroded and their political role curtailed. In this interdisciplinary collection, aristocracy is considered from multiple viewpoints, including British and American literature, European history and politics, cultural studies, linguistics, visual arts, music, and media studies.

Originally published in Italian as Lorizzonte mobile: spazio e luoghi nella narrativa di D.H. Lawrence in 1998, this critical study analyzes the work of D.H. Lawrence in light of new theories about space and location, or place and community. This approach is especially useful in examining Lawrence, as place and space are central aspects of all of his work. The introductory chapter explains the theoretical premises, drawing extensively from anthropology especially insofar as the relationship between culture and nature or community and place are concerned. This chapter also offers theories based on semiotics, sociological concerns and recent research in human geography and environmentalism. Succeeding chapters analyze functional aspects of place and space in D.H. Lawrences work. Lawrence's major novels and stories provide the main focus of this book, but attention is also paid to lesser-known texts, both fiction and nonfiction. This work provides a new approach to studies on D.H. Lawrence, opening up new insights for both scholars and students alike.