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Fiction and the Fantastic: ‘Invisible Cities’ by Italo Calvino
Mar 10, 2025
In a captivating discussion, writer and scholar Anna Della Subin, author of 'Accidental Gods', explores Italo Calvino’s 'Invisible Cities'. The conversation dives into the poetic structure, revealing how Marco Polo's fantastical narratives blur reality and imagination. They tackle themes of memory, urban life, and anti-fascist politics, illustrating Calvino's belief in the fantastic as a mode of truth-telling. The intriguing parallels with Kafka’s ideas showcase how storytelling can illuminate hope amid despair.
15:35
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Quick takeaways
- Calvino's 'Invisible Cities' reimagines urban landscapes through fantastical depictions, revealing universal truths about cities and human experience.
- The interplay between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan highlights storytelling's role in understanding and bridging realities through narrative exploration.
Deep dives
Exploring Invisible Cities
Invisible Cities features a distinctive structure, presenting 55 cities categorized by various themes such as desire, memory, and the dead. The narrative is framed by the conversations between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, reminiscent of storytelling traditions like Scheherazade's. Within this framework, each city represents universal truths about urban life, effectively capturing the essence of all places. Polo's assertion that every city is an iteration of his home, Venice, underscores the personal lens through which he narrates his travels.
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