Sardinian Hinges

Geometaphors and Giovanni Corona's Poetry

Abstract

The idea for this essay sparked from the ‘Thinking Space’ section of the 2023 issue of Literary Geographies, which focused on the concept of spatial hinges. I read those contributions with great enthusiasm, as they seemed to articulate an idea that has long fascinated me and that I have come to call the geometaphor. The geometaphor is a precisely localized hinge: an element of the landscape so deeply imbued with meaning that it undergoes a kind of transfiguration, becoming symbolic while still firmly rooted in its geographic specificity. It is, in some way, the movement of the hinge itself. This idea is actualized within the Italian context, specifically on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, as seen through the poetry of Giovanni Corona (1914–1987). After discussing the intersection between geometaphors and hinges in the context of ‘interpatiality’ and introducing the concept from an Italian viewpoint, the article delves into a close reading of several poems by Giovanni Corona. It isolates elements of the Sardinian landscape – such as the cork tree, a village nestled in a volcanic crater, an ancient sacred well, basaltic rocks, and even handwoven cloth – to discuss their intersection with literary and existential themes. These concrete, specific locations may act as hinge-moments, swinging to reveal deeper layers of meaning, accessible through what might be called a ‘double gaze.’