Entre la Province et l’ailleurs. Les chansons de Paolo Conte : une contribution à penser l'espace

Paolo Conte is one of Italy’s greatest contemporary singersongwriters. His work is deeply rooted in the Po valley of the Post World War II. His poetics also use more exotic geographical references from South America to Zanzibar, as part of an allegorical displacement. This artistic strategy allows Conte to impart broader, even universal, impact to ordinary stories. His spatial conception revolves around two intertwined geographic archetypes: the province and elsewhere. The former is made of haze and boredom, whereas the latter is a promise of happiness and an escape into the exotic.