ABSTRACT
Percy Bysshe Shelley studies in the English-speaking world today reveal the extent to which the English poet has been approached as a contested voice open to countless interpretations. While most recent criticism focuses on the problems surrounding the editing of Shelley's works, and the poet's afterlives across Europe, new studies have also unearthed noteworthy evidence relating to the poet's self-imposed exile in Italy and his interaction with his Italian contemporaries. The emphasis on Shelley's death is, notably, propagated by many prominent voices of modern Italy, as in the case of the Italian poet Giuseppe Ungaretti. The centenary of Shelley's death, in 1922, had in fact prompted the publication of numerous monographs. By the mid-twentieth century, Shelley studies in Italy were sparse and, for the most part, relied on outdated sources. From the 1930s onwards, the flourishing of studies, translations and commemorations came to an end.
