La nostalgia de lo imposible: la sirena de Lampedusa

Abstract

Published after the author's death, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, the short story titled in italian “Lighea”, originally “The Siren”, received high recognition from the readers and the critic considered it as the writer’s literary will. In the present work, we intend to approach the reading of this story from the fantasy novel perspective, and at the same time to try to analyze Lampedusa´s siren’s characteristics, finding elements present in mythology and tradition, as well as others of his own creation. At last, we will connect Lighea´s character to a special form of nostalgia, which leads to the pain inflicted by the impossibility of going back, of returning.