Stereotypical representations of the Mezzogiorno are a persistent feature of Italian culture at all levels. John Dickie analyzes these stereotypes in the post Unification period, when the Mezzogiornio was widely seen as barbaric, violent or irrational, an Africa on the European continent.Introduction A World at War: The Italian Army and Brigandage The Birth of the Southern Question The Power of the Picturesque: Representations of the South in the Illustrazione Italiana Francesco Crispi's SicilianitA ConclusionJOHN DICKIE is Lecturer in Italian Studies at University College London. He is General Editor of Modern Italy, the journal of the Association for the Study of Modern Italy.