Deep-Mapping Culture and Power: Gaskell’s Geographies and the Spatialization of North and South and Mary Barton

Abstract

This essay explores how Spatial Literary Studies, grounded in the theories of Raymond Williams and Robert T. Tally, can enrich the pedagogical use of Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South and Mary Barton in contemporary educational settings. Drawing on geocriticism, literary cartography, and spatial humanities, it argues that literature functions not merely as a cultural artefact but as a spatial practice that encodes ideological, social, and affective geographies. By analysing Gaskell’s representations of industrial and domestic spaces, the essay reveals how narrative forms articulate tensions between class, gender, and environment. These insights are put into practice through a detailed lesson plan designed for Italian secondary schools, offering teachers practical tools and strategies to integrate Spatial Literary Studies into their curriculum. Aimed at moving beyond traditional literary appreciation, the proposed lesson plan equips educators to guide students in interrogating spatial imaginaries and mapping textual geographies as dynamic sites of meaning-making. Through spatialized readings, digital storytelling, and multimedia adaptations, students are encouraged to connect Victorian cultural formations with contemporary urban experiences. In doing so, the essay positions spatial literacy as a critical dimension of literary education and demonstrates how Cultural Studies can be reoriented through a spatial lens to empower both teachers’ pedagogical practice and students’ interpretive capacities.