 |
Jan.23,2005 -Jan.30,2005 |
Italo Calvino's Compass
Eugenio Bolongaro's book reassesses author's accomplishments
By Mark Cirillo
Originally Published: 2004-03-07
A good book for me is a book that is trying to do something - i.e. to make us think and see the world from a different perspective, and possibly lead to some kind of action."
Before reading Eugenio Bolongaro's new book, Italo Calvino and the Compass of Literature, one wouldn't have thought this sentiment was typical of a Calvinian scholar. Reading the book, and speaking with Bolongaro (when he made the statement), confirmed this suspicion. The point is that Bolongaro, who is indeed an expert, has a different perspective on Calvino.
Calvino ranks amongst the most celebrated authors in modern Italian literature, and his works are studied alongside the masters of postmodernism, like Borges, Perec, and Pynchon. Critics celebrate the playful nature of his works from the 60s and 70s, focusing on post-structuralist themes like the 'death of the subject' or the 'death of the author.'
For Bolongaro, this kind of analysis is valid but incomplete. He argues that to truly appreciate Calvino's accomplishment, we must consider each work within its specific historical context. Only then can we see how they participate in ongoing political and aesthetic debates of their time; only then can we understand Calvino's "lifelong commitment, as an intellectual, to writing as a way of intervening into a particular social and historical situation while taking an ethical and political stance." Compass traces the development of Calvino's understanding of his own role as an intellectual during the first two decades after WWII.
Calvino fought with the Resistance during the war, and was a member of the Partito Comunista Italiano until 1956. During this time he participated in seminal cultural forums like Il Politecnico, Officina, and Il Menaḅ, working with luminaries like Vittorini and Pasolini. Victory at war and liberation from fascist rhetoric and ideology made this an exciting time for these young intellectuals. They hoped the solidarity amongst classes that took place during the Resistance could continue in peacetime. They created neorealism, a new aesthetic, to express this solidarity, and looked for inspiration to the writings of Antonio Gramsci.
Page 1/...Page 2
|
| Home / Back to Top |
|
|
 |
|
|
</ td>
