Il "barlume che vacilla"

The essays collected here represent a critical survey of the multifaceted significance of the term "happiness" in Italian literature. From the 15th to the 19th century, authors and texts are analyzed with the goal of discovering the rhetorical and narrative modality of this state of mind. From Giovanni Pontano and Bernardino Baldi to Natalia Ginzburg and Giancarlo Buzzi, from Carlo Goldoni and Alessandro Manzoni to Luigi Pirandello, literature has paid particular attention to the polysemy of the term "happiness." Describing this feeling means reflecting at the same time on its opposite, emphasizing the long journey of searching for happiness, and verifying its ephemeral and nostalgic character. The vocabulary of "happiness," according to these investigations, is also closely linked to the narratological vocabulary relating to the time of narration. "Happiness" is often expressed by the narrating voice as a feeling closely connected with a mythic and unrepeatable past, or with a future that is uncertain and difficult to realize.

Year

2016

Language

Italian

Series

Critica letteraria e linguistica -- 101

Publisher

FrancoAngeli

Editions

1

Pages

159

ISBN

9788891740526

Data source: Wikidata