To fully appreciate the thematic essence of the Italian short-story writer Dino Buzzati it is necessary to understand his use of literary archetypes. As these have been discussed by the Canadian literary critic Northrop Frye, the question for the study was whether his theory about the tragic mode could be mapped directly onto the themes of Buzzati and, if there were discrepancies, what impact they had on the received message. The study presupposed the archetypes found in the tragic mode of the fifth phase and in the low mimetic mode as described by Frye, exemplified by Adam and the episode of the fall of man, and found many of them in the short stories collection La boutique del mistero by Buzzati. The narrative follows the archetypal theory perfectly with the cause, fall and effect of the situation, and many tragic characters can be found, such as Adam. However, Frye’s seven cyclic worlds correspond in only five cases, whereas two violate the tragic archetypal laws: the cosmological and the vegetable worlds. The literary effect is that tragedy is perceived as occurring too soon in the protagonist’s life and described by the ironic observational writer as having no effect on the world, leaving the readers with the sense that they too might be excluded from society the way Adam was and prematurely die alone.

This thesis explores the relationship between Buzzati’s fiction and Anglophone culture, particularly the re-use of narrative and visual sources in his works. The analysis of the intertextual stratification in Buzzati brings to the fore the author’s urge to convey the significance of imagination through the fantastic mode. It also reveals an optimistic and playful side of Buzzati, which lies behind a pervading pessimistic tone. Buzzati’s re-working of images from other authors and of generic topoi is aimed at decrying the loss of imagination occurring in the transition to adulthood as well as a general disregard of fantasy characterizing modern technologized societies. Nonetheless, intertextual practices are a means to recover and originally re-present the fantastic imagery conveyed by the artists from whom Buzzati drew inspiration. Buzzati was especially keen on Anglophone literature and art; hence, the focus of this thesis, which is divided into four chapters. Chapter One deals with Buzzati’s re-use in his fiction of drawings by the English illustrator Arthur Rackham; this is a process in which visual memory and intermedia translation are paramount. Chapter Two investigates the link between Joseph Conrad’s heroes and the characterization of Buzzati’s (anti-)heroic figures; they are trapped in the mechanisms of lack of courage and time but eventually find their own ways to self-redemption. Chapter Three considers Buzzati’s reversal and borrowing of topoi belonging to the sea monster story and the ghost story; these practices are aimed at emphasizing the importance of fantasy. Chapter Four places Buzzati’s Christmas fiction between the Italian and the Dickensian tradition, showing how Buzzati re-works the genre’s stereotypes to recreate the Christmas spirit. Whether Buzzati engages in an intertextual dialogue with individual authors or literary traditions, examining the connections he established with Anglophone culture allows a reassessment of his work. Indeed, the Buzzatian fantastic reveals itself as poised between gloominess and faith in the redeeming power of imagination; the fantastic alternatives Buzzati offers against the dullness of reality also evince his enjoyment of the artistic creation per se.

Questo lavoro propone uno studio sul tempo narrativo nel romanzo Il deserto dei Tartari di Dino Buzzati. Il terzo romanzo dello scrittore italiano pubblicato nel 1940 racconta la vicenda di un ufficiale dellesercito che per tutta la sua vita serve in una fortezza della frontiera nord del suo paese, la quale sta di fronte ad un grandissimo deserto da cui un giorno dovrebbe arrivare uninvasione nemica. Si cerca di studiare in questo romanzo, allegoria dellumana condizione, le diverse relazioni delluomo con il suo più grande nemico: il tempo. Si discutono nel capitolo primo alcune teorie sul tempo e la narrativa di diversi studiosi che hanno sviluppato questo tema. Le loro teorie sono la base per lanalisi proposta. Nel secondo capitolo si studia più accuratamente il problema del tempo allinterno di questa narrativa sviluppando poi l´analisi proposta, nel capitolo terzo, propone una discussione sulle relazioni del tempo sia con lo spazio sia con luomo. / O presente trabalho propõe um estudo sobre questões de tempo em narrativa no romance Il deserto dei Tartari de Dino Buzzati. Terceiro romance do escritor italiano, publicado em 1940, narra a saga de um oficial de exército que presta serviço a vida inteira em um forte localizado na fronteira norte de seu país que guarda um imenso deserto a sua frente, de onde um dia uma invasão inimiga é esperada. Procuramos estudar no texto, alegoria da condição humana, as diversas relações do homem com seu maior inimigo, o tempo. Tratamos no primeiro capítulo dos trabalhos sobre tempo e narrativa, a partir de vários estudiosos que se ocuparam desse tema e que nos auxiliam em todo o trabalho. No segundo capítulo estudamos mais cuidadosamente a questão do tempo no interior da narrativa, ampliando a análise proposta, no terceiro capítulo, com uma discussão sobre as relações do tempo com o espaço e com o homem.

O presente trabalho propõe um estudo sobre questões de tempo em narrativa no romance Il deserto dei Tartari de Dino Buzzati. Terceiro romance do escritor italiano, publicado em 1940, narra a saga de um oficial de exército que presta serviço a vida inteira em um forte localizado na fronteira norte de seu país que guarda um imenso deserto a sua frente, de onde um dia uma invasão inimiga é esperada. Procuramos estudar no texto, alegoria da condição humana, as diversas relações do homem com seu maior inimigo, o tempo. Tratamos no primeiro capítulo dos trabalhos sobre tempo e narrativa, a partir de vários estudiosos que se ocuparam desse tema e que nos auxiliam em todo o trabalho. No segundo capítulo estudamos mais cuidadosamente a questão do tempo no interior da narrativa, ampliando a análise proposta, no terceiro capítulo, com uma discussão sobre as relações do tempo com o espaço e com o homem. / Questo lavoro propone uno studio sul tempo narrativo nel romanzo Il deserto dei Tartari di Dino Buzzati. Il terzo romanzo dello scrittore italiano pubblicato nel 1940 racconta la vicenda di un ufficiale dellesercito che per tutta la sua vita serve in una fortezza della frontiera nord del suo paese, la quale sta di fronte ad un grandissimo deserto da cui un giorno dovrebbe arrivare uninvasione nemica. Si cerca di studiare in questo romanzo, allegoria dellumana condizione, le diverse relazioni delluomo con il suo più grande nemico: il tempo. Si discutono nel capitolo primo alcune teorie sul tempo e la narrativa di diversi studiosi che hanno sviluppato questo tema. Le loro teorie sono la base per lanalisi proposta. Nel secondo capitolo si studia più accuratamente il problema del tempo allinterno di questa narrativa sviluppando poi l´analisi proposta, nel capitolo terzo, propone una discussione sulle relazioni del tempo sia con lo spazio sia con luomo.

A proposta desta dissertação é analisar em contos do livro Sessanta Racconti (1958) a relação entre a poética do autor e a estética surrealista. Através do exame de elementos surrealistas específicos (acaso objetivo, humor negro, sonho, maravilhoso e fantástico) utilizados por Buzzati na construção dos 16 contos selecionados, buscou-se identificar indícios de similaridade, transposição ou releitura de modo a aprofundar o conceito de surrealismo buzzatiano, diverso das demais manifestações surrealistas, mas ao mesmo tempo em diálogo com a estética vinculada a André Breton e seguidores. Desta forma, pretende-se colaborar para o preenchimento de lacunas ainda existentes nos estudos sobre o autor, auxiliando na construção de possíveis novas abordagens para análise e tradução da obra de Buzzati. / The aim of the present dissertation was to study the tales in the book Sessanta Racconti (1958) to analyze the relation between author\'s style within the surrealist aesthetics. We tried to identify similarities, transposition or review, through the study of specific surrealistic elements (objective hazard, black humour, dream, marvelous and fantastic) that was used by Buzzati to create his 16 selected tales. Thus we intend to show a idea of the Buzzati´s surrealism, different of another surrealist manifestations, but at the same time in dialogue with the aesthetic model related to André Breton and his followers. Finally we intend to improve the author\'s researches, with suggestions for the development of new approaches to analysis and translations of Buzzati\'s works.

A proposta desta dissertação é analisar em contos do livro Sessanta Racconti (1958) a relação entre a poética do autor e a estética surrealista. Através do exame de elementos surrealistas específicos (acaso objetivo, humor negro, sonho, maravilhoso e fantástico) utilizados por Buzzati na construção dos 16 contos selecionados, buscou-se identificar indícios de similaridade, transposição ou releitura de modo a aprofundar o conceito de surrealismo buzzatiano, diverso das demais manifestações surrealistas, mas ao mesmo tempo em diálogo com a estética vinculada a André Breton e seguidores. Desta forma, pretende-se colaborar para o preenchimento de lacunas ainda existentes nos estudos sobre o autor, auxiliando na construção de possíveis novas abordagens para análise e tradução da obra de Buzzati. / The aim of the present dissertation was to study the tales in the book Sessanta Racconti (1958) to analyze the relation between author\'s style within the surrealist aesthetics. We tried to identify similarities, transposition or review, through the study of specific surrealistic elements (objective hazard, black humour, dream, marvelous and fantastic) that was used by Buzzati to create his 16 selected tales. Thus we intend to show a idea of the Buzzati´s surrealism, different of another surrealist manifestations, but at the same time in dialogue with the aesthetic model related to André Breton and his followers. Finally we intend to improve the author\'s researches, with suggestions for the development of new approaches to analysis and translations of Buzzati\'s works.

The main theme of this thesis is the existential anxiety and the motive of death in the early prosaic texts of the Italian author Dino Buzzati. The first chapter is dedicated to the author's biography where mainly the early years of his literary career are emphasized. After this introductory session follows an overview of the main features of existentialism as well as its place in the context of 20th century European literature and philosophy. In the last section of the theoretical part of the thesis we comment on the possible analogies between the literary work of Dino Buzzati and those of Franz Kafka, which were noticed by the contemporary literary criticism. The analytical part of the thesis is dedicated to the literary analysis of the primary texts: the novel The Tartar Steppe and selected short stories of the collection The Seven Messengers. In the last section we draw conclusions on the literary style of Dino Buzzati based on the previous analysis of the literary texts.

This thesis investigates the literary fantastic in Italy from the late nineteenth century to the second half of the twentieth century. The purpose is to analyse the way in which the fantastic functions in a story—its ʻmechanicsʼ—and to see how the fantastic evolved structurally over the first century of its existence in Italy. This investigation is carried out by the development of a new theoretical methodology together with the close reading of a selection of texts from four key Italian authors of fantastic literature. The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter is a historical overview of the emergence of the fantastic in Italy in the late nineteenth century up to the second half of the twentieth century; it examines the obstacles the fantastic has faced and some of the thematic and structural characteristics of texts which emerge. The second chapter is a literature review of the theoretical models used to analyse and understand the fantastic, followed by an outline of a new model, entitled Different Mimetics, which looks at the internal logic of the fantastic. In the following four chapters Different Mimetics is applied to the study of a selection of fantastic texts by four authors. Chapter three focuses on Ugo Tarchetti, and shows that his stories are defined by coexistence and coincidence in both historical and thematic terms. Chapter four demonstrates how Giovanni Papini reverses the mechanics one might expect, and how his stories are structured as internal narratives. Chapter five looks at how Dino Buzzatiʼs stories are characterised by instability and stretched narrative paradigms; and finally, chapter six looks at how Italo Calvinoʼs narratives focus on world creation and paradox and how they question the stability of narrative paradigms.

Dans le cadre d’une étude comparatiste, ce travail vise à analyser, en les rapprochant pour la première fois, les univers créatifs de l’écrivain italien Dino Buzzati (1906 – 1972) et de son confrère français Claude Louis-Combet (1932 –), selon la dualité chair et âme, qui est une constante de leur oeuvre respective. Les deux auteurs, par le biais de l’autobiographie romancée, de la réélaboration mythique, comme d’une vision originale de l’art figuratif, ont exprimé une sensibilité et un imaginaire étonnamment proches. Ils auront été accompagnés par des figures légendaires et des amis artistes, afin de guider le lecteur vers la dimension fantasmatique et mystique de son inconscient. / As part of a comparative study, this work aims to analyze, by bringing them together for the first time, the creative worlds of the Italian writer Dino Buzzati (1906 – 1972) and his French colleague Claude Louis-Combet (1932 –), according to the flesh and soul duality, which is a constant in their works. Both authors, through the fictionalized autobiography, the mythology reworking, as an original vision of figurative art, expressed sensitivity and imagination surprisingly close. They have been accompanied by legendary figures and fellow artists, to guide the reader into the mystical and fantasy dimension of his unconscious.