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Il presente studio discute il concetto di “finzione teorica” di Michel de Certeau quale momento di raccordo tra letteratura e storiografia. La concezione dell’altro e dell’assente propria della mistica e il modello di temporalità della psicoanalisi sono riconosciute come matrici del suo pensiero. / In this essay I discuss Michel de Certeau’s concept of “theoretical fiction” as junction between literature and historiography. I show how the idea of the other, of the absent by mystics and the psychoanalytical model of temporality organize his reflection.

La ricerca si propone di inquisire il modo in cui il fantastico del primo Novecento utilizza la rappresentazione finzionale degli oggetti ai fini della propria emersione. Si ipotizza che certi schemi rappresentativi elaborati da autori fantastici come Hoffmann, Poe o Maupassant siano riscontrabili anche nella letteratura del XX secolo, e vengano reimpiegati per rispondere a una mutata situazione socioculturale. La tesi è bipartita: la prima parte, che è a sua volta suddivisa in due capitoli, funziona da cornice teorica e storica alle analisi testuali. Vi si discute del concetto di immagine; e da tale discussione viene derivata una precisa idea di spazio e di oggetto letterari. In seguito si procede a una ricostruzione della storia del fantastico ottocentesco (dalla quale non sono assenti riflessioni teoriche e in particolare genologiche), che da un lato è volta a storicizzare l’idea di “genere fantastico”; dall’altro ha come obiettivo l’identificazione di una tipologia di oggetti strutturalmente legata a quel genere narrativo. Due sono le classi di oggetti così individuate, e altrettanti i capitoli che compongono la seconda parte del lavoro. Entrambi i tipi di oggetto, che per semplicità si possono chiamare oggetti-feticcio e oggetti spettrali, stanno a metà strada tra immaginario e reale; ma mentre l’oggetto-feticcio ha qualcosa in più rispetto a un oggetto descritto realisticamente, l’oggetto spettrale ha un che di deficitario, e non giunge al risultato di una completa materializzazione. Tra gli autori affrontati compaiono Papini, Pirandello, Bontempelli, Savinio, Landolfi; né mancano riferimenti ad autori di altre nazioni da Kafka a Sartre, da James a Virginia Woolf, in ottemperanza all’idea di considerare il fantastico italiano all’interno di una più ampia geografia letteraria. / This research project proposes to investigate the manner in which early twentieth century fantasy used the fictional representation of objects for its own emergence. The hypothesis is that certain representation schemes elaborated by authors of nineteenth century fantastic literature, such as Hoffman, Poe and Maupassant, also appear in twentieth century literature, reemployed in response to the changing sociocultural situation. The thesis is divided in two: the first part, itself subdivided in two chapters, functions as a theoretical and historical framework for the textual analysis. The concept of the image is discussed and precise ideas of literary space and object are defined. This is followed by a reconstruction of nineteenth century fantasy (theoretical and, particularly, genealogical reflections are not lacking), which, on the one hand, is aimed at historicizing the idea of the “fantastic genre”; and on the other, intends to identify a typology of objects structurally connected to this narrative variety. Two are the classes of objects defined, and equal in number are the chapters structuring the second part of the work. Both types of objects, which for simplicity’s sake will be called fetish-objects and ghostly objects, are halfway between fantasy and the real. Yet while the fetish-object has something more with respect to a realistically described object, the ghostly object lacks something and thus does not manage to completely materialize. Among the authors discussed are Papini, Pirandello, Bontempelli, Savinio and Landolfi; while references to authors of other nations abound, from Kafka to Sartre, from James to Virginia Woolf, in keeping with the consideration of the Italian fantastic genre within a broader literary geography.

Ce travail est une analyse de la représentation du pathétique masculin dans le roman dit sentimental dans la deuxième moitié du dix-huitième siècle en Europe, ou plutôt dans les littératures anglaise, française, allemande et italienne. La thèse soutenue est celle de la dérivation du pathétique romanesque de l’âge des Lumières des pratiques de prédication religieuse du siècle précédent et donc de la valeur normative du roman sentimental à ses débuts : celui-ci aurait relayé le rôle des manuels de conduite des siècles précédents et se serait posé comme un répertoire d’exempla comportementaux adaptés aux différentes situations de la vie. Nous avons suivi les évolutions historiques du genre à travers l’analyse thématique du motif des larmes masculines. Pour ce faire, nous avons examiné la complexe proxémique de représentation de l’émotion et la diégèse qui en résulte, qui peut être nuancée, selon une terminologie récente, en pathétique attendrissant, sentimental et spectaculaire. Cela a entraîne la prise en compte de diverses formes artistiques, de la peinture au théâtre. La méthodologie utilisé conjugue l’histoire des idées et l’étude des formes de l’imaginaire, le pathétique appartenant au domaine de la philosophie autant qu’à celui de la représentation artistique : le concept glisse au dix-huitième siècle du champ rhétorique et stylistique à une dimension esthétique et anthropologique. Le travail a donc été divisé en trois grandes parties qui analysent les trois dimensions anthropologiques fondamentales : l’imaginaire religieux et l’héritage des anciens, c’est–à-dire le rapport que l’époque établit avec la tradition culturelle qui la précède ; l’imaginaire amoureux, qui se concentre sur les rapports entre les deux sexes et sur la « féminisation » du héros romanesque sentimental ; l’imaginaire familial, qui aborde les conséquences de ce changement dans la représentation de la masculinité au sein de la représentation de la famille et des rapports intergénérationnels. / This work presents an analysis of the representation of the male characters’ pathetic in the so-called sentimental novel of the eighteenth century in Europe, about all in English, French, German and Italian literatures. The main thesis of the work is the derivation of the pathetic of the einghteenth century novel from religious preaching practice of the previous century and consequently of the sentimental novel’s normative value. Sentimental literature seems to have token the place of ancient conduct books and define itself as a set of behavioural exempla adapted to different situations of life. We followed the historical evolutions of the novel throughout a thematic analysis of the motif of male tears. In order to do so, we examined the complexe gestural expressiveness of the representation of emotions and the resulting diegesis, which we can define, according to a recent terminology, as touching, sentimental or spectacular pathetic. This lead to include different artistic forms, from theater to painting. The methodology used here conjugate the history of ideas and the study of imagery, pathetic being a concept belonging to philosophical studies as well as to artistic representation : the concept passed during the eighteenth century from a stylistic and rhetoric dimension to an aesthetic and anthropological one. The works has been divided in three parts, analysing three fondamental anthropological dimensions of human existence : religious imagery and cultural heritage from the past, that is the relationships between the period considered and previous cultural tradition ; the imagery of love, focused on love and sexual relationships between the sexes and on the « feminisation » of male characters in sentimental novels ; familial imagery, which concentrates on the consequences of this change in the reprentation of masculinity on the context of familial and intergenerational relationships representation.

Cette thèse se propose d’analyser les images de la nuit et ses significations dans les romans du XVIII siècle, à partir des années 1730-1740, dans le cadre de trois littératures: la littérature anglaise, française et italienne. Deux conceptions opposées sont mises en comparaison: la première, d’exorcisation de la nuit, est typique de la première partie du siècle; elle est représentée principalement par le genre des romans libertins. La deuxième conception montre une valorisation de la nuit qu’on trouve en particulier dans les romans gothiques, qui se sont développés à partir de la seconde partie du siècle. Le but final de la présente recherche est de trouver une explication au refus de la nuit de la part de certains auteurs et ensuite de repérer les causes du bouleversement de cette vision. Puisque la nuit empêche le sens de la vue, elle a été considérée une forme de négation de l’espace physique; selon le profil psychologique et anthropologique la nuit constituerait alors la cause principale de la perte d’orientation. Selon une interprétation intellectuelle et philosophique, elle serait un symbole d’ignorance et d’irrationalité. La situation change vers la moitié du siècle des Lumières, car la nuit commence à assumer un rôle actif et nécessaire dans le processus d’apprentissage. Au niveau social, les rencontres les plus importantes adviennent pendant la nuit. Dans le revival des cathédrales gothiques et des châteaux médiévaux, on voit que la nuit s’empare désormais de l’espace, qui s’enrichit de lumières et d’ombres. / This thesis has the purpose to analyze the images of the night and its meanings in the novels of the 18th century, from 1730-1740, in the ambit of three literatures: the English, the French and the Italian literature. Two opposite conceptions are compared: the first, to exorcise the night, is typical in the first half of the century and it is represented mainly by libertine novels. The second shows a valorisation of the night that can be found above all in the gothic novels that belong to the second part of the century. The final objective of the following research is to find an explanation to the rejection of the night by some authors and therefore to retrieve the causes of the change of vision. Since the night impedes sight, it has been considered a negation of space; according to the psychological and anthropological profile night would then be the main cause of the loss of orientation. Finally, according to an intellectual interpretation, it would be a sign of ignorance. The situation changes when the night starts to assume an active and necessary role in the learning process. In the literary fiction, the most important encounters happen at night. In the revival of the gothic cathedrals and the medieval castles, it is evident how the night takes possession of the space that is enriched with lights and shades.

Entre les années 1950 et 1980, émerge une nouvelle forme de labyrinthe chez des romanciers européens comme Michel Butor, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Italo Calvino, Patrick Modiano et Alasdair Gray : un labyrinthe insaisissable et non cartographiable. Pour en rendre compte nous avons recours au modèle du rhizome, issu de la philosophie de Gilles Deleuze et de Félix Guattari, aussi bien qu'au concept d'hétérotopie de Michel Foucault. La spatialité de nos romans nous pousse à prendre en compte également les réécritures ironiques du mythe de Thésée, Ariane, le Minotaure, Dédale. Les citations et les allusions au mythe nous font remarquer la distance d'avec le modèle traditionnel et les effets de ce qu'on peut considérer comme un « bricolage mythique », dans le cadre d'un regard ironique, parodique ou satirique. La représentation romanesque du labyrinthe accentue d'un côté l'absence d'un centre, et de l'autre côté l'ouverture extrême de cet espace qu'est la ville contemporaine. En même temps, la présence de nombreux « espaces autres », les hétérotopies de Foucault, définit l'égarement des protagonistes des romans. Au fur et à mesure que les écrivains acquièrent conscience des caractéristiques « labyrinthiques » de ces espaces, celles-ci commencent à informer l'œuvre romanesque, créant ainsi un espace métafictionnel. Entre les années Cinquante et le début des années Soixante-dix, les Nouveaux romanciers français accentuent ainsi l'idée de pouvoir jouer avec les instruments de la fiction, pour exaspérer l'absence d'un sens dans la ville comme dans la pratique de l'écriture. Calvino reformule cette conception du roman, remarquant l'importance d'un sens, même s'il est caché et difficile à saisir. Pour cette raison, à la fin de l'époque que nous analysons, des auteurs comme Modiano et Gray absorbent les techniques d'écriture de ces prédécesseurs, en les faisant jouer avec la responsabilité éthique de l'auteur. / Between 1950 and 1980, a new form of labyrinth took shape, in novels by European authors such as Michel Butor, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Italo Calvino, Patrick Modiano and Alasdair Gray. This labyrinth is elusive and can't be mapped. In order to describe it, we must take into account both the model of the rhizome, from the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, and Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopias. The spatiality of these novels also leads us to consider the rewriting of the labyrinth myth along with the characters Theseus, Ariadne, the Minotaur, and Dedalus. The resulting adaptations use irony as well as parody and satire, inviting us to consider their distance from the traditional model and the effects of what can be called « bricolage mythique ». The novelistic representation of the labyrinth stresses the absence of the centre on the one hand, and, on the other, points to the extreme openness of the contemporary city. As the authors get fuller awareness of the labyrinthine aspects of urban spaces, their texts themselves gradually start to take on a maze-like form: therefore, the space of fiction becomes metafictional space. Between the Fifties and the early Seventies, the Néoromanciers emphasized the idea of a possible play-like attitude through the instruments of fiction, in order to heighten the absence of meaning in city life as well as in the practice of writing itself. Calvino innovates this concept of fiction, emphasizing the importance of a meaning, however hidden it might be. For this reason, at the end of the period that we are investigating, other authors, such as Modiano and Gray, inherit their forerunners' paradigm of the labyrinth, but in order to adapt it to their own ethic responsibility.

Nei primi due capitoli mi occupo del recupero del Barocco in ambito novecentesco e delle diverse letture e interpretazioni del Barocco e del Neobarocco, concetto che nasce dalla riflessione sul Barocco lungo tutto il Novecento. Riflessione che è stata anche una rivendicazione, a livello estetico, ma non solo, di una attualità o contemporaneità del Barocco, che accomuna tutta la riflessione sulla scoperta della cultura di un secolo, da Wölfflin a Benjamin, da Riegl a Anceschi. Si tratta anche di un rapporto fra Barocco storico e Neobarocco: se la stessa rivalutazione e riscoperta dell’arte del XVII secolo, dalla fine dell’Ottocento e lungo tutto il Novecento, ha coinciso con la sua costruzione terminologica ed ermeneutica, di questa nuova categoria è lo stesso approccio intellettuale contemporaneo che può definirsi, nella più ampia accezione, «neobarocco». Nel terzo capitolo, invece, ho approfondito il rapporto fra Gadda e il Barocco, partendo dal concetto di allegoria moderna di Walter Benjamin. Fondamentale per la mia ricerca è stato il libro di Gilles Deleuze, La piega. Leibniz e il barocco, che ha visto nell’opera del filosofo Leibniz (studiato anche dal proprio Gadda) la chiave di lettura per capire il Barocco nelle sue diverse manifestazioni. E anche il libro di Robert Dombroski, Gadda e il barocco, in cui si parte appunto dal concetto di barocco/neobarocco come punto di approccio per studiare il barocco di Gadda. Infatti, lo stile di Gadda risponde al canone barocco che il poststrutturalismo ha riaccolto nel vivo del dibattito estetico, si pensi ai contributi di Roland Barthes e di Severo Sarduy e, posteriormente, all’opera proprio di Deleuze. Nell’ultimo capitolo, poi, faccio un’analisi di Gadda traduttore di opere del Seicento spagnolo, opere che vengono da lui riscritte grazie alla rielaborazione del passato attraverso il suo linguaggio neobarocco. / In the first two chapters I deal with the recovery of the Baroque in the twentieth-century and the different interpretations of Baroque and Neo-Baroque, a concept that arises from a reflection on the Baroque throughout the twentieth century. Reflection that was a claim on an aesthetic level, but not only, of a contemporary Baroque, which unites the whole reflection on the discovery of the culture of a century, from Wölfflin to Benjamin, from Riegl to Anceschi. It is also an historical relationship between Baroque and Neo-Baroque: it is the same appreciation and rediscovery of Baroque art, that we have from the late nineteenth and throughout the twentieth century. This has coincided with its construction, terminology and interpretation, of this new category is the same approach that contemporary intellectual can be defined in the broadest sense, “neo-baroque”. In the third chapter, I explored the relationship between Gadda and the Baroque style, starting from Walter Benjamin’s concept of modern allegory. Gilles Deleuze’s The Fold. Leibniz and the Baroque was fundamental for my research. In this book the French philosopher has studied the work of the philosopher Leibniz (also studied by Gadda himself) and he has found the key to understand Baroque in its various manifestations. Following Deleuze’s concept baroque/neo-baroque, Robert Dombroski in Gadda and the Baroque, explore the Baroque’s way of Carlo Emilio Gadda. In fact, the style of Italian writer responds to the baroque canon that poststructuralism has welcomed back into the heart of aesthetic debate. Let’s think about the contributions of Roland Barthes and Severo Sarduy and, subsequently, the work of Deleuze. In the last chapter, I do an analysis of Gadda as a translator of Spanish works of the seventeenth century, works that are rewritten by him due to the revision of the past through its neo-baroque language.

L’ucronia (Alternate History) è un fenomeno letterario ormai popolare e molto studiato, ma non lo sono altrettanto lo sue origini e i suoi rapporti con la storia “fatta con i se” (Counterfactual History), che risale a Erodoto e a Tito Livio. Solo nell’Ottocento alcuni autori, per vie largamente autonome, fecero della storia alternativa un genere di fiction: Louis Geoffroy con Napoléon apocryphe (1836), storia «della conquista del mondo e della monarchia universale», e Charles Renouvier con Uchronie. L’utopie dans l’histoire (1876), storia «della civiltà europea quale avrebbe potuto essere» se il cristianesimo fosse stato fermato nel II secolo. Questi testi intrattengono relazioni complesse con la letteratura dell’epoca di genere sia realistico, sia fantastico, ma altresì con fenomeni di altra natura: la storiografia, nelle sue forme e nel suo statuto epistemico, e ancor più il senso del possibile - o la filosofia della storia - derivato dall’esperienza della rivoluzione e dal confronto con le teorie utopistiche e di riforma sociale. Altri testi, prodotti in Inghilterra e negli Stati Uniti nello stesso periodo, esplorano le possibilità narrative e speculative del genere: tra questi P.s’ Correspondence di Nathaniel Hawthorne (1845), The Battle of Dorking di George Chesney (1871) e Hands Off di Edward Hale (1881); fino a una raccolta del 1931, If It Had Happened Otherwise, che anticipò molte forme e temi delle ucronie successive. Queste opere sono esaminate sia nel contesto storico e letterario in cui furono prodotte, sia con gli strumenti dell’analisi testuale. Una particolare attenzione è dedicata alle strategie di lettura prescritte dai testi, che subordinano i significati al confronto mentale tra gli eventi narrati e la serie dei fatti autentici. Le teorie sui counterfactuals prodotte in altri campi disciplinari, come la storia e la psicologia, arricchiscono la comprensione dei testi e dei loro rapporti con fenomeni extra-letterari. / Alternate History is nowadays a popular and well-studied literary genre; its origins, however, remain underinvestigated as well as its relationship to the neighboring field of counterfactual history––a genre dating back to Herodotus and Livy. Alternate History begins to appear as a distinct fictional genre only in the nineteenth century with Louis Geoffroy’s Napoléon Apocryphe (1836)––a history of «the conquest of the world and the universal monarchy»––and Charles Renouvier’s Uchronie. L’utopie dans l’histoire (1876)––«the history of European civilization as it could have been» if Christianity had been stopped. These works establish complex relationships both with realistic and fantastic literature of their age. Furthermore they raise questions concerning the epistemological status of historiographical practices and address the philosophy of history as inflected by the experience of revolution and utopian theories of social progress. Other fictional works, composed in England and in the United States in the same period, explore the speculative possibilities of the genre. Among these are Nathaniel Hawthorne’s P.s’ Correspondence (1845), George Chesney’s The Battle of Dorking (1871) and Edward Hale’s Hands Off (1881). A few decades later, an anthology titled If It Had Happened Otherwise (1931) anticipates many of the topics and formal devices which will be subsequently developed by science fiction and Alternate History authors. In my analysis of these texts I examine both the historical and literary context while paying attention to specific textual strategies. In particular I observe how Alternate History seems to demand the recognition of historical falsifications and the comparison with historical truth in order to produce meaning. Literary texts are also analyzed using theories on counterfactuals developed in various disciplines, especially history and psychology.

Cet extrait (le début du projet) peut être essentiellement considéré comme un travail de synthèse, de traduction et d’argumentation concernant un des textes de référence parmi les plus importants au sujet de la littérature picaresque : “La literatura picaresca desde la historia social” écrit par Jose Antonio Maravall. Mon but en développant ce projet était de me focaliser sur les idées principales contenues dans ce volume et en particulier sur la relation existante entre la littérature picaresque et le concept de ville, en termes urbanistiques. Je tiens à souligner le fait que ce travail a été longuement approfondi dans mes nombreuses activités d’étude et de recherche et en me référant, volontairement, au texte lui-même. La raison fondamentale de mon désir de rester près du texte se justifie par le fait que je venais de commence ce qui seraient mes futures activités de recherche de doctorat. J’ai utilisé ces idées à propos de la littérature picaresque, idées qui sont aujourd’hui universellement acceptées, afin de m’orienter moi-même dans ce genre littéraire. Les autres idées que j’ai étudiées et décrites au cours de mes activités de recherche successives sont plus personnelles, car j’avais eu l’occasion de les analyser auparavant. Ce travail n’inclut pas seulement des activités de recherche , mais il s’est agi aussi d’un projet de traduction puisque j’ai dû traduire de l’espagnol(texte original) en italien, pour ensuite concevoir et puis rédiger ma synthèse et mon argumentation en langue française. En conclusion, je peux affirmer que j’ai été capable de construire de solides bases pour élaborer et planifier ma thèse de Doctorat, avec les typiques thèmes de la littérature picaresque, pour exemple la recherche de la nourriture dans la ville. / This abstract (the beginning of this project) can be essentially considered too a work of synthesis, translation and argumentation regarding one of the most important referential texts of the picaresque literature: “La literatura picaresca desde la historia social” written by Jose Antonio Maravall. My goal in the development of this project was to focus on the principal ideas contained in this volume and specifically on the existent correlation between the picaresque literature and the concept of city, in terms of urban surrounding. I would like to underline the fact that this work was strongly developed around my various study and research activities based on the text itself. The basic reason for my attachment to the text is that I am just beginning what will be my future research activity. I used these ideas regarding picaresque literature, which today are viewed as being universally acceptable, in order to orient myself in this literary genre. The other ideas which I analyze and describe in my following doctorate projects are more personal, especially because I had the opportunity to study them beforehand. This work did not only include research activity, but it was sometimes a translation project as well since I has to translate it from Spanish (the original text) to Italian, in order to then develop the synthesis and argumentation in the French language. In conclusion I can state that I was able to construct a solid base to shape and plan my Doctorate thesis with the habitually themes of picaresque literature, for example the need of to find the food on the city.