Drammatico romanzesco. Vittorini tra autore e personaggio

Abstract

This study focuses on Elio Vittorini’s work. It is based on a field of research defined as that of the relationship between theatre and novel. In order to explore this phenomenon in its complexity on the direction of the epicization of drama as much as the dramaturgisation of novel, we referred to the modal theory and to the oscillations between the two poles of writing labeled mimetic and diegetic by a long tradition which dates back to Plato. In this process of contamination of forms, a paradigmatic role has been noticed in the narrative work of Elio Vittorini, first of all in the predominant presence of the dialogical dimension and, secondly, in a exploration of form sensitive and attentive to the most innovative international models wich was conducted outside a rigid gender framework. In addition, the autograph documents testify to the existence of a dramatic production that, although ephemeral and inconsistent, feeds in the depth the novels’ mechanism of composition. In particular, we analyzed this approach in the composition of Men and not men, inspired by the unfinished drama Atto primo which, since it does not go beyond the draft stage, reveals the theatrical models of experimentation and helps in the interpretation of the novel.Finally, after assessing the mimetic dimension of the work, we determined its success on stage. The alleged theatricality of the novel has been identified above all in relation to contemporary theatrical experiences that are based precisely on the tension between mimetic and diegetic modes.