The Idea of Modernity in Italian Literature at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries
The article analyzes various concepts of modernity in Italian literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Modernity is considered a key category of the literary process of the period: different views of modernity reveal philosophical, historical, and aesthetic ideas of the major authors a...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature
2016-09-01
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| Series: | Studia Litterarum |
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| Online Access: | http://old.studlit.ru/articles/Golubtsova.pdf |
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| author | Anastasia V. Golubtsova |
| author_facet | Anastasia V. Golubtsova |
| author_sort | Anastasia V. Golubtsova |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The article analyzes various concepts of modernity in Italian literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Modernity is considered a key category of the literary process of the period: different views of modernity reveal philosophical, historical, and aesthetic ideas of the major authors and literary currents. The term modernity in its relation to Italy at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries may be understood in two different ways: as a specific time period after the unification of Italy and as an aesthetic ideal, both reachable and unreachable. Modernity as a historical period is inseparable from the sense of disappointment and awareness of Italian backwardness and provincialism. The Scapigliati manifest their socio-critical position as a Romantic conflict between individual and society, Verism represents the same idea as a tragic clash of traditional peasant world and modernity that is destroying it. Luigi Pirandello belongs to the same socio-critical tradition. The sense of weariness and decadence is one of the aspects of modern worldview: Gabriele D’Annunzio expresses it in the form of decadent aestheticism; the Crepusculars reject modernity and replace it with the idea of everyday life; Luigi Pirandello puts a special emphasis on the state of perplexity and confusion experienced by a modern man. From the aesthetic point of view, modernity in Italy begins as a struggle against Romanticism; however, here we encounter the controversial nature of the concept again. Giosue Carducci and the Scapigliati reject Italian Romanticism but turn to European Romanticism trying to overcome Italian cultural backwardness. A Verist writer Luigi Capuana elaborates a positivist ideal of modern literature and yet abandons it later. D’Annunzio sees the ideal of modern art in restoring cultural continuity. Futurists, on the contrary, understand modernity as breaking with tradition. Thus, all aesthetic interpretations of modernity in Italy focus on one intention — to overcome Italian backwardness and isolation and make Italy part of European culture again. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-912edd8d00e54639b43ca0e9da0c1f48 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2500-4247 2541-8564 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-09-01 |
| publisher | Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Studia Litterarum |
| spelling | doaj-art-912edd8d00e54639b43ca0e9da0c1f482025-08-20T02:09:42ZengRussian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World LiteratureStudia Litterarum2500-42472541-85642016-09-0111-215317010.22455/2500-4247-2016-1-1-2-153-170The Idea of Modernity in Italian Literature at the Turn of the 19th and 20th CenturiesAnastasia V. Golubtsova0A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of SciencesThe article analyzes various concepts of modernity in Italian literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Modernity is considered a key category of the literary process of the period: different views of modernity reveal philosophical, historical, and aesthetic ideas of the major authors and literary currents. The term modernity in its relation to Italy at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries may be understood in two different ways: as a specific time period after the unification of Italy and as an aesthetic ideal, both reachable and unreachable. Modernity as a historical period is inseparable from the sense of disappointment and awareness of Italian backwardness and provincialism. The Scapigliati manifest their socio-critical position as a Romantic conflict between individual and society, Verism represents the same idea as a tragic clash of traditional peasant world and modernity that is destroying it. Luigi Pirandello belongs to the same socio-critical tradition. The sense of weariness and decadence is one of the aspects of modern worldview: Gabriele D’Annunzio expresses it in the form of decadent aestheticism; the Crepusculars reject modernity and replace it with the idea of everyday life; Luigi Pirandello puts a special emphasis on the state of perplexity and confusion experienced by a modern man. From the aesthetic point of view, modernity in Italy begins as a struggle against Romanticism; however, here we encounter the controversial nature of the concept again. Giosue Carducci and the Scapigliati reject Italian Romanticism but turn to European Romanticism trying to overcome Italian cultural backwardness. A Verist writer Luigi Capuana elaborates a positivist ideal of modern literature and yet abandons it later. D’Annunzio sees the ideal of modern art in restoring cultural continuity. Futurists, on the contrary, understand modernity as breaking with tradition. Thus, all aesthetic interpretations of modernity in Italy focus on one intention — to overcome Italian backwardness and isolation and make Italy part of European culture again.http://old.studlit.ru/articles/Golubtsova.pdfmodernityprogressRomanticismGiosue CarducciScapigliaturaVerismGabriele D’Annunziothe CrepuscularsLuigi PirandelloFuturism |
| spellingShingle | Anastasia V. Golubtsova The Idea of Modernity in Italian Literature at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries Studia Litterarum modernity progress Romanticism Giosue Carducci Scapigliatura Verism Gabriele D’Annunzio the Crepusculars Luigi Pirandello Futurism |
| title | The Idea of Modernity in Italian Literature at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries |
| title_full | The Idea of Modernity in Italian Literature at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries |
| title_fullStr | The Idea of Modernity in Italian Literature at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Idea of Modernity in Italian Literature at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries |
| title_short | The Idea of Modernity in Italian Literature at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries |
| title_sort | idea of modernity in italian literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries |
| topic | modernity progress Romanticism Giosue Carducci Scapigliatura Verism Gabriele D’Annunzio the Crepusculars Luigi Pirandello Futurism |
| url | http://old.studlit.ru/articles/Golubtsova.pdf |
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