The Body as a Dialogic and a Monologic Notion in the 20th Century Italian Literature

Abstract

Abstract: In the Italian literature of the 20th century, important tendencies regarding the description of the concept of the body can be outlined. The question of the varieties of the concept could be examined in view of the dialogical and/or monological nature of the body in works after the Second World War. The present study aims to provide an overview of the concept of the body by examining its dialogic and monological features in emblematic works belonging to the Italian literature of the 20th century. The transformation of the concept establishing dialogue or refusing to build connections with the familiar world is traced. In the crisis of identity the focus changes on the interiorization, e.g. in Luigi Pirandello and Italo Svevo. The hypothesis is that the Italian literature after the Second World War is distinguished by the pursuit of dialogue, notable in writers such as Carlo Levi and Primo Levi, tangible also in Giorgio Bassani and Leonardo Sciascia. The comparative analysis leads to the conclusion that in this way the body emerges as a peculiar field of collisions between the dialogic and the monologic, between the acceptance of the other’s position and the self-assertion, after introspection. Key words: dialogue, monologue, body, Italian literature, projections, transformations. Rhetoric and Communications Journal, issue 56, July 2023