ITALIAN LITERATURE

the development of italian literature, including philosophy and history, during the period rg1o—26 was remarkable. carducci and verga mark the end of the stage during which italians were finding themselves intellectually and politically. pascoli, fogazzaro, and d’annun- zio really belong to the new period which crystallised in the years immediately preceding the world war, and came to fruition in the social, political and spiritual revolution which followed it. these writers, together with benedetto croce and giovanni gentile, in the freld of aesthetics and philosophy were largely responsible for widening the scope of intellectual ac- tivity and culture, so that they ceased to be narrowly italian and became european. the works produced in the first 25 years of the present century, and more particularly during 1910-25, are character- ised by a spirit of daring, restlessness and youth; by intellectual curlosity, love of novel experiments and experiences, and above all by self-analysis, which, in some cases, led to egocentricity and decadence. such defects, however, were due to the ebullience of youth seeking vent for its new-found energy rather than to weariness and to the search after sensations for their own sake. writers aimed at the discovery of new forms of expression to supersede the old; thus, the futurists were of service to the new literature, if only by reason of their attempt to break down inherited and stereotyped traditions in prose and verse. prose underwent a remarkable change. it became crisper and at the same time more flexible, while language attained the unity long advocated by manzoni. fresh interest was awakened in the most varied forms of criticism, in history, culture and philosophy of all times and in all countries. in this eclectic tendency renato serra, a young and promising critic who was killed in the war, saw the beginnings of a new form of classicism. interest in foreign literatures, including those of the east as well as of the west, produced a vast library of translations varying in quality, but on the whole showing a marked tendency towards treating translation as an art. with the exception of adolfo de bosis’ remarkable version of the cenct (1916) and epipsychidion, carlo linati’s tragedie irlandesi di w.b. yeats (1914), raffaello piccoli’s drammi elisabettiani (1914) and mario praz’s magnificent tour de force represented by his anthology of verse renderings poeti inglesi dell’ ottocento (1925), english literature found less translators than german, french or russian, and contemporary writers, apart from kipling, shaw, galsworthy and barrie, are only available in the original. this cosmopolitan spirit acted as a stimulus to the growth of the new national literature rather than to imitation of foreign models. a further significant evidence of this new energy are the changes which have taken place in the publishing world, where the output has increased and the technical production improved as a direct result of the increase of the reading public of all classes. 556 fiction.—although strictly belonging to the preceding genera- tion, alfredo oriani (1852-1909) and carlo dossi (1847-10910) did not receive due recognition until after their deaths. the former was obsessed by ugliness and horrors and at the same time had an intense love of beauty. the impartiality and variety of outlook was in part the reason for his popularity among the younger gencration. and dossi, by his harsh and elliptical style and his original and vivid treatment of his subject matter, unfashionable in his own day, opened out new paths to his successors. g. pietro lucini (1867-1914) is also of interest on account of his reaction to the various decadent european schools and as a forerunner of the futurists who claimed him as one of themselves. of an entirely different character is the work of alfredo panzini (b.1863) one of carducci’s best pupils. possess- ing a quiet sense of humour tinged with irony, his attitude towards life is detached but not aloof. in what are generally considered to be his masterpieces le fiabe della virtu (1903), ea lanterna di diogene (1999), santippe (1914) and viaggio di wn povero letterato (1919), panzini is acutely sensitive to all forms of beauty and to the conilict between ther: and the evils and uglinesses of the world. he has the temperament of a poet; his style is pure, simple, direct and moving, the prose coun- terpart of carducci’s best lyrics. adolfo albertazzi (b. 1865) learned the art of the short story from the italian masters of the past and the modern writers of foreign countries. some of those collected in the diuvolo nell’ ampolla (1918) and in other volumes are among the best of the kind published in modern times. it is worthy of notice that most of the novelists, dramatists and critics of to-day—men and women—have tried their hand at the short story of the mag- azine type. of these luciano zuccoli (b. 1870), virgilio brocchi (b. 1876), antonio beltramelli (b. 1880), guido da verona (b. 1881) and ugo ojetti (b. 1871) who is also a very highly es- teemed art connoisseur, and among the women writers clarice tartufari (b. 1868), sibilla aleramo (b. 1879), neera (1846~ 1916), amalia guglielminetti (b. 1885) and carola prosperi (b. 1883) are the most popular. generally speaking, most of these works are of value mainly as documents of social history rather than as hterature. the new school—the younger novelists and story writers, though very numerous, shared a tendency to be egotistic, sclf- analytical and autobiographical, and cultivated a lyrical prose style, the lack of any national literary centre comparable with paris or london has created regional groups united by geographi- cal convenience, the individual members of which continued to follow, in part at least, the literary and intellectual tradition of their several provinces which, however, amounted to little more than impressionistic landscape-painting in words, as 1n the case of carlo linati, who in the finely written su//e orme di renzo (1919) has given a poctical interpretation of the lombard spirit as revealed in the countryside. the war practically destroyed narrow provincialism and successfully fused its best character- istics into a wider nationalism. the great national and international reputation acquired by croce and, gentile, both neapolitans, the influence exerted on criticism by their review la critica, founded in 1903, the fact that a considerable proportion of the best-known novelists and dramatists of the past 50 years (capuana, verga, serao, bracco, pirandello) have been southerners and, lastly, historical, geo- graphical and racial conditions, have all contributed to produce a strong clan-fecling different from that of other regional groups. of these the most important was perhaps the florentine called ‘““ gruppo della voce,” from the periodical of that name founded by giovanni papini and giuseppe prezzolini about 1909, itself the off-spring of an earlier review—la leonardo (1903-7), which gave a great impulse to philosophical studies. both periodicals had for their programme the revaluation of old values and the diffusion of new ideas in literature, art and philosophy. scarcely one of the younger writers of any note slid not contribute to one or the other of these reviews, which, in many cases, were the first to discover them. not all of the contributors were of equal merit or free from any defects, but they showed the presence of a new italian literature spirit and vitality much needed, and exerted an influence as far- reaching as it was important and often superior to their indivia- ual achievements. papini (b. 1881), however, is the only one who is at all known outside italy mainly on account of the much- advertised storia di cristo (1921), a work which has added little to a reputation really founded upon his autobiography, ux uome finito (1912), cento pagine dt pocsia (1915), and the brillant, provocative, and at times superficial critical essays stroncature (1916), papini’s encyclopaedic mind, ever in quest of new knowl- edge and intellectual experience, admirably typifies the vices and virtues of the historical movement which came to an end on the outbreak of the world war. papini, as the imposing bibliog- raphy of his works shows, has passed through many phases, pragmatism, futurism and later neo-catholicism, always pre- serving a style, essentially tuscan in character, at times collo- quial to the point of vulgarity, yet rich, vivid, lucid with a slight tendency to rhetoric. giuseppe prezzolini also wrote some excel- lent critical essays, mostly on his contemporaries, but later aban- doned literature and philosophy for politics, of the other principal contributors to la voce, scipio slataper (1888-1915), a triestino killed in the war, is best known for his noteworthy lyrical autobiography in prose, j/ afio carso (1912) and a sug- gestive study on ibsen published posthumously (1916). ardengo soflici (b. 1879) is one of the most remarkable of the group. his best writings are a fragment of a novel, lemmenio boreo (1912), two autobiographical journals, giornale di bordo (1915) and nobilek, giornale di guerra (1918), and the art criticism in 7 caso afedarde rosso e l’ impressionismo (1900) and scoperte e afassacrt (1919). soflici asa writer is both thought- ful and forceful and uses language impressionistically, frequently introducing exact and unexpected similes. the latter two works did much to rouse the artistic youth of italy to an intelligent appreciation of the significance of modern art movements by their insistence upon the necessity for the art-critic to be an artist (soffici himself was a painter of some repute) and thoroughly conversant with the technique of painting while possessing the capacity for feeling the values of form, colour and composition. renato serra, killed at the front in 1915, was one of the most promising of the younger writers, who is best known for his re- markable psychological document, the esame di coscienza di un lettcrato, published in 1916, in which he examines the attitude of an artist and an intellectual towards the war with great acute- ness. the fact that some of it is mainly now of historical interest does not detract from its high literary value, which makes it and d'annunzio’s la leda senza cigno (1916-8) two of the very few works of art inspired in italy by the war. several other writers, such as federigo tozzi (1883-1920), ferdinando paolieri (b. 1878), bruno cicognani (b. 1879) and piero jahier (b. 1884), also have points of contact, in spirit and in style, with the flor- ence group. several journalistic and literary coteries were found in rome, such as that of la ronda (1919), a short-lived but lively periodical, edited by emilio cecchi (b. 1884). among the con- tributors were antonio baldini (b. 1889) and riccardo bacchelli (b. r89r). since the advent of the fascist govt., however, rome is rapidly developing into the centre of italian culture. the futurists —it was very natural that the futurist move- ment should have been started in milan, since that city has always taken the lead in any new intellectual movement, and in the present case, as the most modern and “ mechanical” city in italy, was peculiarly adapted to be its headquarters. it is also significant that after the world war it moved to rome with an entirely new body of supporters, though still under the jeader- ship of its founder, f. t. marinetti (b. 1878). in the first futur- ist manifesto published in 1909 in the paris paper figaro marinetti announced the new aesthetic of the machine, consid- cred as symbol, source and teacher of a new artistic sensibility, and preached the beauty of speed. it was rapidly followed by the “ technical manifesto of futurist literature’ (1912), which decreed that syntax should be replaced by ‘‘ wireless imagination and words at liberty,’’ and by others dealing with the theatre, art, architecture and hfe. apart from its sensationalism and self-advertisement and its principles of destructiveness, futurism italian literature none the less acted as an irritant and forced writers, and particu- larly poets, to react against stagnation and to define poetry anew, and the difference between it and prose. of the many books pub- lished by the first generation of futurists some, like filippo tommaso marinctti’s (b. 1878) extraordinary novel afafarka le futuriste (1910), le roi bombance (1910), a play, written origi- nally in french, and zang-tumb-tumb or the siege of adriano ple (1912)—an experiment in “ free-words ’’—are among the curios- ities of literature. on the other hand, palazzeschi’s (b. 1885) ironically grotesque tale, i/ codice di perela (1911), and the vol- ume of free verse l’iucendiario (1910), luciano folgore’s (b. 1888) canto dei motori versi liberi (1912) and a few of mari- netti’s earlier poems practically sum up the best literary products of the movement. the poets.—carducci, pascoli and d’annunzio have had a certain number of followers and imitators, but either through lack of inspiration and technical ability or because fiction offered a more profitable market none have produced anything of defi- nite importance excepting salvatore di giacomo (b. 1860). he has written some of the finest dialect poetry in italian literature inspired, like most of his other work, by the life of the neapolitan populace. the poignant “ tarantella scura,” the dramatic son- net-sequence “ a san francisco,” and the very beautiful song ‘¢ uocchie de suonno,” republished in poesie (1907), possess the universal quality of true poetry, which is sometimes found also in a few of pascarclla’s and trilussa’s poems in roman dialect. of the others, guido gozzano (1883-1916), marino morcttt (b. 1883), enrico pea (b. 1881), amalia guglielminetti (b. 1889) gave evidence at first of technical skill and lyrical vein which has since degencrated into affectation and mannerisms. as the very useful anthology, pveti d’oggi: ig00-1920 (1920), edited by papini and pancrazi paradoxically yet conclusively proves, those who write poetry to-day choose to do so by using prose instead of verse for their medium. in this sense many of the writers dealt with above may justly be considered poets. the drama.—there have been since d’annunzio some suc- cessful attempts at poetic drama such as benelli’s historical tragedies maschera di bruto (1909) and cena delle beffe (1909), written in effective blank verse, ettore moschino’s 7ristano e tsolda (1910), enrico butti’s fanciful castello del sogno (1910), and e. l. morselli’s (1882-1921) orione (1910) and glauco (1919). the latter of these are written in lyrical prose and are by far the best productions of this type of drama. some of the other playwrights like dario nicodemi have portrayed, with varying ability, society life, according to the formula derived from the french dramatists. others, following the realistic tradition of capuana, verga and giacinto gallina, have written light come- dies or dramas in dialect or local vernacular. many of these are very charming and well constructed, especially the florentine ones, l’ acqua cheta (1908) by augusto novelliand i’ patcracchio (1910) by f. paolieri. some notable plays of the grand-guignol type have been written in neapolitan dialect by salvatore di giacomo, assunta spina and o’ mese afariano (1910), lernesto murolo and roberto bracco, and, in sicilian, by pirandello (liold, 1917). the fame of roberto bracco as a dramatist rests, however, on piccola fonte (1905) and piccolo santo (1912), the latter being one of the masterpieces of modern italian dramatic literature. most of his plays present psychological and spiritual tragedies with hardly any external action, and are pro- nouncedly feminist in sympathies. technically, they are remark- able for austere simplicity of construction and lack of any external appeal to the emotions. the essential difference between bracco and pirandello is that one is intellectual, the other cerebral. in pirandello (q.v.) the dramatic form is a natural step from the novel and the short stories, in which the characters are, dramialis personae always talk- ing among themselves but unable to make each understood to the other, until they begin to doubt whether they really exist and are not shadowy forms conjured up by the imagination of those among whom they live and by which they are bound. the dra- matic situations arise out of the contrast between what the in- dividual is, what he conceives himself to be and what others dod think him. what is reality, if indeed there be such a thing, and what is unreality? is there a dividing line between madness and sanity? can life have a meaning outside the ever-changing, and arbitrary value attached to it by an individual? ‘these are the problems which constantly reappear in his fiction and in his plays—the logical, if extreme, outcome of the introspective and psycho-analytical tendencies of his period. pirandello has revealed his sense of theatrical technique but his situations are the result of logic rather than of ingenuity. he is responsible for introducing a new prose style, clear-cut, dry and nervous on the stage, a considerable achievement which may have far-reaching effects on his successors. next to pirandello, rosso di san secondo (b. 1887), a sicilian known also for his short stories, and federico valerio ratti, author of a remarkable tragedy on judas iscariot, are the most promising dramatists. the work of the former has as its domi- nant motif the contrast of life governed by discipline 4s opposed 10 impulse, symbolised respectively by the north and the south. the characters of afarionette, che passione! (1918), la bella ad- dormentata (1919), which he describes as a ‘‘ painted adventure,” and lagzerina fra i coltelli, his most recent and abstract work, are allegorical and poetical, and achieve a certain original and dramatic effectiveness. luigi chiarelli’s play, za mascheru e il volto (1917), presents in light comedy form many of pirandello’s ideas. its success, perhaps, was due to the label of “ grotesque ” which he gave it and subsequently adopted locsely to denote plays of a similar genre such as luigi antonelli’s l’ uomo che incontro se stesso (1919), fausto maria martini’s fiore sotto glt occhi (1922), and cantoni-gibertini’s fantoccio; other experi- ments were encouraged more by the desire to appear original than by dramatic ability. criticitsm.—towards the beginning of the 20th century critical theories underwent a considerable change. ‘this was due to the general reaction against positivism and materialism in favour of idealism, which found its most eminent supporter in benedetto croce (g.v.) many have applied these principles, and even those who disagree with them have felt their influence. croce has fur- ther made some notable contributions to the history of naples, not counting those to philosophy. in this respect gentile shares with croce the right to be treated as one of the most important philosophical thinkers of the present day and asa critic. among the older idealist—though not crocean—critics, arturo farinelli, author of f/ romanticismo in germania (1911), afichelungelo e dante (1918), and several other valuable works; cesare de lollis, and alfredo galletti, who succeeded pascoli in the chair of italian literature at the university of bologna and to whom he had de- voted a very brilliant and profound critical study, are the most important. to these three university professors all of whom combined wideness of literary sympathies and knowledge with uncommon critical abilities, should be added the name of a younger man— g. toffanin—who at the time of writing has already given sev- eral proofs of originality, talent and scholarship of a very high order. the work of the militant critics is represented among other works by thovez’s essays i/ pustere il gregge e la zampogna (1910) and afimt det moderno (1919); by renato serra’s scritti critict (1910), and le leftere (1914), a brilliant survey of con- temporary literature and its characteristics, as well as by the critical writings of papini and g. a. borgese (b. 1882) who, be- sides the storia della critica romantica tn italia (1903) has also written rudbe (1921) an interesting autobiographical novel. in some ways their views are often paradoxical and exaggerated, but they possess, however, the frank enthusiasm and charm of youth added to knowledge and aesthetic appreciation. brsliograpily.—b. croce, la letferatura della nuova italia (1914); fe. boghen-cognighiani, antologia della letteratura italiana (1917, etc.); cesare levi, i/ teatra (1919); c. foligno, epochs of italian literature (1920); luigi tonelli, la critica (1920); guida bibliografica (1921); e.g, gardner, the national ideain italian litera- ture (1921); luigi rosso, f narrator: (1923); adriano tilgher, siudz sul teatro contem poraneo (1923); and the critical works mentioned in the text. (a. det r.) 558 italo-turkish war.—following the diplomatic discus- sions which took place between rome and constantinople during the summer of rozz, an ultimatum from italy was delivered to the porte on sept. 28, demanding turkey’s consent to a military occupation of tripolitania and cyrenaica. a period of 24 hours was set by the ultimatum, and as the turkish reply did not meet the italian demands a state of war was declared as from 2:30 p.m. on sept. 20. italian naval activity—military action was slow to succeed the formal declaration of war, and it was not till oct. 11 that the first transports reached tripoli. meanwhile the italian navy had been busy. on sept. 28 a squadron appeared off tripoli, and notice was given that if the town were not surrendered it would be bombarded. the obsolete fortifications were bom- barded for two hours on oct. 3, after the turkish authorities had declined to surrender the town. by next day, the turkish garrison, acting upon orders received from constantinople, had retired into the sandy plains, and on oct. 5 a force of 1,600 sailors was disembarked. meanwhile hostilities had been begun elsewhere. on sept. 29 and 30 italian destroyers under the command of the duke of the abruzzi sank the turkish torpedo-boats off prevesa in epirus and on oct. 1 admiral aubry left augusta to go in search of the turkish fleet, which the declaration of war had found at beirut. but the orders given him were suddenly countermanded, and instead of steaming to the aegean in order to intercept the turks, he was sent to tobruk, which was occupied by a detachment of sailors on oct. 4. the renunciation of the attempt to cut off the turkish fleet was inspired by political reasons. the italian govt. believed that the porte would soon realise that 1t was impossible to defend the tripolitan provinces, and would be willing to enter into some arrangement that would satisfy italian aspirations and save the face of turkey. another reason was the desirability of localising the conflict. other european powers were not willing that hos- tilities should be extended, and the other members of the triple alliance were particularly energetic 1n their disapproval. tialian expeditionary force -——a week elapsed between the landing of the sailors at tripoli and the arrival of the expedition- ary force, and it was not till oct. 20 that all the equipment had been put on shore. the force consisted of some 9,000 riiles with a few ficld and mountain batteries and two squadrons of cavalry. there was very little transport, for it had not been anticipated that the turks would retreat towards the interior and receive support from the native tribesmen. that neshat bey, the turkish commander in tripoli, did receive this sup- port was largely due to two men—icrhat bey, deputy for trip- oli and suleiman el baruni, a berber from fessato, who was deputy for the jebel region. meanwhile hioms, derna and benghazi had been occupied. there was some resistance at each place, especially at benghazi, but the first fighting of any importance was a sudden attack on oct. 23 upon the italian lines at shara shat in the tripoli oasis, backed by a rising behind the lines. two companies of ber- saglieri were cut to pieces, and the rest of the regiment were hard put to it to hold their own. further attacks led to a withdrawal of the line, and to the clearing of the oasis behind the trenches. large reinforcements were sent from italy, and by the fourth week in nov. gen. caneva, who was in command of the expedition, had about 25,000 rifles and 16 batteries. he took the offensive, and in two actions cleared the oasis and sent the turks and their tribesmen allies packing. turkish headquarters were established at aziziya, some 30 m. south of tripoll. political aspect.—at the beginning of nov. the italian govt. had considered the possibility of extending the theatre of war, on the sea at least, in the hope of inducing turkey to give up the struggle. austro-hungary intervened, backed by ger- many, invoking article vii. of the triple alliance. italy’s action being limited in this way, it was necessary to solve the problem directly, but the task was more difficult than it need have been owing to the limitations laid upon gen. caneva by the italian government. gen. caneva’s orders appear to have italo-turkish war—italy been that he must not risk reverses or suffer heavy loss. in the circumstances, an expedition in pursuit of the turks and their mobile allies seemed hardly practical. in any event, months went by without any action of impor- tance in tripolitania. in cyrenaica there was one fight near benghazi, when a force of arabs who had come near the town were attacked and severely punished. derna was closely beset throughout the winter, and enver bey, who had succeeded in reaching cyrenaica towards the end of the year, organised a formidable resistance, securing relative unity among the tribes- men, and a willingness to co-operate with the turks, which had never before existed. ltaitan offensive renewed.—in april, the long spell of inac- tion in the western province came to an end, and from that time onward the resistance of the turks and arabs was gradually broken by a series of operations at various points. in apmil, also, italian warships appeared off the entrance to the dardanelles. they were fired on by the turkish forts and their answer drew a fresh and very energetic protest from vienna. the northern aegean was left alone by the italians henceforth, but in may the island of rhodes and 12 small islands of the sporades (subsequently famous as the dodecanese) were occu- pied by italy. during the summer there were a number of suc- cessful actions in tripolitania, and peace negotiations were begun at ouchy in august. progress was very slow, and it was not until oct. 15, when two important victories had been won by the italians, at derna and sidi bilal (near zanzur) that the treaty of ouchy was signed. conclustons.—the conduct of the tripoli campaign was preju- diced, first, by the failure of the italian govt. to judge the situa- tion correctly, and secondly, by the limitations which were laid upon the military command. it was not possible at once to launch a desert expedition, and the difficulties of an advance to the jebel, through country largely waterless, may be said to justify the adoption of a less ambitious plan. what is difficult to understand is the practical veto upon action of any kind, which immobilised large forces from dec. till april and delayed the carrying out of the policy which eventually put an end to hostilities, the policy of extending the area of operations and striking a blow whenever the chance offered. the operations of the summer changed the situation, but ital- ian prestige was not wholly restored by the later successes, or by the subsequent actions against the tribesmen who did not lay down their arms when the treaty was signed. the policy of the government bore heavily upon the army, which came in for much unfair criticism and increased the difficulties of those who undertook the administration of the country after the peace. the troubles which were to come with the outbreak of the world war may be traced in part at least to the hesitations and uncer- tainties of the six months following the landing. bibliography.—sir t. barclay, the turco-italian war (1912); g. von gravenitz, geschichie des italientschen-turkischen krieges (1912-4); i. maccullagh, jtalzan warfare in tripoli (1912); w. kk. mcclure, fialy in north africa (1913); enver pasha, um trrpolis (1918). (w. ik. mc c.)