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Italo Calvino: A Reasonable Utopia

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Utopia and Dystopia in Postwar Italian Literature

Part of the book series: Italian and Italian American Studies ((IIAS))

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Abstract

This chapter explores the theme of utopia in the narrative production of Italo Calvino. Starting from his first novel, Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno, utopia in Calvino appears inextricably connected both with his leftist political views and with rationalism. The analysis shows that this political utopia informs not only Calvino’s realistic texts, but also his fable-like tales such as Il visconte dimezzato and Il barone rampante. The theme of utopia becomes predominant in Calvino with Le città invisibili, a composite book that is a reflection on More’s Utopia; but, instead of describing the ideal city, Calvino decides to show 54 dystopian ones, maintaining the strength of a utopian impulse that is not forced into a fixed model.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For the relationship between Calvino and Pasolini see also Benedetti, Carla. Pasolini contro Calvino. Per una letteratura impura. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri, 1998.

  2. 2.

    Unless otherwise indicated, translations are my own.

  3. 3.

    All the English translations from this novel are taken from Calvino, Italo. The Path to the Nest of Spiders, translated by Archibald Colquhoun. New York: The Ecco Press, 1974. This one is from page 103.

  4. 4.

    The Path to the Nest of Spiders 95.

  5. 5.

    All the English translations from this novel are taken from Calvino, Italo. The Nonexistent Knight & The Cloven Viscount, translated by Archibald Colquhoun. New York: Harbrace Paperbound Library, 1977. This one is from page 229.

  6. 6.

    The Nonexistent Knight and The Cloven Viscount 229.

  7. 7.

    See Lucia, Piero. Intellettuali italiani del secondo dopoguerra. Napoli: Guida, 2003, 113.

  8. 8.

    See Calvino, Italo. I libri degli altri. Torino: Einaudi, 1991, 67.

  9. 9.

    See Barenghi, Mario. Introduzione a Calvino, Italo. Saggi 1945–1985. Milano: Mondadori, 1999, XVI–XIX.

  10. 10.

    See Calvino, Italo. L’estate del ’56 (1980) (Saggi 2853–2854).

  11. 11.

    All the English translations from this novel are taken from Calvino, Italo. Difficult Loves. Smog. A Plunge in Real Estate, translated by William Weaver. London: Secker and Warburg, 1983. This one is from page 227.

  12. 12.

    Difficult Loves 249.

  13. 13.

    All the English translations from this novel are taken from Calvino, Italo. The Baron in the Trees, translated by Archibald Colquhoun. San Diego—New York—London: Harbrace Jovanovich, 1959. This one is from page 106.

  14. 14.

    The Baron in the Trees 107.

  15. 15.

    All the English translations from this novel are taken from Calvino, Italo. The Watcher and Other Stories, translated by William Weaver. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1975. This one is from page 37.

  16. 16.

    The Watcher 39.

  17. 17.

    The Watcher 64.

  18. 18.

    The Watcher 73.

  19. 19.

    The quotation is taken from Belpoliti, Marco. Storie del visibile. Lettura di Italo Calvino. Rimini: Luisé, 1990, 13.

  20. 20.

    The interview is in Sinigaglia, Alberto. Vent’anni dal Duemila. Interviste. Torino: ERI, 1982, 25.

  21. 21.

    All the English translations from this novel are taken from Calvino, Italo. T zero, translated by William Weaver. New York: Harvest, 1976. This one is from page 31.

  22. 22.

    See Nava, Giuseppe. “Calvino interprete di Borges”. Paragone. Letteratura, XLV, n.s., nn. 45–46, 532–534.

  23. 23.

    T zero 152.

  24. 24.

    All the English translations from this novel are taken from Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities, translated by William Weaver. London: Picador, 1974. This one is from page 100.

  25. 25.

    Invisible Cities 61.

  26. 26.

    Invisible Cities 92.

  27. 27.

    See the interview “Nel regno di Calvino”. L’Espresso, 45 (1972), 11.

  28. 28.

    Invisible Cities 49.

  29. 29.

    Invisible Cities 63.

  30. 30.

    Invisible Cities 127.

  31. 31.

    Invisible Cities 76.

  32. 32.

    See Pasolini, Pier Paolo. Saggi sulla letteratura e sull’arte. Milano: Mondadori, 1999, 1728.

  33. 33.

    Invisible Cities 77.

  34. 34.

    Invisible Cities 28.

  35. 35.

    Invisible Cities 120.

  36. 36.

    Invisible Cities 125.

  37. 37.

    Invisible Cities 125.

  38. 38.

    Guido Piovene’s review of Le città invisibili is now in Barenghi, Mario; Canova, Gianni; Falcetto, Bruno (editors). La visione dell’invisibile. Saggi e materiali de “Le città invisibili” di Italo Calvino. Milano: Mondadori, 2002.

  39. 39.

    All the English translations from this book are taken from Calvino, Italo. If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, translated by William Weaver. New York: Harcourt, 1981. This one is from page 171.

  40. 40.

    See Luperini, Romano. “Bilancio di un trentennio letterario (1960–1990) e ipotesi sul presente”. L’indice dei libri del Mese. 9, novembre 1991, 15–17.

  41. 41.

    See the interview of Calvino with Lietta Tornabuoni, “Calvino, l’occhio e il silenzio” in La Stampa, 25 novembre 1983, quoted in Serra, Francesca. Calvino e il pulviscolo di Palomar. Firenze: Le Lettere, 1996, 92.

  42. 42.

    All the English translations from this novel are taken from Calvino, Italo. Mr. Palomar, translated by William Weaver. London: Random House, 1985. This one is from page 51.

  43. 43.

    Mr. Palomar 12.

  44. 44.

    Mr. Palomar 15.

  45. 45.

    Mr. Palomar 102.

  46. 46.

    Mr. Palomar 31.

  47. 47.

    Mr. Palomar, 102.

  48. 48.

    See Bauman, Zygmunt. Modus Vivendi. Inferno e utopia nel mondo liquido. Roma: Laterza, 2008.

  49. 49.

    Mr. Palomar 112.

  50. 50.

    For the reference with Zeno see Serra, Francesca. Calvino e il pulviscolo di Palomar. Firenze: Le Lettere, 221.

Bibliography

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  • Bernardini Napoletano, Francesca. I segni nuovi di Italo Calvino. Roma: Bulzoni, 1977.

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  • Bertone, Giorgio. Italo Calvino e il castello della scrittura. Torino: Einaudi, 1994.

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  • Camon, Ferdinando. Il mestiere di scrittore. Milano: Garzanti, 1973.

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  • Eco, Umberto. Lector in fabula. Milano: Bompiani, 1979.

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  • Milanini, Claudio. L’utopia discontinua. Saggi su Italo Calvino. Milano: Garzanti, 1986.

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  1. Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA

    Daniele Fioretti

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  1. Daniele Fioretti
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Fioretti, D. (2017). Italo Calvino: A Reasonable Utopia. In: Utopia and Dystopia in Postwar Italian Literature. Italian and Italian American Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46553-1_4

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