3. Primo Levi et le difficile rapport avec la population italienne

Abstract

For Italians, Primo Levi remains the witness of the camps. He was always aware that his books were viewed by his countrymen as “collective books.” Over the years, Italy recognized his role as the public narrator of the concentration camp experience. To reconstruct and deconstruct Levi’s evolution in the Italian public arena is to reflect the period of the Italian recollection of the deportation. Continuing along these lines, the article is divided into three sections. Firstly, the article studies the difficulties surrounding the publication of If This Is a Man, which were typical of postwar Italy. Despite these difficulties, a publisher was found in 1947 and the Einaudi edition came out in 1958. If This Is a Man brought to light the underlying challenges in building a public narrative on the deportation. The second section of the article examines the complex relationship between the recognition of Levi the author and the reality that was revealed to Levi the witness. One can imagine a dialogue that unfolds despite the witness’ solitude and the superficiality of a society that is inclined to forget its own past. Lastly, the article looks at the construction of Levi as an icon, posthumously perfected and designed to make it possible to “digest” the words of “the man with the good memory.”