Fragments of 'impegno': Interpretation of Commitment in Contemporary Italian Narrative, 1980-2000 by Jennifer Burns (review)

Abstract

222 Reviews Fragments of 'impegno': Interpretation of Commitment in Contemporary ltalian Nar? rative, 1980-2000. By Jennifer Burns. Leeds: Northern Universities Press. 2001. vi +204 pp. ?36. ISBN 1-902653-37-8. For the generation of ltalian writers which emerged afterthe Second World War, the notion of a particular relationship between narrative production and socio-political commitment was inescapable. In this book Jennifer Burns asks to what extent this particular trait has informed later generations of ltalian fiction writers. It is an am? bitious task which does not allow for generic definitions of impegno or for generic notions of literary history. For this reason, Burns is very careful in first assessing the practices of political commitment in the literary work of ltalian writers up until the 1980s. In Chapter 1, to 'counter the commonly-held opinion that the concept of impegno was a monological one' (p. 13), Burns concentrates on the literary practices of three differentauthors: Elio Vittorini, Italo Calvino, and Pier Paolo Pasolini. One might question the limitations of such a selection, but there is no doubt that Burns's critical approach is both helpful and stimulating. It presents us with a concrete and well-developed analysis of the differentways in which the three authors struggled to infuse their writing with a sense of ethical and social responsibility. The following chapter moves on to the 1970s, and here the work of Gianni Celati is convincingly presented as a link between the previous generation and what will follow. With Chapter 3 we enter the actual analysis of a selection of authors whose work spans the twenty years from 1980 to 2000. Antonio Tabucchi is considered as the one who, more than any other, retains traits ofhis forerunners in his Vittorini-esque belief in the impact of literature on people's social conscience. Chapter 4 then concentrates on the work of Fabrizia Ramondino, whose interest in questions of personal and social identity bears marks of a 'Pasolinian' viewpoint. Although Burns does not try to define a female-specificform ofimpegno,the relevance ofgender issues is implicit in the entire book through the use ofthe feminine personal pronoun whenever a generic notion of writer is discussed. It is difficult to condense in a few lines the many interesting considerations re? garding the rest of the selected writers. Andrea De Carlo is studied as an example of unconvincing impegno as betrayed by his simplistic and ambiguous treatment of contemporary social issues. At the other end of Burns's qualitative spectrum, Pier Vittorio Tondelli's fictional production is praised for 'his profound commitment to creating and maintaining a space for literature in contemporary culture' (p. 117). His effortsto promote the writings of the following generation posit Tondelli as an important figure in the development of contemporary ltalian literature and, as Burns points out, the 'fault line' has developed to include the writings of Silvia Ballestra. In the following chapter Ballestra, the youngest of the selection, is discussed as the most promising of the current generation of ltalian writers. In her work Burns sees the progressive establishment of a self-assured identity as a writer and as an observer of social phenomena. The eighth and final chapter is devoted to an overview of immigrant writing in ltalian. Various examples of works by North African writers are discussed, some for their limitations, others for their original traits. The conclusion regroups the many strands of each chapter under the umbrella notion of postmodernism. Within this dimension, furtheranalysis could have focused on the role of the historical novel and detective fiction (both of which would have seen Sciascia as a fourth impegno father figure). The conclusion also returns to the overall thesis of the book, that the latest generation of writers have had their sense of responsibility towards readers and literature woken up by the political crises of the 1990s. Within the selected range of authors, this is a convincing interpretation; particularly illuminating is the reconstruction of a sense oflegacy descending fromthe idealism ofthe early post-war years. On the other hand, the uncharted territories of MLR, 99.1, 2004 223 Catholic culture remain unexplored. This is a pity since the work of a highly popular writer such as...