Rehumanizing the world: Paolo Milano’s transatlantic cultural politics

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the transatlantic cultural politics of Paolo Milano (1904–1988), an Italian-Jewish exile who acted as an editorial disseminator of both Italian literature in the United States and American Literature in Italy during World War II and through the 1950s. Milano’s efforts to revitalize Italian and American cultural politics include his project for an Italian anthology of classic American writers and book reviews for American magazines and newspapers, especially his contributions to The New York Times Review of Books dedicated to Ignazio Silone and Carlo Levi’s novels. The article concludes that, despite presenting sometimes contradictory stances, such as supporting brotherhood and homophilic initiatives while also turning a blind eye to American imperialism, Milano’s transatlantic cultural politics worked to reorient the discussion on the role of culture and intellectuals in the context of an increasingly technocratic and dehumanizing society both in Italy and in the U.S.