Satire and Social Commitment in Tabucchi's "L'oca al passo"

Abstract

Antonio Tabucchi, in "L'oca al passo" (2006), satirizes Italy's political class by arranging in non-chronological order a collection of editorials. He argues that he thereby endows these non-fictional writings with a literariness they did not possess in their original venues. In response, this article examines the nature and goals of satire. The non-linear ordering of the essays also prompts an interrogation of the act of reading; particularly the narrative representation of simultaneity through language, a medium that can exist only in time. Furthermore, Tabucchi's foray into topicality leads to a discussion of the social role of the writer and of literature.