Tutte le poesie: edizione critica con antologia di testi tradotti by Annie Vivanti, Carlo Caporossi

Abstract

MLR, 105.1, 2010 265 all, Poggi was involved with the 1998 exhibition at theMoore College ofArt and Design) and Severini. It is to be hoped thatwe shall have a chance to do so in a futuremonograph on Futurist painting in the 1920s and 1930s. Although I do not fully agree with her emphasis on the artificial' side of Futurist optimism, I certainly support her thesis that the Futurist machine cult had more to offer than an unreserved, optimistic macchinolatria. Futurist responses to the crisis of modernity tended tomix positive and critical assessments of the new civilization of themachine. But the balance of thismixture shifted over time. Even starry-eyed Futurists came to realize that the industrialization of Italy had some grave social repercussions, and conversely, sceptics of themachine cult could adopt themes of aero-Futurism since theywere popular and brought in commissions and thus money. IfPoggi were to use the expertise that she has shown with her analyses of Futurist paintings of the early phase for an in-depth investigation of lesser-known works of secondo futurismo, we could be in for some positive surprises. But I seri ously hope that she would give herself enough time to do justice to this complex material and avoid the kind of flaws thatmar this volume. University of Bristol Gunter Berghaus Tutte lepoesie: edizione critica con antologia di testi tradotti. By Annie Vivanti. Ed. by Carlo Caporossi. Florence: Olschki. 2006. 465 pp. 45. ISBN 978 88-222-5588-4. Lirica, a collection of fiftypoems by Annie Vivanti (1866-1942), was published by Treves in 1890 with an authoritative preface by Giosue Carducci, who thus helped to establish its author on the literary scene. Between 1890 and 1921 the collection enjoyed six further editions, with the gradual addition of other poems, including some inEnglish. This volume, edited by Carlo Caporossi, presents Vivanti's entire poetic production: Tinea (pp. 149-232), comprising sixty-three poems in Italian; 'Poesie sparse e inedite' (pp. 235-50), including poetic excerpts from I divoratori and Dire di se; ten 'Poesie in inglese' (pp. 253-68), which were originally pub lished in the 1899 and 1921 editions of Lirica; and ten 'Poesie per Annie Vivanti' (pp. 271-84), written by Giosue Carducci, Arturo Colautti, Carlo Fabbri, Jaroslav Vrchlicky (in Czech), and Luciano Folgore. The second part of the book consists of translations ofVivanti's poems into several languages: German, English, Czech, Swedish, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Danish, Finnish, Spanish, French, Romanian, and Dutch (pp. 287-405), which testifies to thewidespread reach of this original poetry and lays the foundations 'peruno studio di Annie Vivanti di carattere pres soche mondiale' (p. xi). The volume closes with an invaluable critical and textual bibliography of Vivanti's oeuvre, both in the original (Italian or English) and in translation, and of her poetry, fiction, and plays, tracing a detailed textual history: for example, the novel The Devourers had two editions in the original English in 1910 and I divoratori in Italian, translated byVivanti, enjoyed twenty-two editions from 1911 to 1949; music pieces were composed on her poems between the 1880s 266 Reviews and 1949; and therewere films based on her novels. The wealth of this volume is unquestionable, offering for the first time since 1921, and with exemplary editing, thework of a poet who may be considered a literarybut also a cultural and social phenomenon. The response to these poems at the timewas far from unanimously favourable, and gave rise to a wide range of reactions, not all exclusively literary, which the twenty-four-year-old Vivanti was more than able to face, skilfully making themost of criticism and fame, of acquaintances and opportunities, of her beauty and of her unique multicultural and plurilingual intellectual profile. The volume opens with an engaging introduction by Carlo Caporossi (pp. 3 139). Drawing on a wide range of contemporary documents such as private letters (byVivanti, Carducci, publishers, and friends) and reviews ranging from lenient to sardonic, from enthusiastic to tepid, the essay discloses the story of a book of poetry and of its author, both original and difficult to define. '"Versi scapigliati e monelli": la storia di Lirica (pp. 3-81) traces the story of this...