Carnero, Roberto; (2000) Silvio d'Arzo: A critical evaluation. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The main aim of my research was to write a critical monograph on Silvio D'Arzo, a minor but very interesting contemporary Italian novelist (Reggio Emilia, 1920-1952). Although many essays, articles and even some books had been written on D'Arzo (and the proceedings of two congresses were also available), a complete study dealing with the different aspects connected to the life and the activity of this writer was still missing. I prepared an exhaustive and up-to-date bibliography of the creative works by D'Arzo (this was at times made difficult by the sheer number of periodicals to which the author contributed, often not to be found in most libraries in Italy) and of the critical studies on him. The bibliography is therefore quite an important result of my thesis, and will constitute a fundamental starting point for any future study on D'Arzo. Another problem I had to face was the "philology" of D'Arzo's texts: the editorial situation of many of them is complicated, since there are different versions and editions of the same text. I tried to offer an analysis and sometimes a possible solution to these problems. What I then did was to place D'Arzo in the literary context of Italian narrative in the Thirties and Forties (the decades in which he worked most). This study helped to define D'Arzo's place within the history of contemporary Italian literature. Although D'Arzo did not belong to any particular literary movement, it can be useful to see him in the context of his day in order to evaluate his importance and his influence on the following generations of writers. The other points I focused on in my study include D'Arzo's life, his narrative production (short stories and novels), his writings for children, his poetry, his critical essays on English and American literature (which testify to his wide literary interests), his correspondence with other writers and with publishers, his critical and editorial "(s)fortuna".

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