«Emblemi, icone, carte d’identità, | Travestimenti, connotazioni, metamorfosi...»: «Il principe costante» di Alberto Arbasino

Abstract

The paper traces, from the perspective of Genette’s trans-textuality and postmodern theories on Camp and Kitsch, Alberto Arbasino’s project to rewrite Calderón de la Barca’s The Constant Prince (1629). Following the failure to produce a theatrical reduction and a film proposed to Carmelo Bene, the novelist reinterpreted the play on the basis of the 1965 production, directed by Jerzy Grotowski, at the Spoleto Festival. In 1972, Arbasino published a hybrid novel, halfway between screenplay, opera libretto, cabaret plot and cartoon strip. In line with similar experiments in the rewriting of classics operated by exponents of the Gruppo 63 (Luigi Malerba, Giorgio Manganelli, Giuliano Gramigna, Roberto Di Marco), Arbasino deconstructs the hypotext by highlighting its diegetic mechanisms and ideological superstructures. The remake demystifies the ideological framework in relation to the historical constants of colonialism, religious fundamentalism and sexual mores, proposing a literate and shrewd divertissement.

Keywords

• arbasino
• calderón de la barca
• neoavanguardia
• parodia
• travestimento