“Il più grande dopo Shakespeare”: Fenoglio e Lawrence d’Arabia

Abstract

This article examines a selection of references to the figure of Lawrence of Arabia in Fenoglio’s work, direct quotations from his writings, his recollections, and personal re-elaborations, thus expanding the list of already familiar allusions. On these premises and through the limited documentary sources available, this study attempts to reconstruct Fenoglio’s approach to T. E. Lawrence’s texts and to demonstrate how the ways in which the war experience is represented in Seven Pillars constitute the basis for the overcoming of autobiographism in Appunti partigiani and the creation of an epic of resistance. Aiming to deliver fully original outcomes, Fenoglio carefully oscillates between affiliation and detachment, as shown by one of the best-known episodes from Partigiano Johnny – the investiture of the hero, when read in connection with Lawrence’s source.

Keywords

• beppe fenoglio
• thomas edward lawrence
• the italian resistance
• guerrilla warfare
• bible