Leopardi in scena. Appunti sparsi sui travestimenti di un personaggio performativo

Abstract

Under the form of notes, the text proposes a reflection about the literary transformation of Giacomo Leopardi in a performative character, choosing four preferential tracks. Firstly through the pièce of Camille de Bainville, Le dernier jour de Leopardi (1894), it is suggested an example of the value of the performance as a way of diffusion and reception of literature abroad. The second and more deepened point regards the manners of representation and disguises of Leopardi’s character, referring to the centrality of the body’s theme in the drama of Giuseppe Manfridi, Giacomo, il prepotente (1989). Then it is shown the imaginary letter of Leopardi to Roberto Benigni (2010), written by Perle Abbruggiati, proposing a cinematographic transposition of the Operette morali. The fourth and last “annotation” is devoted to a documentary realised about the famous and bashful poet, in which Vittorio Gassman is the performer.