From St Francis to Aldo Palazzeschi. Italian literature in Mikhail Osorgin’s Essays on Modern Italy Ocherki sovremennoy Italii

The article draws on the author’s speech notes and comments prepared for the first reprint of M. Osorgin’s Essays on Modern Italy Ocherki sovremennoy Italii. Osorgin’s book discusses Italian literature by giving an overview of D’Annunzio’s and Pascoli’s poetry, Fogazzaro’s prose, Benelli’s plays, and Marinetti’s and Palazzeschi’s Futurist writings. Osorgin’s method included reliance on an authoritative source combined with a personal study of the works, which was meant to produce a well-founded judgement. Through Osorgin’s book, Russian readers discovered many Italian authors. However, he often succumbed to subjectivity caused by his belief in the social responsibilities of literature. Following remarks on illiteracy and the subjugation of schools and libraries by the Catholic Church elsewhere in the book, Osorgin proceeds to chastise authors for failing to adequately address the plight of ordinary people. Consequently, he finds writings in a dialect, e. g., Belli’s and Pascarella’s works, to be truly national literature. The treatment of Italian literature in Essays owes its angle to Osorgin’s adherence to Herzen’s and Bakunin’s ideals.