Il Verismo

Summary

The script delves into Italian verismo, a literary movement of the late 19th century, influenced by French naturalism. It rejects romanticism, focusing on objective storytelling set in the present. Key figures like Luigi Capuana and Giovanni Verga are highlighted, with a shift from romantic to verist literature. Verga's use of Sicilian dialect in standard Italian and the movement's focus on social issues like the 'Southern Question' in Italy are discussed. The script contrasts verismo with naturalism, noting differences in regional focus, character representation, and narrative style, including the use of free indirect discourse to convey character thoughts.

Takeaways

• 📚 Verismo is a literary movement that developed in Italy around the mid-1870s and lasted until the end of the 19th century, influenced by positivist climate and directly inspired by French naturalism.
• 🏛 It rejects romanticism, aiming to present objective and observable data, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions and judgments about characters and events.
• 🌟 Luigi Capuana is a key theorist of Verismo, bridging the gap between French naturalism and Italian Verismo, and is known for discovering talents like Giovanni Verga and Luigi Pirandello.
• 📖 Giovanni Verga, initially a romantic, later adopted Verismo, focusing on Sicilian settings and characters, aiming to expose social issues like the 'Southern Question' in Italy.
• 🏞️ A significant difference between French naturalism and Italian Verismo is the focus on regional characteristics, with Verismo being predominantly Sicilian and rural.
• 🏭 The social function of art in Verismo is to denounce issues like latifundism, social contrasts, illiteracy, and superstition in Southern Italy, in contrast to the urban industrial problems addressed by naturalism.
• 🗣️ Verismo employs a standardized Italian language, avoiding dialects, to reach a broader audience, particularly the Northern Italian bourgeoisie who could influence change in the South.
• 👥 Characters in Verismo are typically rural, such as fishermen, shepherds, and peasants, unlike the urban proletariat or bourgeoisie characters in naturalism.
• 📜 The narrator in Verismo is impersonal and often presents judgments and prejudices that reflect popular opinions, creating a more objective narrative without authorial filters.
• 🎨 Techniques like 'free indirect discourse' are used by Verga to blend character thoughts with the narrator's voice, providing a nuanced and immersive storytelling approach.

Q & A

What is Verismo in literature?

Verismo is a literary movement that developed around the mid-1870s and ended roughly at the end of the 19th century. It is influenced by positivist climate and directly inspired by French naturalism, aiming to overcome romanticism and historical novels.

How does Verismo differ from Romanticism?

Verismo rejects the sentimentalism of Romanticism, focusing on presenting objective and observable data, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions and judgments about characters and events.

Who is considered the main theorist of Verismo?

Luigi Capuana is considered the main theorist of Verismo. He was the first to read French naturalist novels and believed that a literature of scientific denunciation should also emerge in Italy.

How did Luigi Capuana influence Verismo?

Capuana was instrumental in bridging French naturalism with Italian Verismo. He recognized the artistic value of Giovanni Verga and convinced him to start writing in the Verismo style.

Who are the key figures of Italian Verismo?

The key figures of Italian Verismo include Luigi Capuana, Giovanni Verga, and Federico De Roberto. Capuana was a critic and theorist, Verga was a writer who transitioned from Romanticism to Verismo, and De Roberto was a significant writer of the movement.

What are the main differences between French Naturalism and Italian Verismo?

The main differences include the focus on regional characteristics in Verismo compared to the national scope of Naturalism, the rural setting of Verismo versus the urban setting of Naturalism, and the portrayal of characters from the proletariat in Naturalism versus characters from rural backgrounds in Verismo.

What was the social function of art in Verismo?

In Verismo, the social function of art was to denounce one of the most serious problems of newly united Italy: the Southern Question, which includes issues like latifundism, social contrasts, illiteracy, superstition, and fatalism.

How did Verismo authors approach language in their works?

Verismo authors, unlike the French Naturalists, did not use a mimetic language. Giovanni Verga, for example, used Italian with some local Sicilian expressions and proverbs, avoiding the use of the Sicilian dialect to reach a broader audience.

What is the difference between the impersonality of the narrator in Naturalism and Verismo?

In Naturalism, the narrator is impersonal and detached, presenting like a scientist. In Verismo, the narrator is impersonal but immersed in the work, often presenting judgments and prejudices that reflect popular views to achieve a more objective presentation.

What is the 'free indirect discourse' and how is it used in Verismo?

Free indirect discourse is a narrative technique where the narrator's voice and the character's thoughts are intertwined without quotation marks. It allows the narrator to present the character's perspective more directly, blurring the lines between character thought and narrator's voice.

Why did Giovanni Verga choose to write in Italian rather than Sicilian dialect?

Giovanni Verga chose to write in Italian to reach a wider audience, specifically the bourgeois readership in the North of Italy who had the power to influence and change the conditions of the South.