Struggle for Life and the Modern Italian Novel, 1859-1925

Andrea Sartori teaches Italian and European Culture at Politecnico of Milan, Italy, for the year 2022-23. He is the author of Scompenso (2010) and L’inventalavoro (2012). He co-edited Perspectives on Italian Difference: Italian Differences in Perspective (2018) and Terry Pinkard’s La Fenomenologia di Hegel in Italian (2013).

• 1 Introduction.- 2 Darwin’s Traces.- 3 Svevo: Life and Writing.- 4 De Roberto: Power and Transformism.- 5 Pirandello: Name and Performance.- 6 Conclusion.

“The Struggle for Life and the Modern Italian Novel, 1859-1925 is an erudite and original book by a thoughtful reader of Italian and European modernity. … this is a precious volume … . Sartori’s brilliant overview of Darwin’s theories and of their aftermath within the European context should become a point of reference for our understanding of this pivotal epoch in European history ... ." (Silvia Valisa, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, May 3, 2024)“Sartori’s volume invites us to investigate more deeply and more broadly the reification of life and the theatricalization of the world as something not only characteristic of Pirandello but of the modern(ist) novel as a whole. It is probably the Derridean lens used by Sartori to read the Italian inetti that is the most profitable tool to inherit from this work. Through this deconstructionist lens, Sartori shows the importance … to shed new light on universally acknowledged truths.” (Lorenzo Mecozzi, Annali d'italianistica, Vol. 41, 2023)