A reflection this that seemed worthy of being revived:
Do not worry, this time no speak of religion, but of artistic and literary influences. I found an essay that I read when I was delighted to History of Religions. The essay is Fortunato Pasqualino , references are to of Mimesis Erich Auerbach , but the gist is: why literature northern European (and American to follow) has outdone herself in the excavation of the psychological character (horror, thriller, yellow), while the Italian (speaking of classics) seems completely devoid of mystery?
The blame should be equally divided between Homer , the Counter , the mentality of Epicurean Renaissance and a certain carelessness, all the Italian for divine things. Probably this is between us and some of pope Joseph Ratzinger There's bad blood? Bah. But let's order.
Cito Eugenio Scalfari a few weeks ago: The Homeric poems are the starting point of Western literature ... The Bronze Age heroes depicted in the Iliad, and the gods that guide the actions , materialize at least four different destinations: Achilles, the beauty of force and war, Hector, the defense of the city and 'Piety' that will be taken up by Virgil and revived the character of Aeneas, Agamemnon, the power bloated and meandering, Odysseus, the superiority of intelligence.
We find in these four characters are cliché of all literature to come. This is true. But there is a junction between the clean and precise way of writing, and to treat the characters, creators and those of northern European Italian authors. And the bifurcation, according Pasqualino, would be created at the time of the Counter Reformation. After near-fatal blow received by the Reformation of Martin Luther , Church of Rome decided to ban the reading of the Bible (ace in the sleeve of Protestantism ), especially to prevent the attendance of those pages generated in the faithful the temptation of a free and, So heretical . A decision that is easily grafted on the trend throughout the Renaissance (and especially Italian) just take care of the divine in favor of the earthly. Closer, useful, and why not, even more fun. Strictly speaking the last biblical Italian was the punisher Savonarola and, somehow, his stake marked the end of each sense of mystery in the style of Italian literature. Deprive us of going to Bible means cutting away the concept of man as troubled and dramatic, fought, all for peaceful relationships, simple and optimistic that were characteristic of the Homeric style. E 'Auerbach in his assertion Mimemis : Homer's style will not hold your breath, do not like the tension, surprise. Homer shows us things as they are finished and correct. Nothing is left unexplained. Everything must be clear and distinct place in the foreground, with no attention to the background and the prospect human.
I quote from the Bible :
After these things God tried Abraham, and said, Abraham! And he said: I'm here!
Here where? Nothing is explained. Where the interview is taking place, where it comes from God, because it decides to Abraham groped. Which would explain rather a Homeric Zeus, talking amiably with Hera or Apollo, or his beloved Athens. According to Auerbach writers of the Bible have been ahead even Einstein in the concepts of space and time while Homer remains anchored to the few dimensions of the geometry euclidea. I suoi personaggi sono standardizzati, rimangono uguali a se stessi anche a distanza di decenni, come succede a Ulisse e alla sua sposa Penelope. I personaggi biblici, invece, non sono descritti, ma per questo sono più concreti, perché hanno infinite sfaccettature implicite.
Un’altra differenziazione viene effettuata sulla base del censo. Gli scrittori pagani (da cui deriviamo le influenze più dirette) operavano una discriminazione sulla base dell’importanza sociale del personaggio. Il loro realismo nel narrare solo di quelli che contano è condizionato dalla concezione della società. La Bibbia , invece, dà spazio ai re così as the servants and each reveals heroism and ignominy, exposing the spiritual conflict that belongs to every human being.
pagan writers (especially those who speak Latin) from Petronio later add to their realism a form of detachment from things told that is expressed in ' irony. Ironic then that is only one way to judge and to be moral. A polemic masquerading as Olympic posting.
The biblical writers, however, are writers of reality and truth (of course the reality and truth are not talking about absolutes), then pose no screens between him and the matter in writing. Accept it with respect even the most abject of human beings. Do not condemn, give the edge to be the player to do so. While the Homeric writers (including Latin) condemn the moment they write, and then deform and disqualified. not bring a witness, lead review.
Here is the crossroad between literature Italian literature and Northern Europe. The style involves the discovery of more strictly biblical spiritual intimacy, the centrality of man, also means the advent of first person singular in the literature European Union. What the film is called subjective .
The heroes of Homer, however, does not enjoy the gift of intimacy. Are observed, not observers.
According to the essay by Pasqualino, the same psychoanalysis is a basis in the Bible, as evidenced by episodes of dream of Pharaoh (the seven lean cows and fat) and Nebuchadnezzar (the dream of a huge statue with feet of clay). The attitude penetrates the biblical sense of reality and human experience.
The attitude Homer describes what he sees, with no real participation.
All this shows that we have the masterpieces of introspection, whether literary or film (see Ingmar Bergman ) the freedom to read, attend and interpret the Bible guaranteed by the Protestant Reformation. Today, news is a few days ago, Church of Rome has come to the conclusion that it needs to encourage Bible study among young people. A study to be regardless of religious context. The book for excellence should be submitted to students not as the foundation of the Christian creed (and Hebrew), but as evidence of high literary value.
laudable initiative, but I do not have much hope. As I understand it in Italian schools is already so if students are allowed to know that a blind man named Homer wrote two little things named Iliad and Odyssey.