A study of the poetry of Giacomo Zanella

Abstract

It is intended that this work should contribute to the study of the original Italian poetry of Giacomo Zanella, through an overall view of it, in its historical context, with due regard to the findings of previous criticism. After a resume of Zanella's life (Chapter 1) and a thorough examination of his Poetica (Chapter 2), his theoretical concept of poetry, there are four detailed, critical surveys of his verses in Chapters 3-6, followed by the final chapter in which a synthetic diachronic evaluation of all the material considered in the foregoing chapters is undertaken. Zanella's theoretical espousal of the fundamental spirit of Chenier's 'formula' resulted in his virtually constant adherence to a Classical, stylistic framework within which he dealt with essentially "Romantic" themes. While his Classicism was Influenced by Parini and, among others, to a lesser extent, Foscolo, it anticipated, at the time of the post-Romantic crisis of form, Carducci's return to Classicism and offered a possible alternative solution to its coexistence with Realism. From a thematic point of view, Zanella's poetry both reflected and anticipated so many aspects of the two main currents of Italian Romanticism, la linea del realismo from Manzoni to Verga, and la linea del pathos, from Leopardi to Pascoli. He also foreshadowed the ultimate respective destinations, Verismo and Decadentismo, of these two currents. The conclusions of this thesis draw attention to the inherent worth of Zanella's verses, as well as to his position in the mainstream of nineteenth-century Italian poetry.