Letteratura e industria: Tommaso Di Ciaula e Vincenzo Guerrazzi

Letteratura e industria was a fervently discussed topic in the sixties, as documented by Vittorini's rivista Menab ̣. During this time, many writers who had made industrialization a literary theme felt unable to portray the spirit of the working class ("la classe operaia"); instead, their creations were mere descriptive documents, unable to elucidate the psychological effects of the new working environment. The factories established in the post-war Southern Italy gave employment to many eager jobless farmers ("contadini"), improved the standard of life by facilitating material wealth, yet did little to bring job satisfaction. In fact, many workers felt frustrated, angry, alienated, and devalued; such sentiment could only be poignantly expressed by those who directly experienced the factory environment, and not by a writer who observed from a distance. However, literature written by workers was scarce since most were illiterate farmers, as Ottieri's Donnarumma all'assalto documented. Consequently, some writers took leave from their academic postings in exchange for a position inside a factory. Among them were Ottiero Ottieri and Paolo Volponi. The former wrote Donnarumma all'assalto, which included his observations as a human resources psychologist in Pozzuoli (Napoli), and the latter wrote Memoriale, which stemmed from his experience as a manager with the Olivetti's Enterprises. Both works are considered in this thesis as models of Letteratura e industria . Although Ottieri's and Volponi's works present many aspects of the working environment, they lack the psychological dimension which demonstrates the workers' true feelings. Thus this thesis considers essentials the scrittori-operai Vincenzo Guerrazzi and Tommaso Di Ciaula, referred to as scrittori selvaggi, scrittori dal margine, franchi narratori due to their lack of a formal academic preparation. Nevertheless, their contribution is necessary to understand the workers' viewpoint towards the factory, and the consequences that industrialization has brought to their lives. Through text analysis, we can appreciate the operai 's culture through their choice of vocabulary, image association and tone of expression. The early works by Guerrazzi and Di Ciaula, Nord e sud uniti nella lotta and Tuta blu respectively, have a particular style, which reflects the authors' mood in that specific moment. In fact, the frustration and the anger toward the working environment rationalize the emotive writing style distinguishable by blaspheme. For Guerrazzi such foul language is found on the factory toilet walls where workers privately express their true feelings. For Di Ciaula such language disappears and becomes more poetic when he reminds the readers of the natural pre-industrial environment. This thesis also analyzes Guerrazzi's inchieste (inquires) L'altra cultura: inchiesta operaia, I dirigenti, Gli intelligenti, his novels La festa dell'unit, ̉ Come si diventa borghesi?, and Quel maledetto giorno . It also gives an account of Di Ciaula's overwhelming success abroad, where theatrical adaptations and a movie were created based on his Tuta blu . Lastly, the thesis discusses Di Ciaula's narratives Fragmenta, Ali di Pietra, and Acque sante acque marce . These text analyses will prove Leo Spitzer's theory on style and its deviation in accordance with a writer's frame of mind.

Keywords: Italian literature, History and criticism
Industrialization in literature