Come abbiamo letto Manzoni: interpreti novecenteschi by Luciano Parisi (2009)

1158 Reviews Colonna's spiritual lyrics in the course of the century from Niccolo Martelli to Laura Battiferra Ammannati. One might have welcomed amore extensive account of the conceptual material inChapter 1, and of the nature of 'reformedMariology', as well as some sense of themedieval tradition of affective spirituality rather earlier than Chapter 5, but these areminor quibbles. All in all, Brundin delivers what she promises, relieving Colonna ofher subsidiary and largelypassive status,weaving a convincing narrative as regards both the innovative nature of the poet's work, characterized by the new spiritual uses of the Petarchan lyric tradition, and her influence inmid-century among reformist sympathizers. We can look forward to the new project on ver nacular literature and religious expression in the sixteenth century forwhich the present Chapter 7 provides a taster (p. 13). University of Bristol Judith Bryce Come abbiamo letto Manzoni: interpretinovecenteschi. By Luciano Parisi. Ales sandria: Edizioni dell'Orso. 2008. xviii+236 pp. 18. ISBN 978-88-6274 024-1. In his second collection ofManzoni essays Luciano Parisi moves from the impact of seventeenth-century French apologetics, which he explored in Manzoni and Bossuet (seeMLR, 101 (2006), 264-65), to twentieth-century interpretation ofManzoni's writings, and especially I promessi sposi. Concentrating mainly on critical analysis by literary scholars and philosophers, but also taking other relevant material into account, he now explores the interaction between Manzoni's text and his read ers' personalities and expectations, and theway inwhich readers' reactions were influenced by theirhistorical and cultural context. The result is a work of considerable originality, ranging perhaps more widely over Manzoni's reception than any previous investigation. The ten chapters each centre upon one interpreter and divide equally between Manzoni's religion (Chap ters 1-5) and a series ofmiscellaneous topics which inevitably, however, continue to bear on his world-view (Chapters 6-10). Chapters 1-3 juxtapose the divergent views of, respectively, Francesco Ulivi, who saw inManzoni a supraconfessional Christianity, more clearly projected in I promessi sposi than conceptualized in his apologetical writings; the priest Cesare Angelini, who formuch of the century influentially championed Manzoni's Tridentine orthodoxy, while also stressing a Christian awareness of human sufferingoffsetby Catholic optimism; and Jacques Goudet, who saw Manzoni as, fundamentally, an atheist whose 'faith'was a des perate attempt to escape an instinctive pessimism. After a resume (Chapter 4) of the late (UCL-educated) Bernard Chandler's 'unusually serene and effective' non-confessional analysis inManzoni: The Story of a Spiritual Quest (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1974), the contrasting positions of Chapters 1-3 are brought together, and in a sense reconciled, in Chapter 5,which centres on the philosopher Alberto Caracciolo, forwhom Manzoni, as well as Leopardi and Fo MLR, 104.4, 2009 1159 scolo, was amajor 'interlocutor in a non-doctrinaire quest for transcendence and meaning in the face of the evil inherent inhuman experience. Chapter 6 illustrates the remarkable contribution of Ezio Raimondi's Manzoni essays and commentary in demonstrating themodernity of I promessi sposi thanks to itspotential for 'Bakhtinian' analysis in terms of plurality of voice and view, and of irony.Raimondi's wide-ranging research into the novel's 'intertextuality', on the other hand, is referred tobut not illustrated. InChapter 7Manzoni's programmatic, but formost readers problematic, avoidance of love scenes in a novel whose plot turns on a thwartedmarriage is explained in terms ofhis religious conversion under the influence of seventeenth-century French Catholic writers such as Bossuet and Nicole, who condemned novels and the theatre out of hand. Twentieth-century eroticized' rewritings of I promessi sposi by Da Verona, Chiara, and Vassallo, and appropriations from itbyMoravia and Soldati into erotic contexts, are examined. But the chapter goes on to note the view ofVittorio Spinazzola and Paolo Valesio that, inany case,Manzoni's attempted 'de-eroticization' of theoriginal isnot entirely successful: the erotic still asserts itselfnotwithstanding the author's self-imposed censorship. From there toManzoni's portrayal of women in Chapter 8 ('Anna Banti: la rappresentazione delle donne') is but a step. It brings us, however, to a forerun ner ofmodern feminism, who held Manzoni in high esteem despite his portrayal as protagonists of virtuous, resigned victims such as Lucia and (in...