Le “pagine sempre mediocri” di un premio Nobel per la letteratura. Excursus nella critica deleddiana del suo tempo
The ‘Always Mediocre’ Writing of a Nobel Laureate in Literature: The Critical Reception of Grazia Deledda

Summary/Abstract: The reception of the work of Grazia Deledda (1871–1936) is a conspicuous paradox. Although she was a successful author and a Nobel Prize winner (1926), she is little known and little studied, especially when compared with the other Nobel laureates, in particular male ones. My aim is to investigate the origins of Deledda’s ‘misfortune’ by exploring the common issues critics raised with respect to Deledda’s books in her day. One of those was, prominently, Deledda’s alleged imperfect style, a recurring theme in criticism throughout her career. Also, the Sardinian dimension of her works left no critic indifferent and led to her writing often being reduced to ‘regional’ or ‘folkloric.’ Many critics insisted that Deledda’s Sardinia, little known on the ‘Continent’ at the time, enjoyed considerable success precisely because of its ‘exotic’ quality. Finally, Deledda’s status as a woman writer was a salient factor in the reception of her work. Indeed, critics tended to adopt a condescending, or even sexist, tone, whether their assessment of Deledda’s work was favourable or detractive, which was a real commonplace in the reception of women authors back then. My aim is to investigate the role of these issues in the exclusion from the canon of a writer who has remained unique in Italian literature to this day.

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