Avventure al chiaro di Luna : “Il poema dei lunatici” di Ermanno Cavazzoni

This contribution analyzes the role of the lunar chronotope in the making of Ermanno Cavazzoni’s 1987 debut novel Il poema dei lunatici. The lunar chronotope scaffolds both the work’s structure and its content. In this connection, the chronology of lunar phases lends internal cohesion to the plot, which would otherwise obey too erratic a style in the vein of the picaresque tradition. Furthermore, the lunar chronotope contributes to Cavazzoni’s unique rendering of space and a tight-knit set of sub-themes such as aquatic elements, dreams, sleep, rationality vs irrationality/imagination, and the role of imaginary characters [of phantasy]. These ‘lunar’ traits betoken Cavazzoni’s “ethnographic tendency” and signal his broader research interests.