Edmondo De Amicis et la France (1870-1883). Contacts et échanges entre littérature italienne et littérature française.

De Amicis and France (1870-1883). Contact and interaction between Italian and French literature at the end of the nineteenth century. My research makes a contribution to the study of relations between Italy and France in the second half of the nineteenth century. Specifically, it deals with the crucial period which extends from the Franco-Prussian War to the adherence of Italy to the Triple Alliance (with Austria and Prussia) which came in response to the French occupation of Tunisia. It is within this context that the emergence of the Italian author Edmondo DeAmicis (1836-1908) is to be understood. De Amicis dedicated two of his works to France, Ricordi di Parigi (1879) and Ritratti Letterari (1881), in which can be found portraits of a number of well-known French authors such as Alphonse Daudet, Emile Zola, Emile Augier and Alexandre Dumas fils. The systematic study of De Amicis’ biography and the retrieval of many authoritative sources have greatly contributed to current knowledge on De Amicis’ relationship with France. The existing sources have now been greatly enriched by a considerable number of unpublished journalistic writings and personal letters. In addition, information has been collected with regard to the French reception of De Amicis’ works, many of which came to be highly appreciated in translation. Thus, the picture which emerges is that of an intellectual of European standing, committed to the divulgation of the literary innovations of French naturalisme and, above all, to defending the values of freedom championed by the French Revolution.