STUDIO E INTERPRETAZIONE CRITICA DELL'EPISTOLARIO DI UGO FOSCOLO

Study and critical interpretation of the Ugo Foscolo’s Epistolary Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827), one of the most interesting authors of Italian literature between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, lived during a period that was rich in historical events and political upheavals which had inescapable consequences on the ethical and civil role of the artist and simultaneous new fervour in the literary circles with an unprecedented opening towards genres and styles that were capable of attracting and conquering a larger audience than before. But Foscolo also has a strong reference to the classical culture and preceding poetic tradition which examines traverses and modernizes with excellent results. All this reverberates in his Epistolario which deservedly holds our attention for its abundance of finds, meaning in the contents and beautiful aesthetics. Despite being a work that has always been used by “Foscolists” for biographies and documentaries, the Epistolario, has not been examined through a theoretical-critical lens, apart from the beautiful treatise by Paola Ambrosino, which is a unicum in the vast Foscolian library and dates back to the [already] distant past of the Eighties of the previous century. Hence this work titled Studio e interpretazione critica dell' Epistolario di Ugo Foscolo [Study and critical interpretation of the Ugo Foscolo’s Epistolary] was started with the intention of highlighting the characteristics of the writings of the genre, the richness of its relations with the work, the variations evidenced in the time frame of its extension (1794-1827) and above all the high literariness which makes it an essential work in the varied Foscolian corpus. Before entering the heart of the research, we have carried out a survey on the results of the most recent epistolography; considered the characteristics of the editorial work that is provided to us for our work and also referred to the sequence of the reconstruction of the Epistolario and the laborious work of the first editors. This corresponds to the chapters from 1.1 to 1.4 of the First Part in the index. Thus, we have organized our work in two phases: In the first part, we organized a classification of the letters (Chap 1.5) and then proceeded with their analysis by class. In particular, we have identified six groups or classes of letters based on the classification criteria of addressee and primary topic (corresponding to the headings of the chapters of the Second Part in the Index): Letters to family (Chapter 2.1), Love letters (Chapter 2.2), Letters to friends (Chapter 2.3), Political and military themed letters (Chapter 2.4), Literary letters (Chapter 2.5), Philosophical letters (Chapter 2.6). In this phase, our task was a thematic, and partly stylistic, study done "horizontally" to underline the ideas, the different aspects of the personality, the psychological-affective tone of the writer in different situations, trying to gather the sentiments, the relationships with the different correspondents and much more as a living experience translated as writings and style of the manner of the recorded communications in the letter. In the second phase of our work, we looked at the Epistolario from a diachronic perspective with regards to a historicist profile, proceeding with a “vertical" rereading of the Foscolian correspondence in continuous and flexible relation with a different society; the arrival of other literary, cultural and political experiences; the intrigue of the dramatic sequence of human events that the author went through. Most importantly, in this phase of the study, as illustrated in the Third Part of the thesis, and with the help of the preceding analysis, we have been able to highlight the intersections and the tangent points of the Epistolario with the elaborate works of Foscolo during his lifetime. It has nonetheless overturned or at least attempted to overturn the usual role of vassalage for which the epistolary and private writings was usually required, from support and illumination to works that were meant to be published. In this case, the letter has remained the principal and undisputed protagonist of the study, threating its relationships with other texts by the author as operations to reveal and evaluate the intrinsic significance. For this we have also give ample space for long, at times extensive, citations of the Foscolian letters, convinced that the richness, the aesthetic value of the epistolary prose of the writer would “directly” document as best and concrete evidence what we proceeded to affirm. The study undertaken, as we have illustrated in the Conclusion of the thesis, has permitted us many historical-critical and interpretative observations, enriched the biographical profile of author with certain interesting notations, explored the physiognomy of the relationships with many of his different correspondents and above all has confirmed the beginning of our belief that Foscolo consciously used the letter as an art form. The Io epistolary of the author tells us of the trajectory of a life which , though short, was tormented and unsettled, dominated by passions and spent to write almost until the last day. He employs a new and unusual art with mastery, that of expressing himself , moving from one subject to the next, guided by a succession of thoughts, an impulse of the heart, the change of emotions, the small interferences while writing. This loses its way, which recalls the Sternian digression of the Sentimental Journey, makes the epistolary passages unexpected and unpredictable but always congruous, perspicuous to structure the text, and re-establish its affective and declaratory character with a powerfulness that conquers the addressee and us readers. The writing is governed by a unique style, where the force of the idea searches for words and this used in its harmonious completeness – words which <<say things>> never empty never an end to themselves- dominate the world, objects, relationships, situations makes one penetrate the passion, the breath of the soul of the writer. For all this one can discern an essential unitarity; a completeness of meaning and veracity of voice; a historical, literary and aesthetic value; a strong capacity for emotional involvement in the Epistolario which make it a very important catalogue of work in the Foscolian macro text, deserving of further analysis and worthy of a wider circulation amongst the public.