L'UMANISMO NELL'OPERA NARRATIVA E DIVULGATIVA DI ALBERTO MANZI

Abstract: Alberto Manzi is a key figure in the panorama of the development of Italian language and culture. The analysis of his biography and his writing highlights the humanism that characterizes all his literary works and his pedagogical thinking. A frame that underlies his life and professional experiences, an urgency of renewal that results in a concrete commitment against injustice and ignorance, in the expression of a new paideia, in politically engaged writing. He wrote many novels (Grogh storia di un castoro, Collodi award, translated in 20 languages; Orzowei, honored at the Andersen award translated in 32 languages), tales, articles, informative writings; he developed TV and radio programs for children, parents and teachers. Writer, teacher, journalist, teachers trainer, ranging from natural sciences to poetry, he could practically embody a figure of the Enlightement. He is still remembered as ‘Maestro degli italiani’ for the 10-years TV program Non è mai troppo tardi which received the UN award for its important contribution in the fight against illiteracy in the Sixties. Afterwards he taught for years to the Natives in South America, helping them in their fight for their rights. That inspired him to write the trilogy: La luna nelle baracche, El Loco, E venne il sabato. In these works, the narration becomes a song of denunciation and an act of love: the urgency to give voice to people, to send an universal message to humanity. In the first part of this work, after having highlighted the links between the biography of the author and his humanist vision, and show the status quo of criticism about his work, the reception of Manzi’s novels was treated from a theoretical point of view. Then the question of timeliness of Manzi’s novels has been approached, in relation to the general problem of reading at school. A summary of the interdisciplinary project that we carried out in a network of schools, in order to verify the reception of Manzi nowadays, completes this part. In the second part of this work, several novels and informative writings compose the corpus which has been analysed in specific chapters. From this analysis, the recurrent elements of Manzi’s poetry have been extrapolated and elaborated in a separate chapter. The third part of this research include theoretical reflection on translating and adapting, on the role of the adult as intermediary in the selection and reading of literature, on the lisibilité, and also a comparative analysis of some French versions of Manzi’s novels. From this work of analysis and that on fortune, we also suggest a new translation more faithful to the style and integrity of the original texts, in view of a possible and desirable new edition and translation of Manzi’s novels. From this analysis emerges the figure of a writer who perfectly harmonizes imagination and ethics-politically engagement: this allows the author to create stories very well appreciated by the readers who are at the same time stimulated to think deeply about the topics of the story. Manzi surprises, motivates to read, educates, through the magic sphere of art and fantasy. His novels are harmoniously well built between the pedagogical aim and the aesthetic result, so they resist the test of time and encourage us to confirm the thesis of the inclusion of his works among the great classics.