Fuga in Franciacorta. Alessandro Spina e Joseph Conrad

Abstract

The essay is a survey of the works of Alessandro Spina (1927-2013), undoubtly the most important postcolonial Italian novelist, emphasizing his lifelong ‘dialogue’ with Joseph Conrad’s works. The theme of ‘flight’ or ‘escape’, present everywhere in the novels (and in the lives) of both authors, is a leitmotif of the article. Almost paradoxically, Conrad’s best known structural feature (his use of the character-narrator) is shown to be more recognizable in those novels of Spina’s that take place in Italy, among the upper bourgeoisie, than those belonging to his ‘African cycle’.