Massimo Bontempelli

Massimo Bontempelli ( born May 12, 1878 in Como, † July 21, 1960 in Rome ) was an Italian writer who is standing next to his friends Alberto Savinio and Giorgio de Chirico for the experiment, the experiments of the surrealist avant-garde French to Italian art transmitted.

Biography

After completing his studies philology at the University of Turin in 1903 Bontempelli was as a journalist ( for Il Marzocco, La Nuova Antologia and Nazione ) and worked as a teacher. At first he was a member of the traditionalist circles of Carducci pendant and then those of the Futurists. In the former phase, he wrote for the magazine La Voce under the pseudonym " Minimo Maltempelli " and published his first works ( Socrate moderno, 1908, and I sette savi, 1912), which he rejected straightway. After the First World War, in which he participated as an artillery officer and correspondent for Il Messaggero, he approached to Futurism, under whose influence the volume of poems Il purosangue. L' ubriaco (1919 ) and the novels La vita intensa (1920 ) and La vita operosa ( 1921) emerged.

The main reason for a profound change in his artistic self- understanding were his Paris stays in the years 1921 and 1922, linking him to the ranks of the French avant-garde in contact. So let the short novels this year (La scacchiera davanti allo specchio, 1922, and Eva ultima, 1923) identify a completely new style that emanates from an irrational arbitrariness and of the apparent arbitrariness of dreams - a notation that the requirements of André Breton's Premier manifest you Surréalisme (1924 ) largely corresponds.

He finished a close friendship with Luigi Pirandello, who encouraged him during his participation at the " Teatro d' Arte " to write dramas. This excitation are his plays Nostra Dea (1925) and Minnie la candida (1927 ) owe, both brought Pirandello and his troupe premiered.

With Curzio Malaparte in 1926 he founded the international magazine '900. Cahiers d' Italie et d'Europe, which was published until 1927 in French and turned to all cosmopolitan intellectuals of the so-called " Novecentismo " or the " Stracittà ". In this forum Bontempelli published his innovative poetics of " realismo magico " to the calling modeled on the French modern artist to discover the magic of the unconscious and unpredictable adventure, without, however, waive the supervisory body of his human mind. As " Mythograf " ( " mitografo " ) should the artist the " in people's everyday lives and the things discovered a magical meaning " to show, through a simplification of the complex and problematic reality in mass society, ie by their translation into new tales and myths. The full output of this program the young avant-garde movement appeared in 1938 under the title L' avventura novecentista.

During the first short stories and novels of his " magical -realist" approach - including the 1925 published collection of short stories also La donna dei miei sogni e altre avventure modern - are evidence of an imaginative originality, to Bontempellis storytelling towards the end of the Twenties, however, increasingly uses from and degenerates into a too abstract and contrived acting, intellectualist constructivism. Even the novels Il figlio di due madri (1929) and Vita e morte di Adria e dei suoi figli (1930 ), but even more so the later Gente nel tempo (1937) and Giro del sole (1941 ), subject to this tendency to a mechanically mannered implementation of its stylistic innovation.

In addition to the literature Bontempelli cultivated a strong interest in the contemporary architecture of the New Objectivity, which is why him and Pier Maria Bardi from 1933, the management of the magazine was transferred quadrants. Accompanied by his partner, the writer Paola Masino, he often traveled abroad to participate in lectures, discussions and cultural events.

He was a staunch supporter of fascism ', which he considered the most appropriate political means to promote the establishment of a modern society in Italy. In 1930, he was therefore added to the Accademia d' Italia, which had been founded a year earlier by Benito Mussolini as the cultural prestige project to life. Due to his dislike of the provincialism of the opposing flow of " Strapaese " he represented, however, more and more opinions that opposed the official views of the regime, which led to his expulsion from the Fascist Party in 1939. He spent the war years in exile in Venice, where he continued his political beliefs fundamentally covered. In 1948 he was elected on the list of " Fronte Popolare " in the Senate; because of its fascist past the election, however, was declared invalid.

With his last book, L' amante fedele 1953 he won the Premio Strega. In his last years, a serious illness prevented him from continuing his versatile engagement and isolated him increasingly. On July 21, 1960, he died in Rome at the age of 82 years.

Works

Novels and stories

  • Socrate moderno (1908; Modern Socrates 1993)
  • I sette savi (1912 )
  • La vita intensa - Romanzo dei romanzi (1920, The intense life of 1992)
  • La Guardia alla luna (1920 )
  • La vita operosa (1921; 's busy life 1991)
  • Nuovi racconti d' avventure ( 1921)
  • Viaggi e scoperte (1922 )
  • La scacchiera davanti allo specchio (1922 )
  • Ultime avventure (1922 )
  • Eva ultima (1923 )
  • La donna dei miei sogni e altre avventure modern (1925 )
  • L' eden della tartaruga (1926 )
  • Donna nel sole e altri Idilli (1928 )
  • Il figlio di due madri (1929, The son of two mothers in 1930, the son of two mothers 1998)
  • Il neosofista (1929 )
  • Vita e morte di Adria e dei suoi figli (1930 )
  • Mia vita, morte e Miracoli (1931 )
  • Stato d grazia (1931 )
  • La famiglia del fabbro (1932, The Famiglie of Fabbro 1941)
  • 522 << >> Racconto di una giornata (1932; 522 A day in the life of an automobile 1996)
  • Valoria (1932 )
  • Galleria degli schiavi (1934 )
  • Gente nel tempo (1937 )
  • Giro del sole (1941 )
  • Viaggio d' Europe ( 1942 trip of Europe 1956)
  • Le notti (1945 )
  • L' acqua (1945 )
  • L' ottuagenaria (1946 )
  • L' amante fedele (1953 )

Dramas

  • Guardia alla luna (1916 )
  • Siepe a Nordovest (1919)
  • Nostra Dea (1925 )
  • Minnie la candida (1927 )
  • Bassano padre geloso (1934 )
  • Cenerentola (1942 )
  • Venezia salva (1947 )

Poetry

  • Il purosangue. L' ubriaco (1919)

Volumes of essays

  • La donna del Nadir (1924 )
  • Pirandello, Leopardi, D' Annunzio (1938 )
  • L' avventura novecentista (1938 )
  • Sette discorsi ( 1942 Italian 8 profiles speeches in 1943. )
  • Introduzione e discorsi (1944 )
  • Opere scelte (Eds.: Baldacci, Luigi, 1978)
Surrealism France La Nazione Magic realism New Objectivity (architecture) Strega Prize Name Authority File
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