TOMMASO GROSSI E LA NOVELLA ROMANTICA NELLA MILANO DI PRIMO OTTOCENTO.
«LA FUGGITIVA» E «ILDEGONDA».
EDIZIONE CRITICA E COMMENTO

Abstract

The thesis aims to provide an exhaustive study of Tommaso Grossi’s literary background, as well as to identify the linguistic and stylistic peculiarities of his poetry. Acclaimed as one of the most famous authors of the Italian Romantic Age, Grossi (1790-1853) was the first to introduce the vogue of sentimental narratives in historical settings in Italy. This study is the first to provide a critical and commented edition of Grossi’s novelle highlighting the main features of his language and style as well as his literary models.
The research stresses the pivotal role of Grossi within early nineteenth-century Italian literature. This is achieved through the philological study and the commentary of the two works that established and made popular the genre of the Romantic novella in Italy: La Fuggitiva (translated from Milanese dialect into Italian by the poet himself in 1816) and Ildegonda (1820).
The commentary of Grossi’s novelle shows a deep tension between the innovative content, which fully aligns itself with the Romantic tendencies of the time, and conventional form, which substantially adheres to the Italian poetic tradition. Therefore, his novelle can be regarded as hybrid literary products, which on the one hand fully situate themselves within the Italian narrative poetry tradition, and on the other are significantly influenced by coeval European literature.
The commentary also sheds new light on Grossi’s literary sources, identifying Torquato Tasso’s Gerusalemme Liberata as the main model of La Fuggitiva, whereas Ildegonda was mainly inspired by Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. Finally, an in-depth investigation of the gloomy imagery employed by the poet reveals the previously undetected influence of Melchiorre Cesarotti’s Ossian and Vincenzo Monti’s Bassvilliana.