Il metodo di Leopardi

About this book

What was the working method that Leopardi used to produce his first book of poetry, the Canzoni (1824)? What were his literary and cultural models? This study reconstructs Leopardi's method--his many readings, especially of works from the 16th century, his revolutionary reflections on aesthetics and art, his tireless reworking of his poetry with the goal of creating a new poetic language--and his models, from Foscolo to Monti, from Caro to Montesquieu. Interweaving philology and literary analysis, Paola Italia recounts the story of Leopardi's Canzoni, based on a careful study of manuscript variants of the Canzoni and the Annotazioni.