Archaeology of Fictions

Abstract

The essay provides an archaeological reconstruction of the concept of “fiction” in Italian criticism of the second half of the twentieth century, from the different but complementary reflections of Ezio Raimondi and Gianni Celati, two of the most important figures in contemporary criticism and literature. By comparing their investigations into the origins of the Italian and European novel, in particular Manzoni's Promessi Sposi, a completely new discourse emerges around the concepts of novel, realism, fiction and the verisimilar.