Montale Words in Time

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"Further Reflections on the Theme of Death in the Poetry of Eugenio Montale. 'A mia madre', 'Voce giunta con le folaghe' and 'I morti'"

Rossella Riccobono ("Further Reflections on the Theme of Death in the Poetry of Eugenio Montale. 'A mia madre', 'Voce giunta con le folaghe' and 'I morti'") emphasises how the dialectic immanence/transcendence is fundamental to Montale's poetry. Drawing on the short story "Sul limite" (Farfalla di Dinard) she observes that the Montalean defunct are represented in three phases. In "I morti" their situation differs little from that of the living, although it is worsened by the torture inflicted by reminiscence. On the other hand, in "Voce giunta con le folaghe" the dead are transformed into "the bearers of the truthful plenitude of existence, and the living, by comparison, are but shadows" (130). The dead reach a higher state by renouncing the immanent. Hence, in "A mia madre", the maternal figure, having abandoned almost all recollection of the previous world, transcends to Elysium.

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Period	Jul 1996
Event type	Conference
Location	Hull, United KingdomShow on map