
A System That Excludes All Systems
Giacomo Leopardi's «Zibaldone di pensieri»
Emanuela Cervato(Author)
Peter Lang Verlag
Published on 24. May 2017
Book
Hardback
256 pages
978-3-0343-1994-2 (ISBN)
Description
For many decades Giacomo Leopardi's Zibaldone di pensieri has been seen as a collection of temporary thoughts and impressions whose final expression is to be found in the published poems (the Canti) and satirical dialogues (the Operette morali). The conceptual consistency of the work was thereby denied, privileging Leopardi the poet over Leopardi the thinker.
This book shows that such a perceived lack of coherence is merely illusory. The Zibaldone is drawn together by an intricate web of references centring around topics such as the ambivalent concept of nature; the Heraclitean «union of opposites» (ancients and moderns, poetry and philosophy, reason and imagination); and the tension between the desire for happiness and the impossibility of its realization. Largely unknown to the English-speaking world until its translation in 2013, the Zibaldone is Leopardi's intellectual diary, the place where dialogue with the ancient classical traditions evolves into modern encyclopaedism and what has been described as «thought in movement». It establishes Leopardi as one of the most original and radical thinkers of the nineteenth century.
Reviews / Votes
<<This book makes an extremely original contribution to the understanding of the complex universe that is Leopardi's Zibaldone. The depth and systematicity with which the author presents her findings are clearly the result of many years of exploration on the topic.>> (Simona Wright, Professor of Italian, The College of New Jersey)More details
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Peter Lang Group AG, International Academic Publishers
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
New edition
Dimensions
Height: 231 mm
Width: 155 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
545 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-0343-1994-2 (9783034319942)
DOI
10.3726/b11798
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
07/2017
1st Edition
Peter Lang Verlag
€103.99
Available for download

E-Book
07/2017
1st Edition
Peter Lang Verlag
€103.99
Available for download
Person
Emanuela Cervato is Senior Lecturer in Italian Studies at Nottingham Trent University. Her research interests focus on Leopardi, Carlo Goldoni and Luigi Pirandello.
Content
CONTENTS: A Book of Philosophical Sketches? - From Poet to Philosopher - <<A System that Excludes All Systems>> - <<To Know Is None Other than To Feel>> - <<Turning Reason into Passion>> - <<Morality Is None Other than Propriety>>.