Gianni Celati’s "natural" narration and the call of the plains

Abstract

This paper explores Celati's commitment to literature by investigating the poetics of 'natural' narration in his '80s fiction, particularly Verso la foce. This poetics stems from his affection for the space of the Po valley and for a voice that narrates this space, as well as for a notion of literature as 'errance' and 'fantastication'. In this, Celati moves away from Calvino's rationalist poetics in the effort to recover an affection and wonder for the world and a commitment to narrating "fictions to believe in".