Leopardi's Canzoni at the centre of contemporary critical debate

More than two centuries after their first publication, Giacomo Leopardi's Canzoni continue to prompt new interpretations and stimulate critical debate. Indeed, two recent pieces published in Il Manifesto's cultural supplement, Alias, and Il Sole 24 Ore's Domenica supplement have drawn attention to the critical edition of the volume published in the "Biblioteca" series of the Institute of Italian Studies (ISI) at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI). This edition was edited by Professor Giacomo Jori, in collaboration with Ilaria Gallinaro and Valerio Gigliotti, and published by Olschki.

In the essay published in Alias, Roberto Barzanti emphasises that Leopardi's debut book, published in Bologna in 1824, deserves to be considered in its own right and within its specific architecture, rather than merely as an anticipation of the subsequent Canti. The edition edited by Giacomo Jori is presented as an essential tool for understanding the complexity of Leopardi's project, thanks to an extensive commentary apparatus and detailed historical, linguistic, and cultural contextualisation.

Roberto Barzanti highlights that, according to Professor Jori's interpretation, the Canzoni can be read not only as a laboratory for forming Leopardi's style but also as a sort of intellectual autobiography of the young poet. At the heart of the analysis is Leopardi's attempt to renew Italian classicism through an original linguistic research, capable of combining a dialogue with ancient tradition with a fully modern sensibility.

Professor Carlo Ossola, writing in the pages of Il Sole 24 Ore, also takes inspiration from the recent edition of the Canzoni to reflect on the theme of Leopardi's «dì natale» (birthday), on the anniversary of the poet's birth. The contribution revisits several pages of the Zibaldone dedicated to the birthday as a moment of meditation on the meaning of life, hope, and human unhappiness. In this context, Professor Ossola recognises in the edition edited by Giacomo Jori "a deeper critical reason" to return to questioning Leopardi's thought and his philosophical tensions, from disillusionment to the pursuit of a kind of possible happiness.

The renewed critical interest in the Canzoni bears witness to the enduring relevance of Leopardi's work and the fruitfulness of the research that continues to interrogate its meaning. The edition edited by Giacomo Jori, in collaboration with Ilaria Gallinaro and Valerio Gigliotti, is part of this strand of studies, offering an in-depth reading of one of the foundational texts of Italian literary modernity.

The articles by Roberto Barzanti (Alias – il manifesto) and Carlo Ossola (Domenica – Il Sole 24 Ore) are attached. (Italian only)