Luigi Pi andello’s Concep o Li e
and His Way o Fascism
Luciana b andi
Uni e si y o Flo ence
[email p o ec ed]om
Ubaldo Ceccoli
O.V.i. ins i u e o Na ional Resea ch Council o i aly, Flo ence
Clo ilde ba ba ulli
O.V.i. ins i u e o Na ional Resea ch Council o i aly, Flo ence
Luciana B andi — Ubaldo Ceccoli — Clo ilde Ba ba ulli
SYNOPSIS
This a icle in es iga es Pi andello’s adhesion o he I alian Fascis Pa y by examining a icles, in-
e iews, le e s, and essays wi h he aim o shedding ligh on he poli ical dimension o his choice,
so equen ly mi iga ed by he c i ics, and o showing i s ela ions o he au ho ’s concep o li e. Fi-
nally, by aking aclose look a leading hemes in he no el Il u Ma ia Pascal, he a icle aises he
ques ions: To wha ex en is his ex pe mea ed wi h ideological elemen s? In wha ways, simila ly,
does i ansmi a iew o he wo ld ha would connec Pi andello’s hinking o ideas ha we e
mains eam in he socie y o his ime.
KEYWORDS
Fascism; o m; li e; democ acy; y anny; uselessness o e o s; science; wai ing.
DOI
h ps://doi.o g/10.14712/23366680.2021.3.3
JOINING THE NATIONAL FASCIST PARTY
In a eleg am o Il Duce on 17Sep embe 1924, Luigi Pi andello asked o be made
amembe o he Na ional Fascis Pa y, claiming o be i s ‘mos humble and obedi-
en suppo e ’. Two days la e he message was published in he newspape L’Impe o:
‘You Excellency, I eel ha o me his is he mos p opi ious momen o decla e
a ai h ha Iha e always nou ished and se ed in silence. I You Excellency con-
side s me wo hy o joining he Na ional Fascis Pa y, Iwould be p oud o ha e he
highes honou o occupying he posi ion o i s mos humble and obedien suppo e .
Wi h o al de o ion, Luigi Pi andello’.1
1 This eques by Pi andello o Mussolini was published in L’Impe o, 19Sep embe 1924; his
jou nal is de ined by Giudice (1963, p.425) as ‘one o he mos agi a ed and ac ious ascis
au oři
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46 SLOVO A SMYSL 38
I should be emembe ed ha on 30May 1924, Giacomo Ma eo i, amembe o
he Socialis Pa y, had deli e ed aspeech o Pa liamen s ongly c i icising he go -
e nmen and denouncing he condi ions o iolence and agg ession in which he las
elec ions had been held, and ha soon a e , on 10June, he was abduc ed in Rome by
ascis s in b oad dayligh while going o he Chambe o Depu ies o denounce he
co up ion commi ed by Mussolini’s go e nmen in licensing oil ex ac ion in Sicily
and Emilia o he Ame ican company Sincai Oil.2 The body o Ma eo i was ound
on 16Augus . In e alia ion, on 12Sep embe , A mando Casalini, depu y o Na ional
Fascis Pa y, was killed by he communis ca pen e Gio anni Co i. Pi andello joined
he ascis pa y i e days a e Casalini’s dea h and one mon h a e he disco e y o
Ma eo i’s body. In an in e iew wi h Telesio In e landi he ollowing day, when asked
o s a e his easons o joining he Fascis Pa y,3 Pi andello answe ed: ‘in one wo d:
Ma eo i’. The meaning o his laconic decla a ion was made clea by In e landi him-
sel as he sough o explain i s mo i a ions: ‘The obscene specula ion made on he body
o he Uni a y depu y, he indus ialisa ion o his body up o he mos e ol ing conse-
quences, he campaign o lies and alsehoods ha ha e h i ed on ha macab e scene
[…] he clea pe cep ion o he e ible dange o he coun y le o i s poisone s’.4
In he ace o he Ma eo i assassina ion, Pi andello seems unala med and unpe -
u bed. Would i he e o e be inco ec o say ha Pi andello consen ed and was an
accomplice o ha line o iolence, emaining o ally blind o he excessi e deeds and
ac ions o he ascis s? In ac , he squad is i (o ‘Blackshi s’) who we e esponsible
o his iolence, and who we e comp ised in la ge pa by A di i e e ans (eli e spe-
cial o ces o he Royal I alian A my who had se ed in he Fi s Wo ld Wa ), we e in
he p ac ice o o ganising puni i e campaigns agains any poli ical ad e sa y o he
pa y, including ade unions, Case del popolo (social and cul u al communi y cen es),
and so on. They we e also behind he assassina ion o Don Minzoni in 1923, and he
bea ings which led o he dea hs o Gio anni Amendola and Pie o Gobe i.
Pi andello’s ges u e in joining he Fascis Pa y signi ies his implici consen o he
use o iolence as a ounda ional elemen o ascism. E en i an ac ion is made up o
asequence o mo o ac s, i ine i ably e e s o in en ions, p ojec s, mo i a ions, and
inally o he easons ha lead asubjec o choose acou se o ac ion based on his own
choice and p ecise in e p e a ion. The in e p e a ion o an e en , simila ly, does no
jou nals’. One yea be o e, Mussolini had ecei ed Pi andello a Chigi Palace on 22Oc o-
be 1923.
2 Va ious essays show he complici y be ween p o i ee s and he egime as he cause o he Ma -
eo i assassina ion, gi en ha he depu y was inqui ing abou he o dinances on oil esea ch
by Sinclai oil and on he gaming indus y (see Canali 1997; Mandelli 2012; Pagnini 2018).
3 Telesio In e landi, who had aclose ela ionship wi h Mussolini om he bi h o ‘Fasci di
comba imen o’, played he ole o o e unne o he egime posi ions, by means o he
newspape s he headed. He was always an i-Semi ic, and in 1938 he ga e li e o he mag-
azine La di esa della azza (‘The de ense o he ace’). A es ed in 1945, he managed o es-
cape and s ay hidden un il he amnes y o ascis c imes.
4 ‘L’oscena speculazione compiu a sul cada e e del depu a o uni a io, l’indus ializza zione
di quel cada e e spin a ino alle più i ol an i conseguenze, la campagna di menzogne edi
alsi à p ospe an e su quel macab o e eno […] la chia a pe cezione del emendo pe ico-
lo che co e il paese abbandona o ai suoi a elena o i’ (L’Impe o, 19Sep embe 1924).
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simply add i sel o he ac ion bu cons i u es i . I is in his con ex , and wi h espec o
his his o ical momen , ha Pi andello’s eleg am eques ing o join he Fascis Pa y
mus be unde s ood. In e ms o he poli ical legi imacy o he egime, he eleg am
a i ed a i s weakes momen , when c isis was poised o o e whelm i . As we will see,
many c i ics ha e sough o de ine Pi andello’s mo i a ions as oppo unis ic a he han
ideological, o o asc ibe i o di e en aims al oge he : he w i e ’s inna e endency o
go agains he ide, his oo ed dis us in he adi ional poli ical pa ies, his hos ili y o
democ acy, his need o ce ain ies beyond he bounda ies o his own ela i ism. Wha -
e e he case, one ac is ce ain: ha human ac ion possesses an in insic alue, bo h
e hical and poli ical, anscending he con ingency o i s mo i a ions. The choice goes
back o ajudgemen g ounded on a a ie y o ideas and disposi ions; o choose in ol es
a o m o judgemen ha equi es aleading p inciple, o such an ex en ha pe sonal
opinions li e ia he selec ed choices, and ul ima ely pe sis on alues.5
Facing ala ge numbe o empi ical ac s, he meaning hey ha e o he human con-
science in accomplishing hem ime a e ime has o be ound, and his means disco -
e ing he alue, he nucleus by which hey a e subs an ia ed and wa an ed. Making
adecision also conce ns subjec i e alues, which cons i u e aso o mo al impe a i e,
so ha pe sonal esponsibili y is ne e supp essed o decisions made in se ice o
hese alues. We mus he e o e ask wha alues con ibu ed o Pi andello’s decision o
join he ascis pa y, and wha idea o socie y is he e embodied. Pi andello may ha e
been impelled o join ascism because he pe cei ed he mo emen as ahope o I aly;
his way o aming i , howe e , ecas s he Ma eo i assassina ion as ounding ac
o ana ional enaissance— ape spec i e we ind di icul o jus i y. Some ligh may
be shed, howe e , by ying o unde s and Pi andello’s decision in he con ex o he
con lic be ween conse a i e o ces and he inno a i e social p essu es o ha pe iod.
Conside again In e landi’s in e iew o Pi andello in 1924. Pi andello ag ees wi h
he supp ession o he dissen ing p ess, aboli ion o he Chambe o Depu ies, and
e o m o he Sena e so ha i consis s o amixed Assembly o med wi h adminis a-
o s and ep esen a i es o basic s a e ins i u ions. The w i e , in gi ing his ema ks,
poin s ou : ‘Ididn’ say as simply and di ec ly as i appea s om you in e iew ha
Iwould like o see “ he supp ession o he opposing p ess”. Isaid ha , as i has been
applied, he dec ee conce ning he p ess, which is an excep ional measu e o a oid
ableak and ugly campaign o one-sided ha e, has in ac ep essed e y li le, wi h he
only e ec o making i s own applica ion bo h emp y and ha m ul. Emp y, because
he ne a ious ui o he ha e campaign may well ha e been M Casalini’s dea h;
ha m ul because i has been used, and con inues o be used, as an easy p e ence o
shou ing abou “ es ic ions on eedom”.’6 Gaspa e Giudice obse es ha one mon h
la e , when he dissen ing p ess is ac ually supp essed, ‘Pi andello will no disap-
p o e: indeed, he will emain an ad oca e o he egime’ (Giudice 1963, p.431).7
5 The cu en e lec ion began o mo e wi hin some philosophical s eams du ing he sec-
ond hal o he 19 h cen u y; hey paid a en ion o his o y and p og essi ely shed ligh on
he in e connec ions be ween he wo ld o alues and he wo ld o his o ical ac s.
6 The le e was published in L’Impe o, 24Sep embe 1924.
7 In his pa o he in e iew wi h In e landi, Pi andello appea s o an icipa e he o ali a -
ian s uc u e ou lined by Mussolini some mon hs la e , in he discou se o 3Janua y 1925.
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Ada Fiche a unde lines ha Pi andello’s mo e o ascism a ha ‘speci ic junc u e
in his o y is no acoincidence’ since Pi andello himsel decla es, in an in e iew o
Il Piccolo in T ies e on 21Oc obe 1924, ha ‘I you a e hin ing a my ecen decision
o join he Fascis Pa y, I’ll ell you ha Idid i wi h he aim o helping ascism in i s
wo k o enewing and econs uc ing’; in he a icle published in he e ening edi ion,
he wo d ‘ ascism’ is changed o ‘ he pa y’ (Fiche a 2017, p.69, 65).
In 1925, Pi andello mo eo e signs he ‘Mani es o o ascis in ellec uals’ which
gi es clea jus i ica ion o he squad is i: ‘Fi m young men, a med, wea ing he black
shi s, commanded in mili a y ashion, ha e ac ed agains he law in o de o se up
anew law, as an a med o ce agains he S a e o s a he new S a e’.8
These e en s we e me wi h s ong eac ions om Pi andello’s con empo a ies.
Ad iano Tilghe , o example, ended all ela ions wi h he w i e , and Gio anni
Amendola’s commen abou ‘ ulga men’ in he newspape was os ensibly di ec ed
a Pi andello and his decision o join he Fascis Pa y.9 Con e sely, hese same e en s
we e played down by pos -wa c i ics.
THE CRITICS’ DEFENCE OF PIRANDELLO
Nino Bo sellino claims ha Pi andello caugh he mos complian aspec s o in el-
lec ual and mo al comp omise wi hin poli ics, he e o e his adhesion o ascism and
pa icula ly o he cha isma o he new leade ‘should be seen as ages u e o suppo
is-à- is a igu e capable o excep ional c ea i e powe s’; mo eo e he c i ics ecall
ha , beyond he honou s he ecei ed om he egime, Pi andello o en a i med his
non-in ol emen in poli ics: ‘I’m apoli ical, I’m only aman in he wo ld.’10 Clea ly
Bo sellino does no ake in o accoun he ac ha Pi andello, du ing his i s jou ney
o he Uni ed S a es a he end o 1923, was no shy wi h his opinions, gene ally o an
an idemoc a ic eno , on social and poli ical issues.11
I alian c i ics ha e o en shown a endency o o e look Luigi Pi andello’s membe -
ship in he Na ional Fascis Pa y, and hose who men ion i ypically ake one o wo
8 Acco ding o Sai a, ascism a ose as an ‘an i-libe al and an idemoc a ic, an i-wo king
class, and an isocialis dic a o ship’ and should be de ined as an ‘a med social eac ion’
(Sai a 1962, p.594).
9 See Amendola, Gio anni: ‘Un uomo olga e’. Il Mondo, 25.9.1924, and he answe by Pi an-
dello: ‘Le e a ape a agli amici i ma a i della p o es a in sua di esa con o l’a icolo: Un
uomo olga e’. L’Impe o, 30.10.1924. The c i ic Ad iano Tilghe , who had p e iously sus-
ained and p omo ed Pi andello, mo ed om Il Tempo o Il Mondo, sha ing he an i ascism
o Amendola; al hough s ongly imp essed by he w i e ’s adhesion o ascism, he did no
subsc ibe o he pape by Amendola wi h he aim o gi ing ega d o Pi andello as aw i -
e . In any case, on 1June 1927, Tilghe ie cely a acked Diana ela Tuda.
10 In e iew by Giuseppe Villa oel, Il Gio nale d’I alia, 8May 1924; on 12June 1926, Pi andello
claims: ‘Io sono ascis a. Enon da o a; sono en ’anni che accio il ascis a’ (‘Iam a as-
cis — and o along ime. I is hi y yea s ha Iam a ascis ’; Il pensie o in Be gamo; see
Giudice 1963, p.441).
11 To ha e ab oade look a he opinions abou Pi andello as a ascis , see Sca pellini 1989;
Agui e d’Amico 1992; Pedullà 1994; P o iden i 2000; Ba bina 1967.
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a i udes. The i s ends o minimise Pi andello’s poli ics, o sepa a e he w i e om
he man, seeking o demons a e ha his wo ks e lec nei he he ascis lexicon no
i s ideology. Bo sellino, o example, claims ha Pi andello’s ascism was no pa icu-
la ly expe ienced o celeb a ed, and Sciascia main ains ha Pi andello’s c i icisms o
he pa liamen a y sys em do no be ay a ascis endency bu me ely his desi e o be
di e en , asymp om o he kind o ‘s ubbo nness’ ha cha ac e ises ‘aSicilian man’.
This asse ion e e s o wo main ac s ega ding Pi andello: i s , ha he joined he
Na ional Fascis Pa y a amomen when i aced he possibili y o ahea y loss o
app o al; and second, ha he ga e equen exp ession o his an i-democ a ic iews,
s a ing wi h he well-known sequence in Il u Ma ia Pascal in which democ acy is
de ined as ‘ y anny masked as eedom’. Pi andello con i med hese iews once mo e
in an in e iew wi h Giuseppe Villa oel o he Gio nale d’I alia in May 1924, s a ing,
‘Iam an i-democ a ic pa excellence’.12
I mus be no ed ha Sciascia uses he wo ds ‘clumsy manne ’ and Bo sellino
speaks o ‘imp o isa ions’ o e e o Pi andello’s adhesion o he ascis pa y, in his
way diminishing he alue o his ac ions. La e on, Bo sellino appea s o e ise his
posi ion and o connec Pi andello’s adhesion o he ‘mussolinism’ o ha his o ic pe-
iod, cha ac e ised by many social con lic s, by awidesp ead ejec ion o he ideals o
he I alian Riso gimen o, and by elec o al comp omises. So ha , seeking aquick solu-
ion o I aly’s p oblems, Pi andello came o see ascism as he only poli ical mo emen
in he his o y o mode n I aly able o o e come hem all a once, by handing o e all
powe o acha isma ic pe son belie ed o ep esen ag ea e will o edemp ion
(Bo sellino 2004, p.154).13
Acco ding o Giudice, Pi andello’s a ac ion o ascism had acomplex o igin in
he w i e ’s pe sonal his o y and middle class backg ound. Giudice unde lines ha
when Pi andello died, his une al, as laid ou in his will, did no ollow he ascis
endency o ala ge o icial ce emony. We mus emembe , howe e , ha Pi andello’s
will was w i en in 1911, so i is ha d o make he a gumen ha his choice was linked
o adesi e o ake his lea e by ‘slamming he doo in he egime’s ace’ (c . Bo sellino
2004, p.102, 150; Giudice 1963, p.463).
Ma io Solda i s a es ha Pi andello ‘was a e en and commi ed ascis in p ac-
ice, e en i he claimed in heo y o be apoli ical’, and Aso Rosa claims ha he w i -
e ’s adhesion o ascism was he culmina ion o he c i icisms ad anced by he middle
classes owa ds he pa liamen a y and libe al-democ a ic egime, adisapp o al ‘ ha
o many mean u ning o ascism’.14
Eugenio Ga in main ains: ‘Despi e all appea ances, Iwould ne e call him a as-
cis . One inds in him he end o all insecu i ies, he anxie y ypical o his ime’.15
Gian anco Vené, by con as , does no ind any a enua ing ci cums ances in Pi-
12 Il Gio nale d’I alia, 8May 1924.
13 No e ha Bo sellino uses he e m ‘mussolinism’ ins ead o ascism o speak abou he Pi-
andello’s poli ical con e sion.
14 Solda i, Ma io: ‘B u o segno se Pi andello a o e’. Il Gio no, 20.12.1966, he i s o h ee
a icles published by he newspape (10.1.1967, 27.1.1967); Aso Rosa 1974, p.1434.
15 Ga in, Eugenio: ‘Ome o so o il ascismo, in e iew by Nello Ajello’. La Repubblica, 9Oc o-
be 1987.
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andello’s ascis sympa hies; wha e e ‘ o men ed hough ’ migh ha e shaped he
w i e ’s iews, hey did no ‘gi e him any qualms abou he ad en o ascism bu ,
on he con a y, led he w i e o see in ascism a“momen o u h” in he li e o he
na ion’ (Venè 1972, p.277).
Acco ding o Giuseppe Pe onio, Pi andello’s concep ion o li e and a ma u ed
be ween 1889 and 1904, using oge he ‘apa io ic passion o ended by he inglo ious
end’ o Riso gimen o ideals, wi h an i-democ a ic and an i-socialis sen imen s (Pe -
onio 1986, p.250). One inds e idence o hese claims, o example, in he soliloquy o
he d unk man in Il u Ma ia Pascal, and asequence ha seems o aim a Ada Neg i in
which he au ho w i es o ‘Ka l Ma x’s algeb a books’ and ‘ he c iminal nonsense o
he many mis i p o essional cha la ans, and oday, na u ally, socialis s’ (Pi andello
2006, p.121), a i udes ha Pi andello epea s in his no el I ecchi eigio ani (‘The
young and he old’). In any case, Pi andello ‘was ce ainly no ap e- ascis , aclaim
ha , in he con ex o he 1890s, is a e y leas an exagge a ion’, no was he ‘asup-
po e o he common people’ as o he s belie e. He was, like many o he middle-class
in ellec uals, an enemy o democ acy and socialism, and an opponen o science as
well: ‘he d eamed o as ong man, bu in his own way, wi h amo al age o ally ab-
sen in o he s’ (Pe onio 1986, pp.251–252).
Ano he pe se e ing idea among he c i ics is ha adis inc ion can be made be-
ween Pi andello’s poli ical choices and his li e a y wo ks, since he la e do no show
any ace o ascis lexicon o ideology. In ou iew, he no ion ha an au ho may be
sepa a ed in his way om his li e a y p oduc ion does no in i sel appea implau-
sible; in he case o Pi andello, howe e , we wonde o wha ex en his no ion— ha
his wo ks emained una ec ed by his poli ical ideology— may be main ained.16
THE PERSISTENCE OF THE CHOICE
Despi e widely a ying in e p e a ions o Pi andello’s adhesion o ascism, we belie e
his mo i a ions a e made clea in he con ex o his epea ed public and p i a e dec-
la a ions o suppo o Mussolini and he ascis egime. As ea ly as Ap il 1924, he
ells he Gio nale di Sicilia ha he holds Mussolini in he ‘highes es eem’.17 In an in-
e iew published by L’Impe o on 12Ma ch 1927, he claims ha ‘In all o his o y Mus-
solini has no equal, o he e has ne e been aleade who knew how o gi e his peo-
16 Acco ding o Giudice, gi en ha he expe ience o li e is e lec ed wi hin he wo ks, he
w i e ’s ac s o social beha iou mus be no igno ed, because ‘ ou se ien ’ (Giudice 1963,
p.417). The c i ics’ posi ion owa ds he Nazis philosophe Heidegge mo es in he same
way: wi h espec o he eading made by Vic o Fa ias o he ela ionships be ween phi-
losophy and he poli ical choices o he philosophe o Nazism (who ne e ecan ed),
he common c i ique econ i ms ha i is necessa y o conside he man dis inc om his
wo ks (Fa ias 1988). Acco ding o Emmanuel Faye oo, he hypo hesis ha he ideas o any
human being a e no sepa able om his li ed li e is emp y (Faye 2012).
17 In e iew o Gio nale di Sicilia on 10Ap il 1924: Mussolini ‘has he highes me i o ha e
c ea ed and o ha e placed in alue I aly’ (‘ha l’al issimo me i o di a e e c ea o edi a e e
messo in alo e l’I alia’).
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ple such a i id imp ession o his pe sonali y’: ‘how gladly, dea iends, would Ise
o wo k as ag a edigge o ge id o all he co pses in ec ing I aly!’ Pi andello hus
conside s he necessi y o ‘ ascis ically’ cleansing om I aly ‘all hose who belie e o
be ali e bu a e no ’.18
Re e ences o ‘Il Duce’ can be ound e e ywhe e in his le e s o Ma a Abba,19
o en in he con ex o seeking help o his hea e p ojec s, wi h he indi ec aim
o p ese ing his ela ionship wi h he ac ess (his ‘ligh ’). In 1929 Pi andello was
nomina ed Academic o I aly, a e along and anxious wai o he nomina ion, as
he s a es in ale e da ed 19Ma ch 1929. In ale e da ed 26Ma ch 1929, he claims
o be ‘p oud’ ha Il Duce would conside him, adding ha he enemies a e su e now
o lose hei a ogance. Se e al days la e , in ale e da ed 29Ma ch, he con i ms o
Mussolini his ‘ o al p o ound de o ion’. In ale e da ed 4Ma ch 1932, Ma a Abba
desc ibes how she was ecei ed by Mussolini, and exp esses he disappoin men ha
du ing he mee ing he e was no discussion o he u u e o hei hea e p ojec .
Pi andello eplies ha , in spi e o his, he mus ‘ aise he my h o Mussolini highe ’
and ‘exal him as he na ion’s sa iou ’ e en i Il Duce accuses him o ha ing a‘bad
cha ac e ’ (6Feb ua y 1932).20 Pi andello w i es again a ew days la e o ell Ma a
Abba en husias ically abou mee ing Mussolini, who lis ened o his p oposal o he
ounda ion o he Na ional D ama ic Thea e wi h g ea a en ion.21 Then he gi es his
imp ession o Mussolini as a‘ ough and un e ined human specimen, bo n o com-
mand wi h con emp o medioc e and ulga people […] Ne e heless Iknow ha
in ac uel ime like his one […] such aman is necessa y; necessa y o p ese e he
my h we ga e li e o, and despi e all o belie e in and o s ay ai h ul o his my h,
as o an indispensable ha dness ha in ce ain momen s we mus use ully impose
upon ou sel es’ (14Feb ua y 1932). Pi andello’s ai h is so o al, so blind, ha i o ces
him o o e look Mussolini’s nega i e ai s, and ea ascism as an his o ic necessi y.
In ale e o 6Decembe 1932, Pi andello men ions ano he mee ing wi h Il Duce,
and his disappoin men upon inding Mussolini o be i ed, sick, and dep essed (e en
i eliable, as usual) when he was expec ing o ind a‘gian ’. When he asks abou
he p ojec , which has been neglec ed since he dismissal o Giuseppe Bo ai, Il Duce
answe s ha he si ua ion is ‘ agic’ and he isk o wa is p esen : ‘Conce ning pe -
o mances, he people will ha e o be sa is ied wi h hose a ailable o mass audiences,
18 ‘Acolloquio con Pi andello’, in e iew by Umbe o Gen ili. L’Impe o, 12Ma ch 1927. We
may ecall ha when Toscanini was a ached by he ascis s in Bologna on 14May 1931 be-
cause he e used o play Gio inezza and he oyal hymn, Pi andello w o e: ‘ hey did w ong
o slap him, bu o he eason ha hese slaps would ha e had ag ea esonance ab oad,
as hey eally had’ (Le e o Ma a Abba on 22May 1931).
19 Luigi Pi andello: Le e e aMa a Abba, 1925–1936. Milano, Mondado i 2013. He ea e he
le e s a e ci ed by da e. I is no able ha om 7July 1933, Pi andello begins o add, o use
exclusi ely, he yea denomina ion o he ascis e a.
20 Pi andello belie ed o ha e gained many enemies in he occasion o his alk abou Ve ga o
he Academy o I aly on 3Decembe 1931, when he claimed ha D’Annunzio was a aul
in he iumph o wo ds s yle o e Ve ga’s hings s yle.
21 A e he mee ing wi h Mussolini, se e al con ac s wi h Bo ai will ake place (see he le -
e s on 2.4.1932; 6.4.1932; 13.4.1932; 14.4.1932; 17.4.1932; 4.5.1932; Tuesday, 5. 1932).
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52 SLOVO A SMYSL 38
he s adiums and he cinema’. Pi andello is c ushed, as his means he end o his
d eams o ana ional hea e wi h Ma a Abba. Bu his does no seem o a ec he
w i e ’s ies o he egime, as we lea n in his le e o 19Ma ch 1934, in which he
w i es ha he had ‘ o a end he Duce’s speech a he second quinquennial assembly
o he egime, wea ing ablack shi ’. Ceaselessly seeking Mussolini’s app o al, Pi-
andello exp esses his disappoin men ha Il Duce did no like his lib e o o Gian
F ancesco Malipie o’s ope a La a ola del iglio cambia o (‘The able o he changeling
son’), which was conside ed so insul ing o chu ch and mona chy ha i was imme-
dia ely banned.22
La e in 1934, he Real I alian Academy o ganised he ou h Vol a Con e ence on
d ama ic hea e, wi h he exp ess aim o dissemina ing I alian genius ab oad, in
acco dance wi h he egime’s policy o publicising he mo al and cul u al enewal
o he na ion. The con en ion in ol ed p es igious in e na ional a is s and in ellec-
uals, such as he d ama is s Jacques Copeau and Ge ha Haup mann, ac o and se
designe Edwa d Go don C aig, and a chi ec Joseph G ego . The aim, as wi h e e y
Vol a Con e ence, was o legi imise he ‘ ascis isa ion’ o cul u e and sciences. Pi an-
dello was nomina ed p esiden o he con e ence on 9No embe 1933, while Gab iele
d’Annunzio was in ol ed, a Mussolini’s eques , in he s aging o his La iglia di Io io
(‘The daugh e o Io io’), di ec ed by Pi andello. Gi en hei public hos ili y owa ds
one ano he , he pai ing o Pi andello wi h D’Annunzio c ea ed qui e as i . Pi andello
was in he habi o making pa odies o D’Annunzio’s he oes, ea ing his expe imen al
wo ks o sh eds.23 Howe e , wi h he ca e ul planning o Sil io D’Amico and A onio
B ue s, an ex-legiona y who had al eady ac ed as media o be ween Mussolini and
D’Annunzio a Fiume, hese di e ences we e esol ed. D’Amico and B ue s a anged
apublic econcilia ion be ween he wo w i e s h ough ap ess campaign managed
by Galeazzo Ciano. Pi andello’s le e s o Ma a Abba on 2 and 9Ma ch 1934 a es o
he spi i o animosi y and mu ual disdain in which he ega ded he p ojec ; ne e -
heless, he managed o hi e he ac ess, assu ing he gene ous emune a ion, and
pu ing he sis e o wo k as well. Despi e common ea s o he con o e sies in cin-
ema, spo , and adio, Pi andello limi ed his opening s a emen s, on 8Oc obe 1934,
o an a gumen on he necessi y o amass hea e. In his closing speech, he p aised
Il Duce and de ined him as ‘ag ea c ea i e mind capable o b inging oge he and
kindling he minds o he I alian people’.24 I he play i sel was no a o al ailu e, no
could i be conside ed asuccess, acco ding o Go don C aig, who judged i ‘no e y
good hea e’ made up o naï e se designs, weak pe o mances, poo di ec ion and
‘a e y meage ou come’ (Pedullà 1991, pp.31–51).25
In spi e o his many easons o ge ing his plays p oduced, Pi andello would
s ead as ly de end he wa in E hiopia, e en a he expense o his own p o i s and
22 The cen al censo ship was ins i u ed in 1931 wi h he aim o con olling he ex s pe -
o med as plays.
23 In he pas , in La C i ica 18.12.1895, Pi andello had conside ed as ‘ex emely idiculous’ Le
e gini delle occe: c . F ied 2014.
24 ‘Disco so del p esiden e del con egno S.E.Luigi Pi andello’. In: Reale Accademia d’I alia
Fondazione Alessand o Vol a: A i dei con egni. IV con egno di le e e 8–14 o ob e 1934.
25 C aig was a amous English ac o , se designe , di ec o , and p oduce o hea e.
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image, bo h in England and in he Uni ed S a es. In his le e o 21July 1935, he w i es
ha he was immedia ely bese upon his a i al in New Yo k by amul i ude o epo -
e s and pho og aphe s: ‘He e I ound he whole p ess an agonising ou ea in A ica,
in he name o in amous democ a ic p inciples. Bu Is ood my g ound wi h e e yone
[…] Idon’ know how much his ac migh be use ul o my a ai s, bu Idon’ ca e!’ He
makes simila ema ks in an ea lie le e da ed 7July 1935, w i ing, ‘Idon’ ca e; wha
Ica e abou abo e all is ha I aly o e come all di icul ies and obs acles and win!’
A e winning he Nobel P ize, i seemed ha Pi andello’s p ojec o he oun-
da ion o ana ional hea e would be eju ena ed, and Pi andello en husias ically
desc ibes his mee ing wi h Il Duce o Ma a Abba in ale e o 19Feb ua y 1935, p o-
posing ha he nex hea ical season open on he anni e sa y o he ma ch on Rome.
The enewal o his collabo a ion wi h Bo ai u he s eng hens his con ic ion: ‘i
seems we ha e inally a i ed a ou d eam’.26 Bu he d eam would soon anish, and
in ale e da ed 14Janua y 1936, Pi andello ealises ha he ascis egime will gi e
p io i y o Cineci à, in o de o p oduce p opaganda mo ies o he masses (whe eas
he hea e is conside ed amedium o he eli e). Gi en he ailu e o he p ojec ,
Ma a Abba decided o lea e I aly o wo k ab oad. In ou opinion, his sepa a ion,
which is de ini i e, h ew Pi andello in o ‘an abyss o endless sadness’ and adep es-
sion ha will gi e him he sensa ion ha he is ‘sinking’. In he las le e be o e his
dea h, Pi andello w i es o Abba: ‘when I hink o he dis ance, I eel mysel alling
in o my a ocious soli ude, as in o an abyss o despai ’ (4Decembe 1936).
‘LA VITA CREATA’ 1923: THE PATH FROM ARTISTIC
TO POLITICAL FORM
One o he cen al ideas o Pi andello’s essays is ha li e c ea es a o m in which o
exis , bu ha his o m, in u n, imp isons and sen ences li e o dea h. Fo his ea-
son, a canno assume i s objec i e ep esen a ion as main pa ame e 27 because his
would hen hinde he ‘ ee spon aneous and immedia e mo ion o he o m’.28 Con-
sequen ly, acco ding o Pi andello, a is ic c ea ion does no consis in ep oducing
eali y, bu in in en ing a ine and o iginal o m, dis inc om he simple ep oduc-
ion o models wi hou o iginali y o sen imen , and equally ee om any social-his-
o ical o an h opological condi ioning. The a is ic c ea ion con eys he subjec i e
elemen s o consciousness, in which sen imen s and ep esen a ions a e connec ed,
which means in u n ha he a is ic p oduc mus be subjec ed o modi ica ions in
he p ocess o becoming awo k o a , whose u h is o med by an asy. Acco ding
o Pi andello, a is no knowledge bu in ol es a he he mu a ion o hings: c e-
a ion and o m in e ac wi h sen imen and he psychic ma e ial, and ep esen a ions
canno anscend sen imen s, impulses, o memo y. Fo hese easons, in Pi andello’s
26 See also he le e s on 14.2.1935 and 17.2.1935. Fo mo e abou he collabo a ion wi h Bo -
ai, see he le e s on 1.3.1935; 18.4.1935; 8.4.1935; 17.4.1935.
27 See he w i e ’s e lec ions agains na u alism and i s concep o a as he objec i e ep-
esen a ion o na u e, w i en in 1908 (Pi andello 1960b).
28 Ibid., p.200.
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60 SLOVO A SMYSL 38
a ises om he ac o decla ing one’s eedom— akind o au o-de e mina ion ealised
by Ma ia Pascal when he ein en s himsel as Ad iano Meis, he new man. This idea
is linked o he domain o ins umen al eason, and implies concei ing o o he s as
a unc ion o he sel , and he whole communi y om he same pe spec i e. The ou -
come is a ela i ism ha in ol es an appa en espec o o he people’s alues bu is
concen a ed on pe sonal ealisa ion, wi h he e ec ha i akes he subjec ou o any
conc e e li ed o his o ical eali y, educing e e y hing o wha is use ul o he sel :
Iwas alone now, and no one on he ea h could be mo e alone han I, wi h e e y ie
dissol ed, e e y obliga ion emo ed, ee, new, comple ely my own mas e , wi hou
he bu den o my pas , and wi h he u u e be o e me, which Icould shape as Ipleased
(2, 45).39
The sel o Ma ia Pascal appea s closed in i s shell, and his beha iou is linked o
acon en ional code ha p o ec s him om o he s and p e en s any dialogical ela-
ionship:
Fo ha ma e , Iwas li ing wi h mysel and by mysel almos exclusi ely. Ioccasion-
ally exchanged a ew wo ds wi h ho el cle ks, wi h wai e s o ellow gues s, bu ne e
ou o any desi e o s i up acon e sa ion (2, 51).40
This idea o eedom, o ally concen a ed on he sel , has una oidable epe cussions
on his poli ical endencies, since one’s ac o sel - ealisa ion may come in o con lic
wi h hose o o he s, pe cei ed as simply mean-spi i ed o oublesome. In social
e ms, his eeling is diame ically opposed o any sense o connec ion o acommu-
ni y. The egocen ic modali ies o sel - ealisa ion culmina e in asense o unlimi ed
powe and eedom: ‘l’anima mi umul ua a nella gioja di quella nuo a libe à’ (‘my
soul was unning io , in he joy o his new eedom’) (2, 47), a adical eedom wi h-
ou cons ain s. Bu i is no long be o e his libe y will ing alse, since i nou ishes
and is nou ished by apessimis ic iew o he wo ld. Ma ia Pascal becomes awa e o
he ‘ aud’ o his own ‘illusion’.
The daily li e o Ma ia Pascal u ns ou o be in e wined wi h elemen s om he
cul u al and his o ical con ex o he main cha ac e and his s o y, namely he a ack
on democ acy in esponse o he d unk man and he a ack o science syn hesised
by he in ec i e ‘Acu se on Cope nicus!’ These a acks ecall he cul u al and poli i-
39 ‘E o solo o mai, epiù solo di com’e o non a ei po u o esse e su la e a, sciol o nel p esen-
e d’ogni legame ed’ogni obbligo, libe o, nuo o eassolu amen e pad one di me, senza più il
a dello del mio passa o econ l’a eni e dinanzi, che a ei po u o oggia mi apiace mio.’
The numbe s a he end o each ci ed ex om Il u Ma ia Pascal e e o he page and line
o he i s edi ion o he no el (published pe iodically in La Nuo a An ologia om 16Ap il
o 16June 1904) as i is memo ialised wi hin he Banca Da i 800–900 a he C.N.R. Ins i-
u e O.V.I. (Ope a Vocabola io I aliano) in Flo ence.
40 ‘Vi e o, pe al o, con me edi me, quasi esclusi amen e. Scambia o appena qualche pa o-
la con gli albe ga o i, coi came ie i, coi icini di a ola, ma non mai pe oglia d’a acca
disco so.’
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cal endencies o he pe iod in which Pi andello was w i ing his book, and poin o
amo e gene al concep ion o li e. Cope nicus caused e e y hing o be useless om
he ime in which he Ea h was no mo e he cen e o he uni e se and human beings
we e educed o ‘in ini esimal a oms’ (1, 589) hus ans o ming human his o y in o
he ‘s o ies o wo ms’:
A e we o a e we no on akind o in isible op, spun by a ay o sunshine, on ali le
maddened g ain o sand, which spins and spins and spins, wi hou knowing why,
ne e eaching an end, as i i enjoyed spinning like his, making us eel i s abi o
hea , hen abi o cold, making us die— o en in he awa eness ha we ha e com-
mi ed only ase ies o oolish ac s— a e i y o six y spins? Cope nicus, my dea
don Eligio, Cope nicus has uined humani y o e e . We ha e all g adually become
used o he new idea o ou in ini e smallness, and we e en conside ou sel es less
ha no hing in he uni e se […] S o ies o wo ms, a his poin , ou s o ies (1, 588).41
These hemes we e an icipa ed in Pi andello’s sho s o y ‘Pallo oline’ (1902), in
which Jacopo Ma a en ano, p o esso a he me eo ological obse a o y, is indi e -
en o he daily p oblems o his wi e and daugh e bu comple ely ascina ed by space,
conside ing he Ea h as amic oscopic poin in cosmic space, a e y small ball in-
deed, whe e his daugh e and e e y human being is no mo e han ‘an in isible li le
wo m’. The a ack on Cope nicus is, in ou opinion, an a ack on mode ni y. The so-
called scien i ic e olu ion p og essi ely ees humani y om adi ion, om ame-
die al concep ion o he wo ld, and, a e some ime, leads o he wo e olu ions o
he 19 hcen u y: he i s in which Da win decla es ha man is no di e en om he
animals; he second in which F eud in oduces his concep o he sel . Pi andello’s a -
ack on mode ni y akes shape h ough apa icula concep ion o science in which
he e is no eal p og ess, only ‘ he illusion o making exis ence easie and mo e com-
o able’ (2, 59). I is wi h wo ds like hese ha Ad iano Meis speaks in an elec ic bus
o a‘poo man’, happy o ide a ound Milan o he p ice o ‘ wo coins’:
Why his cla e o machines? And wha will man do when machines do e e y hing
o him? Will he hen ealise ha wha is called p og ess has no hing o do wi h hap-
piness? E en i we admi e all he in en ions ha science since ely belie es will en ich
ou li es (ins ead hey make us poo e , because hei p ice is so high), wha joy do hey
b ing us, a e all? (2, 58–59)42
41 ‘Siamo onon siamo su un’in isibile o olina, cui a da e za un il di sole, su un g anelli-
no di sabbia impazzi o che gi a egi a egi a, senza sape pe ché, senza pe eni mai ade-
s ino, come se ci p o asse gus o agi a così, pe a ci sen i e o a un po‘ più di caldo, o a un
po‘ più di eddo, epe a ci mo i e— spesso con la coscienza d’a e commesso una seque-
la di piccole sciocchezze— dopo cinquan a osessan a gi i? Cope nico, Cope nico, don Eli-
gio mio, ha o ina o l’umani à, i imediabilmen e. O mai noi u i ci siamo apoco apoco
ada a i alla nuo a concezione dell’in ini a nos a piccolezza, aconside a ci anzi men che
nien e nell’Uni e so […] S o ie di e mucci, o mai, le nos e.’
42 ‘Pe chè u o ques o s o dimen o di macchine? Eche a à l’uomo quando le macchine a-
anno u o? Si acco ge à allo a che il così de o p og esso non ha nulla ache a e con la
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In his way, he alue o he disco e y o elec ici y by Benjamin F anklin is as ly
i ialised, o ally igno ing he complex wo k o esea ch ha is behind he ad ance-
men o scien i ic knowledge.
This manne o p esen ing science belongs o Pi andello’s gene al iew o human
exis ence, in which ques ions a e aised o which scien i ic knowledge is no able
o p o ide any answe s, an a gumen which he had p e iously aised in Saggi, and
subsequen ly e u ned o in a ious w i ings. When science— which gi es ise o he
mode n as he p ocess o humani y’s libe a ion om domina ion— is i ialised and
made emp y, democ acy may soon ollow, inso a as i ep esen s, on apoli ical le el,
he same p ocess o libe a ion om absolu e powe s, in a ou o anew basis o
conside ing social ca ego ies p e iously excluded and igno ed. F om he condi ion o
indi idual unease, due o he di icul y o ob aining o al eedom (in he cha ac e
o Ad iano Meis), Pi andello seems o ex end his own pe cep ion o amo e gene al
condi ion, ha he lack o libe y is p oduced by democ acy i sel .43
The eal cause o all ou su e ings, o his sadness o ou s, do you know wha i
is? Democ acy, my dea man, democ acy, ha is, he go e nance o he majo i y.
Because when powe is in he hands o asingle man, his man knows he is one and
mus make many happy; bu when he many go e n, hey hink only o making hem-
sel es happy, and he esul is he mos absu d and ha e ul o y annies: a y anny
masked as eedom (3, 254).44
In his sudden ou bu s by Meis, he de ini ion he p esen s o democ acy as ‘ y anny
masked as libe y’ is announced by he nega i e emo ional one c ea ed by he e m
‘sadness’ ( is ezza), ha pe cola es o e he es o he no el. The in ended de ini ion
is g ounded on he seman ic e ec s ising om aplay o opposi es: he commonsense
meaning, a ibu ed o he wo d ‘ y anny’ ( i annia), causes he wo d o lose i s na u e
as an onym o democ acy; he al e na ion o ‘one’ (uno) and ‘many’ (mol i) unde -
mines he dis inc ion be ween democ acy and y anny; he link o eedom embod-
ied in he wo d ‘democ acy’ is b oken, and he echnical poli ically accep ed meaning
o people’s powe is obscu ed as well, inso a as democ acy becomes he opposi e o
eedom. I acqui es ameaning media ed by he commonsense meaning o y anny,
u he con amina ed by ea u es o sadness ha h ow ace ain g eyness on o all
judgemen s, on o he ailu e o he ideal o democ acy, and on o he necessi y o es-
cape as agna ion ha would exclude e e y impulse o he na ion. The used language
elici à? Di u e le in enzioni, con cui la scienza c ede ones amen e d’a icchi e l’umani-
à (ela impo e isce, pe chè cos ano an o ca e), che gioja in ondo p o iamo noi, anche
ammi andole?’
43 Lucignani 1999, p.168, inds in he piece o he d unk man he ‘dis an o igins’ o Pi an-
dello’s ascism.
44 ‘la causa e a di u i inos i mali, di ques a is ezza nos a, sai qual è? La democ azia,
mio ca o, la democ azia, cioè il go e no della maggio anza. Pe chè, quando il po e e è in
mano d’uno solo, ques ’uno sa d’esse uno edi do e con en a e mol i; ma quando imol-
i go e nano, pensano sol an o acon en a se s essi, esi ha allo a la i annia più balo da
epiù odiosa: la i annia masche a a da libe à.’
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LUCiANA bRANDi — UbALDO CECCOLi — CLOTiLDE bARbARULLi 63
ends o guide he men al a i ude owa ds he wo d ‘democ acy’: on one side i s he-
o e ical and his o ic dynamic is igno ed, on he o he side i is enamed as he go -
e nance o he majo i y, inducing he eade o adop ajudgmen o alue, and o ad-
he e o ap ecise iew o he wo ld ha akes no heed o his o y. I is in his loss o
memo y ha Pi andello’s y anny— a y anny masked as eedom— can be unde -
s ood. The in o ma ion con eyed by he wo d democ acy looks like an objec i e po-
li ical de ini ion, bu a he same ime i has he illocu iona y o ce o awa ning ha
o ces he eade o gi e an app aisal and make achoice.
The a ack on mode ni y and democ acy in Il u Ma ia Pascal speaks clea ly o
a ejec ion o i s con empo a y wo ld. The p o agonis mus abandon his sea ch o
adical eedom and ul ilmen as a‘ o ally new man’ in ace o he impossibili y o
a oiding he social ules o li e. Pi andello does no conside he human condi ion as
ap oduc o his o ical con lic s and con adic ions bu links hem o he opposi ion
be ween li e and o m, ollowing he idea, p ope o ce ain cul u al philosophical
con ex s o he pe iod, ha o ms alone exis — no objec i e eali y. These o ms a e
necessa y o he eme gence o he e en o li e. A he same ime, howe e , hey a e
pe cei ed as cons ain s ha one s i es in ain o o e come. In his sense, iden i y
i sel , concei ed as an in e nal a i ice, u ns ou o be aloss o iden i y: Ma ia Pas-
cal, e u ning o Mi agno, does no know who he is, as he awai s his ‘ hi d, las and
inal dea h’ (1, 587). The subjec , educed o he sense ha he is no one, is compelled
o sea ch o s able ex e nal e e ence poin s— o o ano he pe son— ha he can
ely on. Ma ia Pascal is he po ayal o so many men in g ey, igh ened in he ace
o social con lic s, endu ing ane e -ending wai o pe sonal ealisa ion, compelling
hem o sea ch o an ancho agains he chaos, and o asolu ion o come om he
ou side. When ascism comes, i is ecognised as he answe o he long wai o all
hemen in g ey.
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