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1882
Volume 73, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 0017-0461
  • E-ISSN: 2507-0401

Abstract

Abstract

Thornton Wilder’s time at the American Academy in Rome was his “golden year”, an inexhaustible fountain of the Muses. His two novels set in Italy, (1926) and (1948), derive many of their motifs from Roman history and literature, as filtered through contemporary Italian personalities and social groups. His experiences in Italy and engagement with Italian culture pervade his masterpieces: (1938) and (1942). His last novel, , combines Wilder’s fascination with archaeology, studied at the AAR, with Homeric and Italian themes. Italy, for Wilder, meant the full magnificence of European civilization, from the Etruscans through the Renaissance to the moderns.

Abstract

Il periodo trascorso alla fu per Thornton Wilder il suo “anno d’oro”, l’inesauribile fonte delle Muse. I suoi due romanzi ambientati in Italia, (1926) e (1948) riprendono molti motivi dalla storia e dalla letteratura di Roma, filtrata attraverso personalità e gruppi sociali dell’Italia contemporanea. Le sue esperienze in Italia e il suo interesse per la cultura italiana pervadono i suoi capolavori: (1938) e (1942). Il suo ultimo romanzo, unisce l’attrazione per l’archeologia, studiata alla , con temi omerici e italiani. Per Wilder l’Italia significava il massimo splendore della civiltà europea, dagli Etruschi ai moderni, passando attraverso il Rinascimento.

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