The part and the whole: A study of brevity and the form of the diary in Ennio Flaiano's early works /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Hillman, Cynthia D., author.
Imprint:2015.
Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2015
Description:1 electronic resource (169 pages)
Language:English
Format: E-Resource Dissertations
Local Note:School code: 0330
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/10773129
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Other authors / contributors:University of Chicago. degree granting institution.
ISBN:9781321892413
Notes:Advisors: Rebecca West Committee members: Armando Maggi; Noa Steimatsky.
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Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 76-11(E), Section: A.
English
Summary:Emblematic of the critical problems associated with the study of Flaiano as a writer, Diario notturno (1956) is impossible to reconcile with any conventional genre due to the heterogeneity of its many parts. As Flaiano's first published departure from the form of the novel, Diario notturno provides an excellent case study for the origins of his experimentations with brevity: Beyond concision and grammatical fragments, Flaiano uses omission, truncation and elision to formally abbreviate the narrative. The other works examined in this dissertation, the novel Tempo di uccidere (1947) and the film Roma citta libera (1946), predate Diario notturno, but by reevaluating these works in light of the innovative use of brevity demonstrated in Diario notturno, I trace the continuous experimentation that runs through Flaiano's early works. In this study, I focus on Flaiano's early published works, taking the act of publishing as his implicit endorsement of their final form, and on Diario notturno, in particular, because it represents the initial crystallization of his interest in short forms and his preoccupation with the role of the narrator.
The first chapter endeavors to unlock the message in and the purpose behind Diario notturno by examining the work's minimalist structure and the relationship of its many parts to the whole of the work. Fragmented and minimalist, Flaiano proposes this fictionalized diary as an alternative to the conventional novel. In their fracturedness, the pieces contained in this diary replicate moments of a disconnected post-modern consciousness. The second chapter examines Flaiano's preference for the diary as a container for fragments and how he pushed the boundaries of this form. This chapter explores the paradox inherent in Flaiano's use of the diary, specifically in the many ways that he minimizes and undermines the first-person narrator/diarist. Focusing on Roma citta libera, the third chapter investigates the formal relationship between brief narrative and diaristic forms and Flaiano's cinematic writing. Ultimately, Roma citta libera comments on the limitations of neorealist film, its use of conventional heroic narrative and the failure of conventional popular film to portray life in post-war Rome. The final chapter reevaluates Tempo di uccidere in light of Flaiano's life-long experimentation with brevity; I argue that the most innovative aspects of this novel are made possible by its fragmented, episodic structure and Flaiano's use of brevity to undermine traditional genres.