Action Or Contemplation? the Politics of Art in Fin De Siecle
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ACTION OR CONTEMPLATION? THE POLITICS OF ART IN FIN DE SIECLE ITALY by ELENA BORELLI A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Italian written under the direction of Professor Paola Gambarota and approved by ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ New Brunswick, New Jersey October 2012 ABTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Action or Contemplation? The Politics of Art in Fin de Siècle Italy By ELENA BORELLI Dissertation Director: Professor Paola Gambarota My dissertation narrates how artists and writers in fin de siècle Italy restaged the dilemma of action and contemplation in order to understand the nature and function of humanistic knowledge and the role of the man of letters in the increasingly modern society of the newly unified Italian nation. In Italy, at the turn of the twentieth century, two models prevailed, that of the aesthete, devoted to the cult of Beauty, and that of the engaged intellectual, who supported the revival of nationalism. I argue that the problem of the intellectual's role in society had not only a political dimension, but also an ethical and an aesthetic one, inasmuch as it involved a reflection on the moral utility of art and literature and on the process behind artistic creation. In addition, I show that the two models of conduct, action and contemplation, are not radically opposed, but rather inextricably entwined, as they both represent attempts to negotiate a function for the man of letters in modernity. Thus, my dissertation sheds light on the relationship between late nineteenth century Aestheticism and modern nationalism. The dilemma discussed in this thesis provides insight into similar issues of the present day as we continue to debate the utility of humanistic knowledge in our post- modern society. ii Acknowledgements and Dedication: This dissertation would not have been possible without the help and the support of Professot Paola Gambarota, who was my adviser throughout the time that it took to complete this work. Her intuition, knowledge and guidance have greatly helped me shape my ideas and accomplish the difficult transition from graduate student to scholar. I must also thank the members of my committee, Professor Alessandro Vettori, Andrea Baldi and Nicholas Havely, for their comments, suggestions and support. I am grateful to the many friends, colleagues and students who accompanied me during my years as a doctoral student, and who brightened up the long hours in the library with their company. My thanks also go to James Kierstead, Stephen Mulraney and Kathleen LaPenta, who proofread my work and helped me navigate the insidious waters of English academic style. Ultimately this dissertation is dedicated to my parents, who believed in me, and to Daibhid, for his advice, companionship and enduring love. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ii Acknowledgements and Dedication iii Introduction 1 Chapter 1. Action or Contemplation? The Role of the Artist in Fin de Siècle Italy 13 Chapter 2. Vita Activa or Vita Contemplativa? Dante in Pascoli's and D'Annunzio's Writing 41 Chapter 3. The Artist in the Garden 93 Chapter 4. Homo Faber. Literature, Science and Technology int he Fin de Siècle 154 Conclusions 208 Works Cited 212 iv 1 Action or Contemplation? The Politics of Art in Fin de Siècle Italy Introduction The role of intellectuals in politics has been the subject of a century-long debate, which spans from the Antiquity to the present day. At the core of this debate lies the question of whether those who possess theoretical knowledge should use it for the benefit of society. It was Plato who first envisioned a community ruled by philosophers, as they possess clarity of vision and their judgment is not corrupted by greed and subjective opinion (Plato VII, c, II, 39). On the other hand, in the Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle establishes the difference between a life devoted to public affairs and one spent in the contemplation of eternal objects and in speculative thinking (Huber 23). In distinguishing practical wisdom, arete, and theoretical knowledge, theoria, Aristotle laid the foundation for the dichotomy between the life of action, (or bios praktikos, translated into Latin as vita activa) and the life of contemplation (bios theoretikos, or vita contemplativa). The debate over which life best suits the intellectual, one at the service of the community or one spent in the pursuit of knowledge, continued uninterrupted in the Western world through the Middle Ages and well into the twentieth century. For instance, the distinction between intellettuale tradizionale and intellettuale organico is central in Antonio Gramsci's reflection on the function of the intellectual in society. Here the first represents the man of letters, devoted to philosophy and literature, and the second is an intellectual who is deeply involved in the public sphere and whose knowledge is rooted in science, technology, and economics (Gramsci III,12, 1513-14). Gramsci's distinction recapitulates the opposition between action and contemplation by drawing the line between the intellectuals 'who understand the rules of the game' and those who actually play it (Garin 117). 2 The question of the intellectual's function and the role of humanistic knowledge in society are highly relevant in our post-modern world. As Joseph Francese observes, globalization homogenizes our fragmented selves into consumer identities—synthetic models produced by the industries of culture (Francese 296). Within this context the intellectual, in particular the scholar of literature and culture, should rethink himself or herself as a voice resisting the dominance of the media and 'their tendency to shape the popular forma mentis in a consumerist direction' (ibidem 305). The advent of modernity1 had a significant impact upon the role and function of the intellectual in society, making the dilemma between engagement and disengagement particularly relevant. Modernity coincided with the victory of technical and scientific culture over purely speculative thinking, philosophy, and the humanities, a phenomenon Hannah Arendt called 'the reversal of the hierarchy between contemplation and action' (Arendt 289). In a world dominated by empirical truth and by the scientific paradigm of falsifiability, the traditional intellectual, that is, the philosopher and the man of letters lost importance in favor of the scientist and the engineer. Furthermore, with the increasing specialization of modern bureaucracies, classical intellectuals were forced into narrow fields of study, relegated to academia and denied participation in the sphere of politics. In addition, modernity required the submission of intellectuals to the laws of the market and equated their work to that of other laborers. For instance, the creation of the 'mystique of art for art's sake' on the part of nineteenth century French artists can be interpreted as an attempt to excuse intellectual activity from the logic of capitalism (Berman 119). As a result of these changes, modern 1 I take modernity and modernism in the sense suggested by Marshall Berman in his All that is Solid Melts into Air: The Experience of Modernity (1982), in which the former is the 'maelstrom' of changes brought about by scientific discoveries and by rapid industrialization (Berman 16) and the latter is the 'attempt by modern men and women to become subjects as well as objects of modernization, to get a grip on the modern world and make themselves at home in it' (ibidem 5). 3 European intellectuals tried to carve out a role for themselves by either engaging with the new scientific culture and supporting political movements in an attempt to have their voice heard, or by withdrawing into the world of art, literature and pure research. This dissertation narrates how writers and artists in fin de siècle Italy restaged the ancient dilemma of the vita activa and contemplativa in order to understand the nature and function of humanistic knowledge and the role of the man of letters in the increasingly technological and bureaucratic society of the newly unified Italian nation. I show that within this context intellectuals chose to employ the categories of action and contemplation because these concepts have a political and ethical dimension as well as an aesthetic one. In other words, discussing the issue of the intellectual's engagement in society through the framework of the dichotomy of action and contemplation allowed fin de siècle writers to view this problem not only as a political one, but also as a reflection upon the moral utility of the humanities and ultimately on the process behind the creation and fruition of art and literature. Furthermore, in fin de siècle Italy, the discussion on the role of the intellectual was triggered by the appearance of the masses on the political stage, due to the advent of parliamentary democracy. Intellectuals were faced with the challenge of either taking an active role in educating the masses, or else refusing to engage with the public by withdrawing into the ivory tower of literature. I argue that in the context of post-unification Italy, the intellectuals' stance on the problem of their function in society does not sustain a clear-cut opposition between action and contemplation, but that these two choices are predicated on the same premises, as both are attempts to negotiate a role for humanistic knowledge in the modern 4 world, and to establish such knowledge as a source of morality and spiritual fulfillment to counter the 'disenchantment'2 which characterizes modernity. In her book The Human Condition (1958), Hannah Arendt defines the vita activa as the fundamental state of our existence, inasmuch as it involves not only our physical survival on earth, but also our interaction with one another as members of political communities. This German-Jewish philosopher sees 'action', which she explains as the activity of debating and engaging in discussion in order to establish rules and norms for society, as the most prominent dimension of the vita activa (Arendt 8-9).