Ariosto nell'epoca dei voli spaziali

The present study analyzes the Orlando Furioso’s reuse in contemporary literature. It starts from the late XIX century works of Italo Svevo, author of an uncompleted comedy dedicated to Ariosto the Governor. Then, it goes through the literary experiences of two great Italian novelists of the second postwar, namely Italo Calvino and Beppe Fenoglio. The last chapter focuses on “the persistence of the Furioso” by analyzing Stefano Jossa’s studies, two recent exhibitions dedicated precisely to Ariosto’s reception in contemporary art and several narrative and theatrical reworking of Ariosto’s masterpiece, which are mainly dedicated to the characters of Angelica and Orlando. The work is aimed in detecting the double influence produced by Ludovico Ariosto, who has become a model both for the matter (due to a dense series of narrative situations, themes and ideas centered on a relativism which strongly affirms itself after the lacerations produced by the recent dark totalitarianisms) and for the style (due to a programmatic use of narrative techniques, such as suspension, deferment and resume). Overcoming the impasse of Benedetto Croce’s rigid interpretation, Ariosto can finally become the undisputed master of a fantastic and ironic literature, which has not to be considered disengaged or unconcerned.