Alfonso Gatto
Encyclopedia
Alfonso Gatto was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 author. Along with Giuseppe Ungaretti
Giuseppe Ungaretti
Giuseppe Ungaretti was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic and academic. A leading representative of the experimental trend known as Ermetismo , he was one of the most prominent contributors to 20th century Italian literature. Influenced by symbolism, he was briefly aligned...

 and Eugenio Montale
Eugenio Montale
Eugenio Montale was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975.- Early years :...

, he is one of the foremost Italian poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

s of the 20th century and a major exponent of hermetic poetry
Hermeticism (poetry)
Hermeticism in poetry, or Hermetic poetry, is a term used to describe obscure and difficult poetry, as of the Symbolist school. The name alludes to the mythical Hermes Trismegistus, supposed author of mystic doctrines composed in the Neoplatonic tradition.Hermeticism was influential in the...

.

Biography

Gatto had a difficult childhood, studied at the Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

 classic lycaeum where he discovered his passion for poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 and literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

. In 1926 he attended the University of Naples Federico II
University of Naples Federico II
The University of Naples Federico II is a university located in Naples, Italy. It was founded in 1224 and is organized into 13 faculties. It is the world's oldest state university and one of the oldest academic institutions in continuous operation...

, but he had to discontinue his studies due to financial problems. Like many Italian poets of his age, such as Eugenio Montale
Eugenio Montale
Eugenio Montale was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975.- Early years :...

 and Salvatore Quasimodo
Salvatore Quasimodo
Salvatore Quasimodo was an Italian author and poet. In 1959 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature "for his lyrical poetry, which with classical fire expresses the tragic experience of life in our own times". Along with Giuseppe Ungaretti and Eugenio Montale, he is one of the foremost Italian poets...

, he never graduated.

Gatto fell in love with the daughter of his maths teacher, Jole, and being only 21 he eloped with her to Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

. From that moment his life became quite restless and adventurous, with many changes of residence and employment: he was first a bookshop assistant, a college instructor, a proofreader, a journalist, a teacher. In 1936, because of his open anti-fascist activism
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...

, he was arrested and jailed at the San Vittore
San Vittore
San Vittore may refer to:* San Vittore, Switzerland, a municipality in Graubünden, Switzerland* San Vittore del Lazio, a comune in Lazio, Italy* San Vittore Olona, a comune in Lombardy, Italy...

 prison in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

.

During those years, Gatto had been a contributor to various innovative journals and magazines of the Italian literary culture. In 1938 he founded the magazine Campo di Marte, together with writer Vasco Pratolini
Vasco Pratolini
Vasco Pratolini was one of the most noted Italian writers of the twentieth century.Born in Florence, Pratolini worked at various jobs before entering the literary world thanks to his acquaintance with Elio Vittorini. In 1938 he founded, together with Alfonso Gatto, the magazine Campo di Marte...

 and commissioned by Italian publisher Vallecchi, but it only lasted a year. It was however a significant experience for Gatto, who was able to enter the leading literary circles.

"Campo di Marte" had been created as a fortnightly magazine (first issued on 1 August 1938) and with the specific remit of educating the public in the artistic and literary production of all genres. The magazine was directly connected with the so-called Florentine Hermeticism
Hermeticism (poetry)
Hermeticism in poetry, or Hermetic poetry, is a term used to describe obscure and difficult poetry, as of the Symbolist school. The name alludes to the mythical Hermes Trismegistus, supposed author of mystic doctrines composed in the Neoplatonic tradition.Hermeticism was influential in the...

.

In 1941 Gatto was appointed professor of Italian literature
Italian literature
Italian literature is literature written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian....

 for "high merits", at the Art School of Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...

, and a special correspondent for the newspaper L'Unità
L'Unità
l'Unità is an Italian left-wing newspaper, originally founded as official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party.-History:L'Unità was founded by Antonio Gramsci on 12 February 1924, as the newspaper of workers and peasants, the official newspaper of Italian Communist Party : it was printed in...

, thus being placed in a primary position for the promotion of literature of communist inspiration. Subsequently Gatto abandoned the Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...

 and became a dissident communist.

The poet died in a car accident on 8 March 1976 at Capalbio
Capalbio
Capalbio is a comune in the Province of Grosseto in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 150 km south of Florence and about 45 km southeast of Grosseto....

 in the province of Grosseto
Grosseto
Grosseto is a city and comune in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies 14 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain, on the Ombrone river....

. He is buried in the cemetery of Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

 and on his tomb (which has a boulder as its tombstone) is engraved his friend Montale
Montale
Montale is a comune in the Province of Pistoia in the Italian region Tuscany, located about 25 km northwest of Florence and about 8 km east of Pistoia....

's funeral farewell:

Poetics

Hermeticism
Hermeticism (poetry)
Hermeticism in poetry, or Hermetic poetry, is a term used to describe obscure and difficult poetry, as of the Symbolist school. The name alludes to the mythical Hermes Trismegistus, supposed author of mystic doctrines composed in the Neoplatonic tradition.Hermeticism was influential in the...

recognizes in Alfonso Gatto one of its most important and active exponents. Not much is known about him during his first years in Salerno, which surely must have had a determinant role in his cultural background, and little is known also of his first readings, his first literary meetings, his friends. However, the publication of his first book of poems in 1932, entitled Isola ("Island"), was highly welcomed as a truly new lyrical voice. When Giuseppe Ungaretti
Giuseppe Ungaretti
Giuseppe Ungaretti was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic and academic. A leading representative of the experimental trend known as Ermetismo , he was one of the most prominent contributors to 20th century Italian literature. Influenced by symbolism, he was briefly aligned...

 published in the same year his Sentimento del tempo ("The Feeling of Time", 1933), he included Gatto in a relevant chapter, notwithstanding the latter's very recent arrival on the literary scene.

With Isola, Gatto commences his poetical existence, which will conclude with his tragic death forty-four years later. Isola represents a decisive text for the construction of a hermetic grammar
Hermeticism (poetry)
Hermeticism in poetry, or Hermetic poetry, is a term used to describe obscure and difficult poetry, as of the Symbolist school. The name alludes to the mythical Hermes Trismegistus, supposed author of mystic doctrines composed in the Neoplatonic tradition.Hermeticism was influential in the...

 which will be defined by the poet himself, as a quest for a "natural absoluteness". His language is rarefied and timeless, allusive, and typical of a poetics
Poetics
Aristotle's Poetics is the earliest-surviving work of dramatic theory and the first extant philosophical treatise to focus on literary theory...

 of "absence" and empty space, rich in melodic motives. These will be the main elements of all of Gatto's output: these elements, in fact so distant from traditional models, are found in all his poems until 1939 and will gradually pass from familiar themes and landscape visions from youth, to a new phase, before and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, which opens with his Arie e motivi ("Arias and motifs") and culminates with Poesie d'amore ("Love poems").

The motif of love

Gatto's motif of love is sung in all possible manners and to all possible directions and, even if with classicist tones, never loses the phonic value of words, as they become their own moment of suggestion.

In the period between 1940 and 1941 the poet revised his previous poems - which will later be included in a collection published in 1941 under the title Poesie ("Poems") - and they will not undergo changes until 1961 when, by giving them a better chronological and inspirational order in a new volume, will achieve Gatto's greatest lyricism.

One of the most vivid images of modern Italian poetry
Italian poetry
-Important Italian poets:* Giacomo da Lentini a 13th Century poet who is believed to have invented the sonnet.* Guido Cavalcanti Tuscan poet, and a key figure in the Dolce Stil Novo movement....

 can be found in his poem Oblio, where the poet expresses the joy of life
Joie de vivre
Joie de vivre is a French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life; an exultation of spirit. Joie de vivre"can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And joie de vivre may be seen as a joy of everything, a comprehensive joy, a philosophy...

 he feels, and which becomes memory and celebration:
Tutto si calma di memoria e resta
il confine più dolce della terra,
una lontana cupola di festa"


In these verses one can detect a disappearing of strict analogy, part of Gatto's first books, and in his
Amore della vita ("Love of Life") of 1944, he will succeed in conveying a rare vigour to a rhetorical moment dedicated to the Italian Resistance. As a matter of fact, Gatto adhered to the poetry of Italian resistance, moved by the Italians' civil and political spirit, and in his subsequent collection of poetry, Il capo sulla neve ("The head in the snow"), he will create forceful and emotional words for the "Martyrs of the Resistance", expressing them in poems of deep meditation and poignant immediacy.

Gatto is thus a poet of nature and instinct, who continuously reinvigorates his poetic form and narrative structure, including in them a lyrical self-analysis and historical sense of participation. In reading his latest works - Rime di viaggio per la terra dipinta ("Rhymes for journeying in the painted land"), and Desinenze ("Declensions") - the latter published posthumously, the image lingers of a poet with a turbulent life, yet always happy to fix in memory all emotions, in a language rich of motifs and surprises.

Poetry

  • Isola ("Island"), Naples
    Naples
    Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

     1932
  • Morto ai paesi ("Dead to the villages"), Modena
    Modena
    Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....

     1937
  • Poesie ("Poems"), Milan]] 1939, new edition Florence
    Florence
    Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

     1943
  • L'allodola ("Skylark"), Milan 1943
  • La spiaggia dei poveri ("The beach of poors"), Milan 1944
  • Arie e motivi ("Arias and motifs"), Milan 1944
  • La spiaggia dei poveri ("The beach of poors"), Milan 1944, new ed. Salerno
    Salerno
    Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....

     1996
  • Il sigaro di fuoco. Poesie per bambini ("The cigar of fire. Poems for children"), Milan 1945
  • Il capo sulla neve ("Head in the snow"), Milan 1947
  • Nuove poesie 1941-49, Milan 1949
  • La forza degli occhi ("Force in the eyes"), Milan 1954
  • La madre e la morte ("Mother and death"), Galatina 1959
  • Poesie 1929-41, Milan 1961
  • Osteria flegrea, Milan 1962
  • Il vaporetto. Poesie, fiabe, rime, ballate per i bambini di ogni età ("The Ferryboat. Poems, fairy tales, rhymes, ballads for children of all ages"), Milan 1963, new eds. Salerno 1994 & Milan 2001
  • La storia delle vittime ("Story of the victims"), Milan 1966
  • Rime di viaggio per la terra dipinta ("Rhymes for journeying in the painted land"), Milan 1969
  • Poesie 1929-69, Milan 1972
  • Poesie d'amore ("Love poems"), Milan 1973
  • Lapide 1975 ed altre cose, Genoa 1976
  • Desinenze ("Declensions"), Milan 1977
  • Poesie ("Poems"), Milan 1998
  • Tutte le poesie ("All poems"), ilan 2005

Prose

  • La sposa bambina ("The child bride"), Florence 1944, new eds. Florence 1963 & Salerno 1994
  • La coda di paglia ("Tail of straw"), Milan 1948, new ed. Salerno 1995
  • Carlomagno nella grotta. Questioni meridionali ("Charlemagne
    Charlemagne
    Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

     in the grotto. Southern questions"), Milan 1962, new ed. Florence 1974 (as
    Napoli N.N.) & Salerno 1993
  • Le ore piccole (note e noterelle) ("Small hours"), Salerno 1975
  • Parole a un pubblico immaginario e altre prose ("Words to an imaginary public and other writings"), Pistoia 1996
  • Il signor Mezzogiorno, Naples 1996
  • Il pallone rosso di Golia. Prose disperse e rare e l'inedito «Bagaglio presso», Milan 1997
  • L'aria e altre prose, Pistoia 2000
  • Diario d'un poeta ("A poet's diary"), Naples 2001
  • La pecora nera ("The black sheep"), Naples 2001
  • La palla al balzo - un poeta allo stadio ("Catching the ball - A poet at the stadium"), Limina 2006

Filmography

Alfonso Gatto also appeared in various films. In
Il sole sorge ancora (1946) by Aldo Vergano he was a train conductor. Other roles he had in two films by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...

: in
Il Vangelo secondo Matteo (1964) he was the apostle Andrew
Saint Andrew
Saint Andrew , called in the Orthodox tradition Prōtoklētos, or the First-called, is a Christian Apostle and the brother of Saint Peter. The name "Andrew" , like other Greek names, appears to have been common among the Jews from the 3rd or 2nd century BC. No Hebrew or Aramaic name is recorded for him...

, in
Teorema (1968) he was a physician. He also appeared in Cadaveri eccellenti (Illustrious Corpses
Illustrious Corpses
Illustrious Corpses is a 1976 thriller film directed by Francesco Rosi and starring Lino Ventura. The film was screened at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered into the main competition...

) (1976) by Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi
Francesco Rosi is an Italian film director. He is the father of actress Carolina Rosi.-Biography:After studying Law, but hoping to study film, Rosi entered the industry as an assistant to Luchino Visconti on La Terra trema...

 where he was Nocio and in
Caro Michele
Caro Michele
Caro Michele is a 1976 Italian comedy film directed by Mario Monicelli. It was entered into the 26th Berlin International Film Festival, where Monicelli won the Silver Bear for Best Director.-Cast:* Mariangela Melato as Mara Castorelli...

 (1976), by Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli
Mario Monicelli was an Italian director and screenwriter and one of the masters of the Commedia all'Italiana , three times nominated for Oscar.-Biography:...

, from the novel by Natalia Ginzburg
Natalia Ginzburg
Natalia Ginzburg née Levi was an award-winning Italian author whose work explored family relationships, politics during and after the Fascist years and World War II, and philosophy. She wrote novels, short stories and essays, for which she received the Strega Prize and Bagutta Prize...

, where he interpreted Michele's father.

See also

  • Hermeticism (poetry)
    Hermeticism (poetry)
    Hermeticism in poetry, or Hermetic poetry, is a term used to describe obscure and difficult poetry, as of the Symbolist school. The name alludes to the mythical Hermes Trismegistus, supposed author of mystic doctrines composed in the Neoplatonic tradition.Hermeticism was influential in the...

  • Vittorio Sereni
    Vittorio Sereni
    Vittorio Sereni was an Italian poet, author, editor and translator of Jewish heritage. His poetry frequently addressed the themes of 20th century Italian history, such as Fascism, Italy's military defeat in World War II, and its postwar resurgence.Born at Luino, Sereni graduated from the...

  • Natalia Ginzburg
    Natalia Ginzburg
    Natalia Ginzburg née Levi was an award-winning Italian author whose work explored family relationships, politics during and after the Fascist years and World War II, and philosophy. She wrote novels, short stories and essays, for which she received the Strega Prize and Bagutta Prize...

  • Pier Paolo Pasolini
    Pier Paolo Pasolini
    Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian film director, poet, writer, and intellectual. Pasolini distinguished himself as a poet, journalist, philosopher, linguist, novelist, playwright, filmmaker, newspaper and magazine columnist, actor, painter and political figure...

  • Giuseppe Ungaretti
    Giuseppe Ungaretti
    Giuseppe Ungaretti was an Italian modernist poet, journalist, essayist, critic and academic. A leading representative of the experimental trend known as Ermetismo , he was one of the most prominent contributors to 20th century Italian literature. Influenced by symbolism, he was briefly aligned...

  • Eugenio Montale
    Eugenio Montale
    Eugenio Montale was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1975.- Early years :...


External links

Bio Note, on Il Bargello. Accessed 1 June 2011 Il poeta dal canto fioco, article by G. Langella. Accessed 31 May 2011 Timeline for Alfonso Gatto, on Google. Accessed 31 May 2011
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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