{"id":58573,"date":"2016-05-10T09:00:32","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T07:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/langhe.net\/58573\/pavese-langhe-questione-lingua-parte-2\/?lang=en"},"modified":"2016-07-29T08:29:21","modified_gmt":"2016-07-29T06:29:21","slug":"pavese-langhe-language-issue-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langhe.net\/en\/58573\/pavese-langhe-language-issue-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Pavese & the Langhe: the language issue \u2013 part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

The issue remains pretty well unresolved, lacking an equally strong reply, perhaps leaving the answer to later writings, whether they be poetic or prose.<\/p>\n

The Piedmont and the le Langhe<\/h2>\n

In fact, if we analyze Pavese\u2019s poetry<\/strong>, we can clearly see how the Langa and Piedmont are present<\/strong>; namely, the place where the writer grew up and spent the most significant part of his childhood (during the summer months).<\/p>\n

Dialect in prose<\/h3>\n

Hand in hand with poetic images, therefore, is the language of prose, which stimulates the regional tone<\/strong> of Pavese\u2019s production. Many linguists have focused on the analysis of this type of prose (of which a good example is clearly present in The Moon and the Bonfires<\/a>\"\"), highlighting the dialect components<\/strong> in Pavese\u2019s literary language, in addition to all that was influenced by the dialect before it became what it is.<\/p>\n

At this point, it might seem that the literary nature we\u2019re talking about can be limited to only a regional reality. Indeed, Pavese himself, referring to his self-critical awareness<\/strong>, puts forth this objection:<\/p>\n

\n

Contro il sospetto che il mio sia un Piedmontese Revival, sta la buona volont\u00e0 di credere a un possibile allargamento dei valori piemontesi. La giustificazione? Questa: non \u00e8 letteratura dialettale la mia \u2013 tanto lottai di istinto e di ragione contro il dialettismo \u2013; non vuole essere bozzettistica \u2013 e pagai d’esperienza \u2013; cerca di nutrirsi di tutto il miglior succo nazionale e tradizionale; tenta di tenere gli occhi aperti su tutto il mondo ed \u00e8 stata particolarmente sensibile ai tentativi e ai risultati nordamericani, dove mi parve di scoprire un tempo un analogo travaglio di formazione.
\nCesare Pavese, Il mestiere di vivere, 11 ottobre 1935<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Transporting the reader to Piedmont<\/h3>\n

Pavese\u2019s goal<\/strong>, therefore, is not to create a transposition of Piedmont in literature, painting a fresco with the aim of giving a representation of it to potential readers, but to transport the readers into the Piedmont universe<\/strong> so as to allow them to discover all that it entails, while using the \u201cpicture-story\u201d means of the hills and the coarse ruggedness of the dialect.<\/p>\n

The essay on Sherwood Anderson<\/h2>\n

This, in fact, is what Pavese speaks of in an essay on the American writer Sherwood Anderson<\/a> (Middle West and Piedmont<\/strong>), highlighting how in Piedmont what\u2019s missing is a figure that is capable of producing literature that is indeed, full of regional values, but not exclusively devoted to them.<\/p>\n

With regards to Piedmont writers the “excessive dialect specialization<\/strong>” is highlighted; an aspect which bedims the work to all those who are not natives of the region, thus creating a barrier that hinders the understanding<\/strong> of the content<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The correct use of dialect<\/h3>\n

\"By<\/div><\/div>

By Original: Cesare PaveseDerivative work: GloamingVectorization: Carnby [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p><\/div>Therefore, according to Pavese, the dialect can be a phase to go through if one wants to write a piece about the Piedmont, but on the condition that its presence will not jeopardize the economy of the script.<\/p>\n

In this regard, yet again in \u201cThis Business of Living<\/a>\"\"\u201d, we read a thought concerning the crux analyzed, this time dating back to March 1949<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

L’ideale dialettale \u00e8 lo stesso in tutti i tempi. Il dialetto \u00e8 sottostoria. Bisogna invece correre il rischio e scrivere in lingua, cio\u00e8 entrare nella storia, cio\u00e8 elaborare e scegliere un gusto, uno stile, una retorica, un pericolo. Nel dialetto non si sceglie \u2013 si \u00e8 immediati, si parla d’istinto. In lingua si crea.
\nBeninteso, il dialetto usato con fini letterari \u00e8 un modo di far storia, \u00e8 una scelta, un gusto ecc.
\nCesare Pavese, Il mestiere di vivere, 11 marzo 1949.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hence the dialect<\/strong>, such as Pavese’s diary clearly illustrates, becomes a pivotal point in the production of his writings<\/strong>: not so much with regards to the local constituency which the works appear to suggest, as much as for a precise literary purpose. Pavese refers to this aspect because he feels that both his characters\u2019 dialogues and his personal background are saturated.<\/p>\n

In this way, the Piedmont language<\/strong> can be the only language to give back what Pavese feels within himself and to mould, along with it, a work; the only organic way of talking and to talk about during the act of writing.<\/p>\n

Pavese & the Langhe: the other articles<\/h2>\n

Below is a list, in order of publication, of articles dedicated to Pavese\u2019s relationship with the territory, language and literature:<\/p>\n