L’ornitologo visionario. Lo sperimentalismo ecologico di Paolo Volponi

Abstract

 This article first reconstructs the presence and functions of ornithological figures in Volponi’s entire oeuvre, and then focuses on the character of the “Imitator of the Songs of All Birds”, from Il pianeta irritabile (1978), offering a meta-artistic interpretation of his role, supported by the comparison with potential literary models (from St. Francis to Leopardi) and philosophical sources (particularly Marcuse). After having formulated such hypotheses, I analyze the dialectic between language and the body in Il pianeta, that is, the oscillation between the rejection of verbal communication and the goal of its refoundation, already partially achieved by the author through a ‘materialistic writing’, innovative both stylistically and thematically. In an effort to elude (political) repetition, Volponi thus creates a narrative text that experiments with literary structures and genres – an uncanny, ‘unthinkable’, and highly relevant ecological romance.