Lorenzo Blasi

The research project (advisor: Prof. Siriana Sgavicchia; co-advisor: Prof. Michele Dantini) aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the narrative works of Guido Morselli (1912-1973), consisting of nine novels and a collection of short stories.

The methodological framework of the investigation is twofold: on the one hand, it looks at Morselli by placing him within the broader context of twentieth-century Italian novel history, following a critical perspective that is generally overlooked due to a unique narrative experience that equally blends realism, fantastic digressions, and philosophical reflections; on the other hand, it makes use of tools from stylistic criticism and philology, seeking an explanation of the text also through archival and philological study of the genetic material related to the last four of Morselli’s novels (Roma senza papa, Contro-passato prossimo, Divertimento 1889, and Dissipatio H.G., still largely unstudied) and preserved at the Morselli Archive in the Manuscript Center of the University of Pavia.