La vita e le strane sorprendenti avventure di Arturo. Per un confronto con Robinson Crusoe

Abstract

he life and strange surprising adventures of Arturo. Cues for a comparison with Robinson Crusoe · The article displays a comparative reading between L’isola di Arturo and Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, inspired by a statement made by Elsa Morante in a 1957 interview after the awarding of the ‘Strega’ prize. In the first place, the press coverage of the novel is studied with particular attention to confrontations with Robinson. Secondly, I aim to trace the steps of the possibility that Morante actually took into account Defoe’s novel. Afterward, a short, comparative study concerning a possible impact of Robinson on Arturo is proposed. The confrontation goes through several issues: narrative patterns, similarities between Nunziata and Friday, relationship with the father and with money, the Bildungsroman, the everlasting conflict between realism of the novel and the anti-realistic romance.