E' ancora possibile il romanzo-saggio?

Abstract

This article focuses on the literary form of the novelessay and aims to answer to the question concerning its chances of surviving nowadays. First, a theoretical distinction between two different forms combining narration and reflection is proposed: these forms are the narrative essay (which can provide many examples) and the novel-essay (whose survival is troubled). Secondly, through a compared analysis of Michel Houellebecq’s Whatever and J. M. Coetzee’s The Live of Animals the article speculates about the transformation occurred in the novel-essay and a hypothetical decline. Science-୰୤ction, conversely, might be the main literary form selected for reflecting on the world today. A parallel close-reading of Francesco Pecoraro’s Life in Peacetimeand Edoardo Albinati’s La scuola cattolica concludes the article, by pointing out developments, strengths and weaknesses of the contemporary novel-essay, especially for what concerns the increasing fragmentation of the main characters and the loss of an utopian avocation.