Pavese indifferente? Parentele segrete fra Gli indifferenti e Il diavolo sulle colline

Abstract

The article offers a comparison between Alberto Moravia and Cesare Pavese on the basis of two novels: The Time of Indifference (1929) and The Devil in the Hills (1949). After sketching the unfriendly relationship between these writers, I aim to show how close The Devil in the Hills was to Moravia’s poetics through the analysis of themes, imagery and literary ascendance. The essay ends with a close reading of Moravia’s article “Pavese decadente” (1954), generally neglected by critics: its flaws and contradictions help us to understand how close Pavese and Moravia were at a certain moment, despite their plain, mutual animosity.