Literary medium and cultural identity (between romanticism and post-modernism)

In today’s globalized society, characterized by the intersection of communicative practices, the relation among literature, public opinion and collective memory (described also by Walter Benjamin) has proven to be a fruitful interdisciplinary research subject, whose results can be much more effective when aimed to study the social meaning of the literary medium. In this perspective, the research activities carried out by Alessandro Manzoni, a fundamental figure in the Italian literary canon, show the need for modern intellectuals to provide the public with a faithful representation of the events that contributed to the construction of the modern consciousness (as underlined in the prefatory letter to the Conte di Carmagnola). Manzoni’s moral and intellectual legacy (underlined also by Lukács) was influential for several Italian writers of the twentieth century. Among these, Ennio Flaiano has been perhaps the most sagacious interpreter of the medial society: the myths of progress and collective memory are still in the foreground of his works (Tempo di uccidere), also filtered through the moral of I Promessi sposi, «the most essential that can be», and through the study of its principal characters: «the figures of Don Abbondio, of the Cardinal, of the Innominato are huge; they are Italian». These characters have become civil emblems, also thanks to the Italian school. In the age of informative globalization and of historical fickleness, school can promote the rediscovery of prominent intellectuals concerned with the exploration of the events that led to postmodern consciousness, thanks to a very close relationship between literature, information and cultural identity.