«L'abito di comunicare»: Leopardi e la ricerca d'infinito nella Crestomazia italiana della prosa

The essay deals with some of the most relevant communicative factors having inspired Giacomo Leopardi during the composition of his Crestomazia italiana della prosa (1827), whose section of “Speculative philosophy” is focused on the research of infinite. The myriad of books in his family library enabled his investigation into ‘infinite’. In particular, ‘the habit of communicating’ inspires the selection of some texts coping with the transience of current life and the exaltation of the indefinite. The anthologist retrieves these texts from different authors: Francesco Maria Zanotti, Galileo Galilei, Alessandro Verri, Giambattista Gelli. His mimetic choices are in line with thorough thematic and educational issues concerning specific topics – such as the discovery of the new world and the triumph over the limits of reason, as an evidence of this can be found in the Moral Essays and the great “Idilli”. Selecting does not mean transcribing: the aforementioned writings have been stylistically revised, through an intensive ‘labor limae’ which allows contemporary readers to enjoy Leopardi’s work. To the fore is the process of selection and the ‘infinite’ textual revision in the anthological project. Thus, the infinite gains a poetic, scientific and existential tune. Consequently, the endless search of the beauty and the useful is framed within an unconventional cultural dimension.