Carlo Levi and Power in Society

Mussolini’s regime, defined as totalitarian, aimed to dominate every sphere of the life of the citizen, a process Carlo Levi defined as the divinizzazione dello Stato. However, his observations on life in Gagliano where he served his sentence of confino gave him a deepened vision of the habits and imposition of petty power as well as a vocabulary of his own. Such power was first incarnated in the figure of the podestà, Luigi or Luigino Magalone. In both Cristo si è fermato ad Eboli and L’orologio, Levi used the term luigini to denote holders of such power. What are the irritations and holds of such a power?

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Joseph Farrell is Emeritus Professor of Italian at the University of Strathclyde. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including biographies of Nobel laureate Dario Fo and Franca Rame, as well as the Sicilian writer Leonardo Sciascia. A renowned translator, Farrell has brought the works of Vincenzo Consolo, Valerio Varesi, and most recently Carlo Lucarelli to English-speaking audiences. His forthcoming book explores the life and legacy of Lauro de Bosis, the Italian poet, aviator, and political activist.

Andrea Del Cornò is the Italian specialist at The London Library and Subject Librarian for Italian Literature and Language at the Taylor Institution Library, University of Oxford. He also serves as Chair of the Italian Studies Library Group.