Article ID: CBB428884419

“La vista della bella natura desta entusiasmo.” Lo spettacolo della natura in Giacomo Leopardi, tra ‘filosofia naturale’ e immaginazione poetica (2020)

unapi

Giacomo Leopardi is a full-fledged ‘natural philosopher,’ in the sense that the expression had in the 18th century. His scientific skills, specifically in astronomy, chemistry and natural history, and the originality of his philosophy of nature led him to question the ‘spectacle of nature,’ between natural philosophy and poetic imagination. The contribution intends to provide some examples of the ‘view of beautiful nature’ in Leopardi’s work. The expression “beautiful nature” occurs four times in the Zibaldone, above all in connection with aesthetic and ethical reflections. Starting from 1824 Leopardi will draw a negative answer to the question about possible happiness for men. But the decline of the fascination for “beautiful nature” does not correspond to a correlative drying up of the imagination in the face of the ‘spectacle of nature.’ In this regard, I would like to recall three naturalistic Operette morali: the Dialogo di un Folletto e di uno Gnomo, the Dialogo della Natura e di un Islande and the Elogio degli uccelli. His naturalistic vision will not lose its poetic and philosophical depth even in the last two Canti. In the Ginestra nature is the subject of a spectacle in which men are only contingent residues. The Tramonto della luna is presented as the extreme ‘lunar’ poetic model. But even in this Canto we can catch the extreme echo of that enthusiasm of the ‘view of beautiful nature’ that never left Leopardi.

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Authors & Contributors
Polizzi, Gaspare
Jiménez-Pazos, Bárbara
Flodin, Camilla
Janni, Pietro
De Liso, Daniela
Pareti, Germana
Concepts
Nature and its relationship to culture; human-nature relationships
Science and literature
Nature
Aesthetics
Science and culture
Poetry and poetics
Time Periods
19th century
18th century
20th century
Medieval
21st century
20th century, late
Places
Italy
United States
Netherlands
Great Britain
Amazon River Region (South America)
Hawaii (U.S.)
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