Between 1978 and 1982, Carlo Cassola, already a successful and widely popular novelist, published three short works that hover between the novel and the antimilitarist pamphlet: "Il superstite" ("The Survivor"), "Ferragosto di morte" ("A Deadly Ferragosto"), and "Il mondo senza nessuno" ("The World Without Anyone"). These works are commonly referred to as the “Atomic Trilogy”, an expression now adopted as the title of the 2023 single-volume reprint published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. Despite the significant artistic limitations of these three short novels, they are highly valuable as manifestations of the Italian and European philosophical debate on the nuclear threat that developed during the 1960s and 1970s, with particular reference to the positions of Aldo Capitini (a longtime associate of Cassola) and, above all, Günther Anders. The following pages demonstrate how antimilitarism and the abandonment of the novel form constitute, in Cassola’s work, two sides of the same coin, insofar as both express that crisis of humanism which represents the ultimate outcome of the arms race.
Fra il 1978 e il 1982 Carlo Cassola, già romanziere di successo anche popolare, pubblica tre brevi opere che rimangono sospese fra il romanzo e il pamphlet antimilitarista: "Il superstite", "Ferragosto di morte" e "Il mondo senza nessuno", abitualmente indicati come "Trilogia atomica", espressione ora utilizzata come titolo della ristampa in un solo volume, data da A. Mondadori nel 2023. Nonostante i forti limiti artistici di questi tre romanzi brevi, è molto utile riconoscervi l’esito del dibattito filosofico italiano ed europeo sulla minaccia nucleare, sviluppatosi negli anni Sessanta-Settanta, con particolare riferimento alle posizioni di Aldo Capitini (già sodale di Cassola) e soprattutto Günther Anders. Le pagine che seguono mostrano come l’antimilitarismo e l’abbandono della forma ‘romanzo’ siano in Cassola due lati della stessa medaglia, in quanto espressioni di quella crisi dell’umanesimo che è l’esito ultimo della corsa agli armamenti.
Antimilitarismo e crisi del romanzo nella “Trilogia atomica” di Carlo Cassola
Daniele Maria Pegorari
2026-01-01
Abstract
Between 1978 and 1982, Carlo Cassola, already a successful and widely popular novelist, published three short works that hover between the novel and the antimilitarist pamphlet: "Il superstite" ("The Survivor"), "Ferragosto di morte" ("A Deadly Ferragosto"), and "Il mondo senza nessuno" ("The World Without Anyone"). These works are commonly referred to as the “Atomic Trilogy”, an expression now adopted as the title of the 2023 single-volume reprint published by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. Despite the significant artistic limitations of these three short novels, they are highly valuable as manifestations of the Italian and European philosophical debate on the nuclear threat that developed during the 1960s and 1970s, with particular reference to the positions of Aldo Capitini (a longtime associate of Cassola) and, above all, Günther Anders. The following pages demonstrate how antimilitarism and the abandonment of the novel form constitute, in Cassola’s work, two sides of the same coin, insofar as both express that crisis of humanism which represents the ultimate outcome of the arms race.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
