“Cross the sea,” a young Grazia Deledda wrote successful a poem to Americans successful 1893, “and archer everyone that the land of Sardinia is inactive waiting to beryllium discovered and known.”
On the 100th day of her Nobel Prize for Literature, the almighty bequest of Deledda, similar a literate apparition, is present waiting for American and the English-reading satellite to rediscover her works.
Hailed successful the American newspapers successful 1902 arsenic the “George Sand of Sardinia”—though, George Sand ne'er won the Nobel—Deledda’s relation successful Sardinian lit occupied its ain realm. “Why should anyone consciousness doubtful astir the aboriginal of fiction,” the American reviewer noted, “when young authors are rising each day, to amusement america the satellite arsenic it appears.”
That satellite appeared precise otherwise to the young pistillate writer in Sardinia astir the crook of the 20th century. After simple school, with the assistance of a tutor, she had published stories arsenic a teen, overmuch to the chagrin of her family, who saw specified enactment arsenic a scandalous enactment for a young woman. Deledda never looked back.
Hailed successful the American newspapers successful 1902 arsenic the “George Sand of Sardinia”—though, George Sand ne'er won the Nobel—Deledda’s relation successful Sardinian lit occupied its ain realm.
Her archetypal novel, Fior di Sardegna (Flowers of Sardinia), appeared successful 1892, astatine the property of twenty-one. “In the ‘stranger’s room’ of the Porru location a pistillate sat crying,” began Deledda’s novel, After the Divorce, questioning that “secret” successful Sardinian beingness for women, 5 100 years aft Eleonora d’Arborea reigned arsenic the de facto leader of the island. It was 1 of the archetypal novels to woody with the taxable of divorce, published successful 1902.
She went connected to constitute much than sixty works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
In 1926, Deledda became the 2nd pistillate successful the satellite to triumph a Nobel laureate successful lit for her “idealistically inspired writings which with integrative clarity representation the beingness connected her autochthonal land and with extent and sympathy woody with quality problems successful general,” according to the Nobel committee.
An American quality story, however, noted that it was “strange” that she continued to constitute astir Sardinia aft she moved to Rome. “Sardinia holds precise small involvement for the satellite successful general. It is not affluent successful creator treasures arsenic is astir of Italy. Sardinia’s charm, perhaps, is its isolation; civilization has not arsenic yet dulled it oregon chopped it down to the standardized pattern.”
Such a dismissal of Sardinia and its past and modern contributions to Mediterranean and Italian lit would plague the reception of Deledda’s enactment for her full life. Fellow Sardinian literary giants, similar Antonio Gramsci, Emilio Lussu, Salvatore Satta and modern writer Michela Murgia encountered the same.
Enter the notorious D.W. Lawrence successful 1921, who spent little than a week successful Sardinia. Lawrence took nary notes, helium famously declared. From his accomplishment successful Cagliari, a “naked municipality rising steep,” helium and his woman took buses and trains, archetypal to Mandas, “where determination is thing to do,” and past to Sorgono, afloat of “degenerate aborigines, the dirty-breasted host” and “sordid villagers,” crossed the mountains until they arrived astatine Nuoro, the location of Deledda, wherever “there is thing to see.”
After returning to his location successful Sicily, wherever helium claimed helium recovered himself without thing to do, Lawrence wrote Sea and Sardinia, which helium had primitively titled Sardinian Films or Sketches successful Sardinia, in a fewer weeks. Only 1 draft. But Lawrence injected his novelist skills into the journey, conjuring immoderate beauteous scenes of nature, particularly successful the bid thrust done the Gennargentu mountains, and praised the Sardinians for being “downright” and “manly.” In galore respects, Sea and Sardinia served arsenic a signifier for immoderate comic but downright obnoxious quality sketches, arsenic if Lawrence were much intent successful drafting up characters for a novel.
Lawrence’s publication was archetypal excerpted in Dial magazine successful the United States. The New York Times started its reappraisal successful expansive style: Anyone wishing to question to Sardinia “would find nary amended guidebook.”
On its 1 hundredth day successful 2021, Sea and Sardinia remained the champion known enactment connected Sardinia successful the English language—not Grazia Deledda.
A period later, the Nobel Laureate’s enduring bequest remains, an enigma for galore perhaps, but a literate treasury deserving different read.
In that aforesaid twelvemonth of 1921, Deledda published a caller (three books, actually), 5 years distant from winning the Nobel Prize. Italian diva Eleonora Duse had already appeared successful her lone soundless film, Cenere, successful 1916, based on Deledda’s celebrated novel.
In penning astir the beingness of Deledda in Nuoro, Sardinian literate professional and writer Giulio Angioni referred to the conjoined relation of past and memoir successful her stories, her “sort of sardography.” That “sardography,” Sardinia seen done the stories of Sardinians, was the splendor awaiting find by outsiders similar ourselves, successful truthful galore forms.
“To observe a prolific, but forgotten novelist is similar stumbling upon a caller species,” societal professional Todd Gitlin wrote successful the Chicago Tribune in 1998. After his woman discovered a caller by Grazia Deledda on a lonely heap successful the country of a bookstore successful New England, helium searched for the remainder of her works, lone uncovering them successful tiny and assemblage presses. He declared it was agelong overdue for a “literary resurrection” of the erstwhile celebrated writer with the “emotional power” of her novels. In the end, helium lone recovered 5 of her thirty-three novels.
After her decease connected August 15, 1936, household members recovered that Deledda had virtually near a cautiously wrapped bundle successful the drawer of her desk, the manuscript for Cosima, “written successful ink connected light-blue paper.” Cosima, which was Deledda’s mediate name, recounts the beingness of a young woman’s conflict to go a writer successful Nuoro, amid the assorted characters of the colony and countryside.
Like Cosima, Deledda preferred to fto her penning basal connected its own. At the Nobel Prize ceremonial successful Stockholm, Deledda simply accepted the grant without the accepted lecture.
The main paper connected her island, L’Unione Sarda, ran a fewer lines connected the prize astatine the bottommost close country of the beforehand page. It seemed arsenic hesitant arsenic her parents over Deledda’s success. Inviting her to his bureau successful Rome, the dictator Benito Mussolini’s attempts to prosecute the writer resulted successful small attention; she simply asked him to merchandise a person of hers from Nuoro from prison.
And then Deledda left the building.
A period later, the Nobel Laureate’s enduring bequest remains, an enigma for galore perhaps, but a literate treasury deserving different read.
English (US) ·