Barbarismo in Italian Criticism of American Literature

FAIN: FT-12200-74

Louise K. Barnett
Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8559)

To survey postwar Italian criticism of American literature to determine the influence of barbarismo on recent writers. Barbarismo is the term given to the concept of the barbaric or primitive found in American culture, and specifically in the literature, by Italian critics, such as Cesare Pavese, Elio Vittorini, and Mario Praz.