La ricezione del Don Quijote nella cultura siciliana dal settecento ai siorni nostri

Abstract

The ingenious hidalgo don Quixote de la Mancha can be considered a World Heritage because it is a work without time and without place. In fact, since 1605, the date of publication of its first part, its success has been extraordinary and has been maintained over the centuries, expressing itself either through translations into almost all the languages of the world, or through continuations, critical reflections, reworkings and adaptations to the theatre, cinema, dance, music, plastic arts... OBJECTIVES Taking into account the artistic vitality around Don Quixote, my goal has been to investigate Sicilian writers and artists whose productions have been inspired by Cervantes' masterpiece, to see if there is a particular affinity between it and the culture, the way of thinking and the vision of life of Sicilians. Moreover, my purpose has been to offer an updated view (detailed and overall at the same time) of the literary and artistic production that the Sicilia-Don Quixote relationship has generated, to testify to its variety and, above all, its high quality. METHODOLOGY Depending on the type of work that case by case I have taken into consideration I have used different methods of analysis, ranging from lexical and semantic comparison with Cervantes' Don Quixote or with Meli's (which in Sicily is an important point of reference), to critical comments on essays, novels, short stories, etc., that have some relation to the Cervantine or Melian work. I have also tried to highlight how the reception of Don Quixote has been updated and contextualized in Sicily. Whenever possible, I have sought direct testimonies of the Cervantine reception in Sicily through interviews with authors and prominent exponents of the island's culture. RESULTS One of the first works of reception of Don Quixote at European level is the Sicilian poem Don Chisciotti e Sanciu Panza by Giovanni Meli, published in Palermo in 1787 and, successively, in definitive version, in 1814. The work (that, unlike that of Cervantes and in the wake of the enlightened ideas, has a social purpose), although written, has entered into the repertoire of oral narratives of popular tradition: for this reason in many cases it has been the link between the Manchego hidalgo and the Sicilians. Proof of this are Camilleri's historical novel Il re di Girgenti, as well as Consolino's essay Don Chisciotte reincarnato or Cucchiara’s musical comedy Don Chisciotto di Girgenti. On Cervantes' Don Quixote, in addition, some of the great Sicilian writers have expressed their critical reflections: from Pirandello to Sciascia, from Consolo to Borgese, from Alajmo to Buttitta, while others, such as Bufalino, Bonaviri or Garigliano have been inspired by don Quixote for their stories, novels or comedies. Moreover, in the artistic field the reception of the Cervantine novel in Sicily has left many traces: in Cuticchio’s opera dei pupi and cunto, in Balsamo’s theatre, in Franchi and Ingrassia’s cinema, in Archinuè’s music, as well as in the plastic and visual arts. Worthy of mention are, among many, the works of Canzoneri, Vesco, Caruso, Fiume, Morici, Guccione, without forgetting the photographs of Scianna. To the close relationship Sicily-Spain corresponds that of the island with Miguel de Cervantes, since he remained in Messina before and after Lepanto and knew several places of Sicily; inside Don Quixote, there is no doubt, there are traces of that experience. In view of the above, and in particular of the quantity and high quality of the works of reception of the Cervantine novel in Sicily, the research has shown how Don Quixote has had, and continues to have, a privileged reception in Sicily and how it has been acclimatized in the island, even in the field of the Sicilian language and in that of its popular traditions. Sicily is don Quixote’s island.