Su La folla di Paolo Valera: le rappresentazioni della soggettività popolare in un romanzo socialista

Abstract

The article proposes a narratological categorisation of the representation of the subjectivity of the humble characters in Paolo Valera’s La folla (1901), a unique naturalist novel inspired by Zola. Due to its late composition, the author’s political conception and the polymorphism of the diegesis, the work constitutes an ideal case study for the psychological exploration of the people, even though a crucial distinction emerges in the study: although subjective analysis of individual subjects of the Fourth Estate is not prohibited, the preferred form is the attribution of a choral and indistinct subjectivity, while individual analysis is reserved for the bourgeoisie and characters on the borderline between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, such as Annunciata or Giuliano.