A collection of rare early short stories by Italian Nobel laureate Grazia Deledda has been brought to light in a new publication titled 'La leggenda nera e altri racconti giovanili'. Released by Caravaggio Editore, the 225-page volume, edited by Michela Pollutri with an introduction by Enrico De Luca, gathers sixteen novellas written between 1888 and 1892. These works represent a previously unknown chapter of Deledda's career, showcasing her literary experiments during her formative years.
The stories were originally published in magazines such as L'Ultima Moda, with the first appearing in July 1888 when Deledda was just 17 years old. One notable piece, 'Sangue sardo', features a protagonist named Ela who bears striking similarities to the young author herself. According to the text, these early writings reveal the determination that would eventually lead Deledda to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. While her later works are set across Sardinia, Rome, and the Po Valley, this specific collection focuses on her initial attempts at storytelling.
Michela Pollutri, the editor of the volume, notes that these stories reflect a period where Deledda oscillated between romanticism and a timid veristic style. The introduction describes the works as having an overly heated atmosphere and a falsely decorative language filled with historical and literary reminiscences. Despite being described as intellectual exercises, Pollutri argues they served as a valuable apprenticeship for Deledda to master narrative techniques and construct stories.
The publication arrives during the centenary of Deledda's Nobel Prize, which was awarded in 1926 but officially presented in 1927. The book aims to address the historical tendency to overlook female authors, noting that Deledda is often underrepresented in school curricula compared to her male contemporaries. Critics like Luigi Pirandello once mocked her and her husband for prioritizing her literary career over his work at the Ministry of Finance. This new volume seeks to restore her place in cultural memory by highlighting the tools she used to build her destiny in late 19th-century Sardinia.
Sources: ANSA Cultura.