Il pataffio di Luigi Malerba, tra storicità e attualità. Una società in crisi e la lotta di classe

Abstract

This study aims to analyze Luigi Malerba's novel Il pataffio, from a new perspective, namely that of its double value between historicity and actuality. Despite being set in the Middle Ages, the work reflects not only the social and political reality experienced and perceived by the writer in Italy in the sixties and seventies, but also reflects the contemporary one in other parts of the world. The novel is therefore nothing more than a denunciation of the multiform crisis of numerous contemporary societies where values ​​are lacking, and where evil dominates in all its forms. By analyzing the plot of the work and the development of its story we will try to outline the traits of totalitarian regimes and highlight the catastrophic consequences of absolutism. The study will also highlight the similarity of the class struggle in the novel and the conditions experienced by some peoples under totalitarian regimes, especially in the countries of the Arab Spring, where the rebellion of the peoples and their revolution against the tyrants were the protagonist of the scene in the last few years.