Cesare Pavese

Cesare Pavese (UK: pav-AY-zay, -⁠zee; Italian: [ˈtʃeːzarepaˈveːze,ˈtʃɛː-,-eːse]; born September 9, 1908 – died August 27, 1950) was a prominent Italian novelist, poet, short story writer, translator, literary critic, and essayist. He is widely recognized as one of the most influential Italian literary figures of his era.

During the 1930s, Pavese was reportedly apolitical, yet he associated with antifascist groups. He subsequently served a brief term as a political prisoner. Despite being eligible for conscription into the Italian Armed Forces during World War II, he did not engage in active military service. A portion of his wartime was spent in hospitalization due to asthma. While many of his acquaintances in Turin joined partisan forces, Pavese refrained from participating in the armed conflict near the city. Following the war, Pavese became a member of the Italian Communist Party and contributed to its newspaper, L'Unità. In his later years, he experienced depression and political disillusionment. His life concluded with suicide by an overdose of barbiturates.

Early life and education

Cesare Pavese's birthplace was Santo Stefano Belbo, a village located within the province of Cuneo. This village was also his father's birthplace and served as the family's annual summer retreat. While his primary education commenced in Santo Stefano Belbo, his subsequent schooling took place in Turin.

For his senior high school studies, he enrolled at the Liceo Classico Massimo d'Azeglio in Turin. During this period, his most influential instructor was Augusto Monti, a writer and educator known for a writing style that sought to eliminate all rhetorical flourishes.

As an emerging literary figure, Pavese developed a strong interest in English-language literature, culminating in his graduation from the University of Turin with a thesis focused on Walt Whitman's poetry. Among his university mentors was Leone Ginzburg, a distinguished expert in Russian literature and a literary critic, who was married to the writer Natalia Ginzburg and fathered the future historian Carlo Ginzburg. During this period, Pavese undertook the translation of both classic and contemporary American and British authors, introducing them to the Italian readership.

Arrest and conviction; the war in Italy

Despite his apolitical stance during a highly politicized era, Pavese associated with antifascist groups. In 1935, he faced arrest and conviction for possessing correspondence from a political prisoner. Following several months of imprisonment, he was subjected to "confino", a form of internal exile in Southern Italy, which was a standard penalty for minor political offenses. (Carlo Levi and Leone Ginzburg, both from Turin, experienced similar internal exile.) After a year residing in the Calabrian village of Brancaleone, Pavese returned to Turin, where he secured employment as an editor and translator for the left-wing publisher Giulio Einaudi. Natalia Ginzburg was also employed at the same establishment.

While residing in Rome, Pavese received a summons for military service in the fascist army; however, due to his asthma, he spent six months hospitalized in a military facility. Upon his return to Turin, German forces had occupied the city, and most of his associates had departed to join partisan resistance. Pavese subsequently sought refuge in the hills surrounding Serralunga di Crea, located near Casale Monferrato. He did not participate in the armed conflict occurring in that region. Throughout his time in Turin, he served as a mentor to the emerging writer and translator Fernanda Pivano, who had been his student at the Liceo D'Azeglio. Pavese provided her with the American edition of Spoon River Anthology, which Pivano subsequently translated into Italian and published in 1943.

After the war

Following World War II, Pavese became affiliated with the Italian Communist Party and contributed to its newspaper, L'Unità. A significant portion of his literary output was published during this period. In his final years, he often visited Le Langhe, his birthplace, finding considerable solace there. His suicide in 1950, by an overdose of barbiturates, was attributed to a combination of depression, the unsuccessful conclusion of a brief romantic relationship with actress Constance Dowling (to whom his final novel and one of his last poems, "Death will come and she'll have your eyes," were dedicated), and political disillusionment. In that same year, he was awarded the Strega Prize for La Bella Estate, a collection comprising three novellas: 'La tenda' (written in 1940), 'Il diavolo sulle colline' (1948), and 'Tra donne sole' (1949).

Literary critic Leslie Fiedler observed regarding Pavese's death: "...for the Italians, his death has come to have a weight like that of Hart Crane for us, a meaning that penetrates back into his own work and functions as a symbol in the literature of an age." The details surrounding his suicide, which occurred in a hotel room, notably mirrored the concluding scene of his penultimate work, Tra Donne Sole (Among Single Women). His final book, 'La Luna e i Falò', was published in Italy in 1950 and subsequently translated into English as The Moon and the Bonfires by Louise Sinclair in 1952.

Pavese identified as an atheist.

Themes in Pavese's works

Pavese's literary works frequently feature protagonists who are isolated, either by personal inclination or external conditions. These characters often form transient and superficial relationships with others. While they might desire greater human connection, they frequently compromise their principles and betray their companions; for instance, in The Prison, a political exile residing in a Southern Italian village receives a message from a fellow political confinato nearby, proposing a rendezvous. The protagonist, however, declines this gesture of solidarity and refuses the meeting. This novella was published within the collection titled Before the Cock Crows, a title alluding to Peter's denial of Christ prior to his crucifixion.

The Langhe region, where Pavese spent his childhood summer holidays, profoundly influenced him. Characterized by rolling hills and extensive vineyards, it is a distinctive landscape. Although he felt a deep sense of belonging there, Pavese also acknowledged the arduous and harsh existence of the impoverished peasants who subsisted on the land. This region was also the site of intense conflicts between German forces and partisans. Consequently, the landscape became integral to Pavese's personal mythology.

Within The Moon and the Bonfires, the protagonist recounts an experience of drinking beer in an American bar. A man enters, whom the protagonist identifies as originating from the valleys of Le Langhe, based on his gait and demeanor. The protagonist addresses him in dialect, proposing that a bottle of their regional wine would be preferable to beer. Following several years in America, the protagonist eventually returns to his native village. He then explores Le Langhe alongside a friend who had continuously resided in the region. During this exploration, he discovers that numerous peers have met tragic ends, including partisans executed by German forces, and a prominent local woman who was executed by partisans, accused of being a fascist spy.

Books

• Lavorare stanca (Hard Labor), poems 1936; expanded edition 1943.

McGlazer, Ramsey (May 2017). "The Decay of Sighing: Cesare Pavese's Lavorare stanca". differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies. 28 (1). Duke University Press: 94–123. doi:10.1215/10407391-3821712.References

• Linh Dinh's English translations of Cesare Pavese's poems, published in Milk Magazine.
• Burckhardt, Olivier. "Of Sea and Words and Toil: The Poetry of Cesare Pavese." Quadrant, vol. 48, no. 7/8, 2004, pp. 82–85.
• Smith, Lawrence G. Cesare Pavese and America: Life, Love, and Literature.