Ricordare per interrogare: Percorsi della memoria in Primo Levi

Abstract

This commemorative essay traces the function of memory and the relation between memory and imagination in the works of Primo Levi. It looks at the common matrix and the subtle link between Levi works of testimony and his fictional writings, suggesting that his fantasy and science fiction stories be read as metaphors or allegorical transcriptions of a reality that was indelibly imprinted in every fiber of the author’s being. It observes the shape Levi’s memories take in relation to his state of mind in the various stages of his literary production.