''Conversazione in Sicilia'' () is a novel by the Italian author

Elio Vittorini Elio Vittorini (; 23 July 1908 – 12 February 1966) was an Italian writer and novelist. He was a contemporary of Cesare Pavese and an influential voice in the modernist school of novel writing. His best-known work is the anti-fascist novel '' Co ...

. It originally appeared in serial form in the literary magazine ''Letteratura'' in 1938–1939, and was first published in book form under the title ''Nome e Lagrime'' in 1941. The story concerns Silvestro Ferrauto and his return to Sicily after a long absence. Major themes of the work are detachment, poverty, exploitation and marital fidelity and respect. ''Conversazione in Sicilia'' literally translates to English as ''Conversation in Sicily''; English translations have appeared under that title and a variety of other titles, including ''In Sicily'' and ''Conversations in Sicily''. The first US edition contains a foreword by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

, reprinted in several later editions.

Plot summary

Silvestro Ferrauto is a Sicilian working as a typesetter in Milan, who beset by strange feelings of hopelessness, decides to visit Sicily after receiving a letter from his father which reveals that the father has abandoned Ferrauto's mother. Ferrauto has not visited Sicily since leaving at the age of 15 and ends up on the train to Sicily apparently without conscious thought. Ferrauto then has various conversations with a number of Sicilians on the way to, and in, Sicily. His return to Sicily and his new understanding of his mother from an adult point of view seems to calm his hopelessness. In a drunken state he seems to have a conversation with his dead brother, or at the age, he was when he was alive. The novel closes with his father sobbing in the kitchen whilst the mother scrubs his feet.

Characters

* Silvestro Ferrauto - the protagonist * The Father - appears in the end while the mother is washing his feet * The Wife - never appears in person * Sicilian orange pickers - first conversation is with a Sicilian labourer * "With Mustache" - a Sicilian policeman on the train, a state functionary * "Without Mustache" - a Sicilian policeman on the train, a state functionary * The Big Lombard - a Sicilian on the train * Concezione Ferrauto - the mother * Grandpa - the father of the mother, deceased * Calogero - the Knife Grinder * Ezechiele - the saddlemaker * Porfirio - the draper * Colombo - the vintner * Liborio - the brother, deceased

Literary significance and criticism

The novel is usually interpreted by critics as either a criticism of fascist Italy, disguised by the use of allegoric figures and by the adoption of a non-realistic style, or as the chronicle of a dream-like voyage. Themes revolving around social injustice, which will be central in Vittorini's future work, are already present. The protagonist and author share many of the same experiences - growing up in a railway family, travelling widely by rail around Sicily and Italy, working in northern Italy as a typesetter, and illness.

Adaptation

The novel serves as the basis for Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet's film '' Sicilia!''.

Footnotes

*Conversations in Sicily,

, translated by Alane Salierno Mason {{DEFAULTSORT:Conversations In Sicily 1938 novels 20th-century Italian novels Novels set in Sicily Novels first published in serial form Canongate Books books