Antonio Scurati (born 25 June 1969) is an Italian writer and academic. A professor of comparative literature and creative writing at the
IULM University of Milan, mass media scholar, and editorialist for the Corriere della Sera, Scurati has won the main Italian literary prizes. In 2019, he was awarded the prestigious
Strega Prize for his novel M: Son of the Century (2018), which is part of a planned tetralogy dedicated to
Benito Mussolini and
Italian fascism. It was at the top of the charts for two consecutive years, was translated into over forty countries, and is set for a television series produced by Sky Original in 2024.
Early life and education
Scurati was born in
Naples to a Neapolitan mother and a father from
Cusano Milanino.[1][2][3] He graduated with a degree in
philosophy from the
University of Milan.[2] Scurati continued his studies at the
School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in
Paris.[2] He later completed a
PhD in Theory and Text Analysis at the
University of Bergamo.[2] Scurati worked as a professore a contratto (contract professor) at
Bergamo, where he coordinated a centre for studying the languages of war and violence.[2] At Bergamo, he also taught the theory and elements of television language.[2] In 2005, Scurati became a researcher in Cinema, Photography, and Television. In 2008, he moved to the
IULM University of Milan,[4] where he became an associate professor and conductor of a
creative writing seminar and a seminar in
orality and
rhetoric,[2] as well as co-director of the "Arts of the Story" writing master's course, together with film critic Gianni Canova, dedicated to epic and document-based narrative writing.[5]
Career
From early writings to collaboration with the Corriere della Sera
In 2003, Scurati published the essay Guerra. Narrazioni e culture nella tradizione occidentale, which was a finalist for the
Viareggio Prize.[5] His novel Il sopravvissuto (2005) was awarded (in a tie with
Pino Roveredo) the 43rd
Premio Campiello.[5][nb 1] The novel was also awarded the
Premio Nazionale Letterario Pisa [
it] for Fiction.[5][nb 2] In 2006, a revised edition of Scurati's debut novel, Il rumore sordo della battaglia, was published.[5] That same year, Scurati published the essay "La letteratura dell'inesperienza. Scrivere romanzi al tempo della televisione", a reflection on media,
Dadaism, literature, and
humanism.[5] Scurati's writing appeared in the weekly publication
Internazionale [
it] and the daily newspaper La Stampa.[5] In 2007, he published the
historical novelUna storia romantica.[5] In the same year, Scurati produced a documentary film for the Italian company
Fandango.[5] The film La stagione dell'amore investigates themes of love in contemporary Italian society, and continues the investigation conducted by director
Pier Paolo Pasolini in his film Love Meetings (1965).[6]
In 2009, Scurati published Il bambino che sognava la fine del mondo, a novel that mixes reality and fiction and is fierce criticism of
mass media and the
information economy as a whole.[5] In 2010, Scurati published Gli anni che non stiamo vivendo. Il tempo della cronaca, a collection of articles on contemporary topics of crime, politics, and current affairs.[5] In the same year, he addressed the same topics in the column "Lettere dal nord" within the television program
Parla con me [
it].[5] In 2015, he published Il tempo migliore della nostra vita, a biographical novel dedicated to the life of
Leone Ginzburg.[5] It was awarded the
Viareggio Prize,[5][nb 3] and was a finalist for the Premio Campiello.[5] On 20 September 2019, it was announced that Scurati would begin writing a column for the Corriere della Sera.[5][nb 4] His first article, concerning
euthanasia, appeared in the newspaper on 28 September 2019.[5][nb 5]
M tetralogy, TV series adaptation, and commentary
In September 2018, Scurati published the novel M: Son of the Century (M. Il figlio del secolo), the first volume in a series of four books about
Benito Mussolini.[5] The
tetralogy intends to tell the history of Italy beginning on 23 March 1919, the day the
Italian Fasces of Combat was founded, and ending in 1945.[5] The novel concludes with Mussolini's speech to the
Chamber of Deputies on 3 January 1925, which officially established Italy as a dictatorship following the political crisis caused by the murder of
Giacomo Matteotti.[5] The first edition of the novel contained eight historical errors (in names, dates, and quotations) that were detailed by
Ernesto Galli della Loggia [
it] in the Corriere della Sera,[7] where he criticized Scurati for having "retouched the history" with his novel.[2] Scurati responded to the controversy in a column also published in the Corriere della Sera. In it, he argued that the current era requires "a cooperation between the rigor of historical accuracy and the art of the novel", and that "telling is an art, not an exact science".[2] The controversy also involved Pierluigi Battista, to which Galli della Loggia wrote again, stating that "creative license does not authorizes betraying the truth of history".[2][nb 6] In an interview to Il manifesto that was printed on 23 April 2019, Scurati stated that "giving a voice to Mussolini serves to free us from him",[2] and added: "Above all it means dealing with the repressed collective conscience, fascism as one of the matrices of national identity and doing so through a new popular and inclusive narrative, according to the vocation of the novel form. I was driven by the belief that, after the historical fall of the anti-fascist prejudice, a novel about Mussolini was possible and, therefore, necessary precisely to renew the reasons for anti-fascism."[2][nb 7]
On the night between 4 and 5 July 2019, M. Il figlio del secolo was awarded the prestigious
Strega Prize,[8] and Scurati commented: "I dedicate the victory to our grandfathers and fathers, who were first seduced and then oppressed by fascism, especially those among them who found the courage to fight it with weapons in hand. I would also like to dedicate the award to our children, with the hope that they will not have to go back to experiencing what we experienced a hundred years ago, especially to my daughter Lucia."[2] The novel was a success,[5] selling over 600,000 copies by April 2022,[9][10][11] when it was being translated for publication in 46 countries and in production for a television series adaptation,[12][13][14] which is produced by Sky Original and directed by
Joe Wright, with
Luca Marinelli as Mussolini, and scheduled for 2024.[15] The English translation by
Anne Milano Appel was published by
Harper on 5 April 2022.[16]
In September 2020, M. L'uomo della provvidenza, the second volume of the quartet was published.[5] It follows the parable of Mussolini from 1925 to 1932,[17][nb 8] recounting his liberticidal politics and the fierce power struggles and ideological battles of the
National Fascist Party.[5] It is framed by the omnipresent figure of Mussolini and his mediocrities and eccentricities.[5] The novel was translated into French in 2021,[18][nb 9] and was awarded the 2022
European Book Prize.[19] In September 2022, the third volume of the series was released, M. Gli ultimi giorni dell'Europa, which follows the fateful years from 1938 to 1940 that would lead to
Italy's entry into World War II.[5][nb 10] The series was initially planned as a trilogy;[20] by 2022, it was projected as a tetralogy.[21] In October 2022, Scurati commented: "At this point it is clear that I will need a fourth and perhaps a fifth to complete the parable."[22] In October 2023, about the TV series adaptation, Scurati commented: "It will have black comedy tones. But Mussolini is not a hero."[23] About the making of the script, he said: "The book was successful, many politicians keep it on their bedside table. But in the writing of the screenplay there were moments of disagreement, even conflict."[23]
After the results of the
2022 Italian general election showed that
Brothers of Italy (FdI), a political party with roots dating back to the
Italian Social Movement that was founded by
neo-fascists and Mussolini's followers after
World War II, was the most voted and largest party in the
Italian Parliament, Scurati described FdI leader and future Italian prime minister
Giorgia Meloni as a "heir of Mussolini".[5] In an interview to Le Dauphiné Libéré, he had observed that "what is happening today in Italy is not a repetition of the past. But the resounding victory, in Italy, of a party that has its cultural and ideological roots in fascism is a fact. Italy is threatened by those parties that are the heirs of Mussolini not so much as fascisms, but as inventors of populism."[24] For the 25 April celebrations (
Liberation Day) of the
Italian resistance movement to Nazi–fascism in 2024, Scurati was scheduled to deliver a monologue for the Italian public television
RAI, warning that "the specter of fascism haunts the house of Italian democracy".[25][nb 11] He was subsequently removed from the
Rai 3 programme Chesarà... hosted by Serena Bertone,[26][27] who criticized the government's choice and said no explanation was given;[28][29][nb 12] this prompted criticism from parts of the Italian press, which published his monologue, and outcry from the opposition,[33] as well as censorship accuses,[30][34] which were denied by the
Meloni government and RAI.[35][36][nb 13] In a letter published by La Repubblica, Scurati responded to Meloni, who had published his monologue,[38] describing it as violence and rhetorically asking: "Is this the price you want to make those who express your thoughts pay?"[39][nb 14]
Works
Novels
— (2002). Il rumore sordo della battaglia. Collana Scrittori italiani e stranieri (in Italian). Milan: Mondadori.
ISBN978-88-045-0064-3.
— (2006). Il rumore sordo della battaglia (in Italian) (revised ed.). Milan: Bompiani.
ISBN978-88-4525-634-9.
— (2020). M. L'uomo della provvidenza. Collana Narratori italiani (in Italian). Milan-Florence: Bompiani.
ISBN978-88-301-0265-1.
— (2022). M. Gli ultimi giorni dell'Europa. Collana Narratori italiani (in Italian). Milan-Florence: Bompiani.
ISBN978-88-301-0496-9.
Essays
— (2003). Guerra. Narrazioni e culture nella tradizione occidentale. Collana Saggi (in Italian). Rome: Donzelli.
ISBN978-88-7989-776-1.
— (2007). Guerra. Narrazioni e culture nella tradizione occidentale (in Italian) (revised ed.). Rome: Donzelli.
ISBN978-88-603-6188-2.
— (2003). Televisioni di guerra. Il conflitto del Golfo come evento mediatico e il paradosso dello spettatore totale. Collana Culture (in Italian). Verona: Ombre Corte.
ISBN978-88-8700-938-5.
— (2006). La letteratura dell'inesperienza. Scrivere romanzi al tempo della televisione. Collana Saggi n.350 (in Italian). Milan: Bompiani.
ISBN978-88-4525-743-8.
— (2010). Gli anni che non stiamo vivendo. Il tempo della cronaca. Collana Overlook (in Italian). Milan: Bompiani.
ISBN978-88-452-6456-6.
— (2012). Letteratura e sopravvivenza. La retorica letteraria di fronte alla violenza. Collana Studi (in Italian). Milan: Bompiani.
ISBN978-88-4527-104-5.
— (2016). Dal tragico all'osceno. Raccontare la morte nel XXI secolo. Collana grandi tascabili. Agone (in Italian). Milan: Bompiani.
ISBN978-88-452-8187-7.
Documentary
Scurati, Antonio; Scurati, Lorenzo (2010). La stagione dell'amore (DVD with book) (in Italian). Rome: Fandango.
ISBN978-88-604-4170-6.
Personal life
Scurati grew up in
Venice and lives in
Milan, although he remains tied to Naples.[3][nb 15] Scurati is a honorary citizen of
Ravello, where he spent every summer since he was a child;[5] he played with his friends and had discussions with
Gore Vidal, among many others.[41] As told in a 2021 interview to La Gazzetta dello Sport, it was thanks to his father that Scurati became a supporter of
Juventus, with the likes of
Michel Platini and
Zinedine Zidane, whose transfer in 2001 made his tifo vanish.[42][nb 16] In the same 2021 interview to La Gazzetta dello Sport, about former
Napoli SSC footballer
Diego Maradona, who died in 2020, he said: "Plus ultra on the pitch. Diego brought great joy, a man who became a myth like Hercules or Achilles. Superhuman and subhuman. However, a city that feeds on myths is destined for the worst. After all, the mythological message leaves man enchanted to destroy him. It makes me angry to see Naples like this, with all its contradictions. But it is love's anger."[40]
^See
"Albo d'oro". Premio Nazionale Letterario Pisa (in Italian). 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2024. Updated through the years.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (
link)
^"Vincitori edizione 2015". Premio Letterario Viareggio Rèpaci (in Italian). 2015. Archived from
the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
^Scurati's monologue discussed several events of
Fascist Italy history and the political culture of
neo-fascism.[25] About the murder of
Unitary Socialist Party leader
Giacomo Matteotti, he said: "Giacomo Matteotti was murdered by fascist hitmen on 10 June 1924. Five of them waited for him outside his house, all squad members from Milan, professionals of violence hired by Benito Mussolini's closest collaborators. The Honourable Matteotti, the secretary of the Unitary Socialist Party, the last person in Parliament who still openly opposed the fascist dictatorship, was kidnapped in the centre of Rome, in broad daylight, in broad daylight. He fought until the end, as he had fought all his life. They stabbed him to death, then disfigured his body. They folded him on himself so he could stick him into a hole dug badly with a blacksmith's file."[25] Scurati discussed
Benito Mussolini's role in the murder, stating: "Mussolini was immediately informed. In addition to the crime, he was guilty of the infamy of swearing to the widow that he would do everything possible to bring her husband back to her. While he was swearing, the Duce of fascism kept the victim's bloody documents in his desk drawer."[25] He also commented about the Nazi–fascist massacres in Italy, observing: "In this false spring of ours, however, we are not only commemorating Matteotti's political murder; the Nazi–fascist massacres perpetrated by the German SS, with the complicity and collaboration of the Italian fascists, in 1944 are also commemorated. Fosse Ardeatine, Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Marzabotto. These are just some of the places where Mussolini's demonic allies massacred thousands of defenseless Italian civilians in cold blood. Among them hundreds of children and even infants. Many were even burned alive, some beheaded."[25] As part of his monologue, Scurati moved to discuss
post-fascism in Italy, stating: "These two concomitant mournful anniversaries – spring of 1924, spring of 1944 – proclaim that fascism has been throughout its entire historical existence—not only at the end or occasionally—an irredeemable phenomenon of systematic political violence, murder, and massacre. Will the heirs of that story recognize him once and for all? Unfortunately, everything suggests that this will not be the case. The post-fascist ruling group, having won the elections in October 2022, had two paths before it: repudiate its neo-fascist past or try to rewrite history. They have undoubtedly taken the second path."[25] Scurati then discussed the incumbent Italian prime minister
Giorgia Meloni's role in neo-fascist political culture and her lack of anti-fascist commitments, such as never stating to be anti-fascist, commenting: "After having avoided the topic during the electoral campaign, the Prime Minister, when forced to address it by historical anniversaries, obstinately stuck to the ideological line of her neo-fascist culture of origin: she distanced herself from the indefensible brutalities perpetrated by the regime (the persecution of the Jews) without ever repudiating the fascist experience as a whole, she blamed the massacres carried out with the complicity of the Republican fascists on the Nazis alone, and finally she ignored the fundamental role of the Resistance in the Italian rebirth (to the point of never mentioning the word 'anti-fascism' on the occasion of 25 April 2023)."[25] Scurati's monologue concluded with a warning about the state of Italian democracy, arguing: "As I speak to you, we are once again on the eve of the anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi–fascism. The word that the Prime Minister refused to pronounce will still throb on the grateful lips of all sincere democrats, be they left, centre, or right. Until that word – anti-fascism – is pronounced by those who govern us, the specter of fascism will continue to haunt the house of Italian democracy."[25]
^Giorgia Meloni commented: "RAI responds that it simply refused to pay €1,800 (the monthly salary of many employees) for a minute of monologue."[30] The parliamentary supervisory commission described it as "a very serious case of violation of editorial autonomy".[30] Serena Bertone read the text Scurati's monologue at the beginning of the broadcast,[31] explaining that Scurati had given his support for her to read it.[32]
^This was not the first time that the
Meloni government had engaged in censorship, or had been accused in doing so as part of a right-wing
cancel culture, such as with Peppa Pig. For instance,
Roberto Saviano commented: "What did you expect? They're controlling everything."[29] For the first time,
Mediaset surpassed the public broadcaster
RAI, and public
television in Italy under Meloni was described by critics and part of the Italian press as "TeleRegime" and "TeleMeloni".[37] The intervention of the government in the
mass media in Italy was also observed and reported by the international press, including among others Le Figaro, The Guardian, Libération, Le Monde, El País, and The Times. See:
^About Naples and his move to Milan, Scurati said: "Naples is like a mother to me. And also the love of youth. I would have liked to go to university there. With a friend I had queued in front of the offices in via Mezzocannone to sign up. But my parents said no and I went to Milan. Right choice because Milan is the ideal wife. I remain attached to Naples because my parents met there: father, manager of Rinascente, from Cusano Milanino, Neapolitan mother from Porta San Gennaro, sales assistant for the same chain of shops."[40] See also Scurati, Antonio (28 May 2020). "Nord, Sud, tutti insieme". Corriere della Sera (in Italian).
ISSN2499-0485 – via PressReader.
^Scurati said: "My dad passed on his Juventus support to me. And as kids we do little crazy things. Like when in Campo San Lorenzo we set up a tent with my friends to watch the 1983 Champions Cup final with Hamburg on TV together. It was raining and we risked being electrocuted by the electrical wires hanging from the building, while Magath marked our disappointment. That support then vanished when Juve let Zidane leave. I have always been fascinated, like Platini before, by these talented players who make their gestures epic."[43]
References
^"Scurati, Antonio". Lessico del XXI Secolo (in Italian). 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2024.