Problematic-artistic embodiment of the “southern question” in Carl Levy's novel Christ Stopped at Eboli

Abstract

In the late 19th century “The Southern question” as a complex of problems caused by the sharp economic, social and cultural backwardness of the southern Italian regions, became one of the central themes in the literature of Italian verism. As being not resolved till the end, this probleme appears again in the literature of neorealism in the works of Francesco Jovine, Rocco Scotellaro, Leonardo Sciascia and others. European reader is familiar with this probleme first of all in the connection with the novel “Christ stopped at Eboli” by Carlo Levi that was transalted and published in 1955. This article represents itself the attempt of historical-anthropological interpretation of the novel by Levi: the results of author's complex conception of the world and human are given; the main stylistic principles and devices of South Italy social and economical problems realization in the context of the literature of neorealism are revealed; Levi's conceptual-stylistic innovation and his conception of “The Southern question” solution by means of fiction literature are represented.