Alberto Moravia (Pincherle) Italian writer Date of Birth: 28.11.1907 Country: Italy

Biography of Alberto Moravia (Pincherle)

Alberto Moravia, born on November 28, 1907, in Rome, was an Italian writer whose heart bore the crack of the modern capitalist world. Despite being part of a privileged family, he was unable to receive a traditional education. At the age of nine, he fell ill with osteoarticular tuberculosis and spent his childhood years in hospitals and sanatoriums. He returned to active life at the age of 17, which played a significant role in his artistic development as he acquired culture through self-education.

Coming from a family of a Roman architect, Moravia was well acquainted with the bourgeois environment, which became the subject of his depiction in his works. After his initial experiments with poetry and novellas in French, at the age of 22, Moravia self-published his first novel, "The Indifferent Ones." This novel explores the specific aspects of self-awareness of the bourgeois intellectual in the 20th century, such as lack of communication and loneliness. These themes remained at the center of Moravia's attention as a moralistic artist.

The phenomenon of human psychology takes center stage in Moravia's works, as evidenced by the titles themselves. Often, Moravia unifies them with the word "nothingness." However, this concept bears no resemblance to nihilism. It represents alienation as the antithesis of affirmation of life and moral stability. Everything Moravia wrote directly or indirectly relates to literature and art, as this sphere of existence can serve as a model for many human relationships.

All of Moravia's novels, stories, and novellas, where he attempts to philosophically comprehend the problem of the creative individual, essentially revolve around the same theme - the artist strives to penetrate the real world, understand it, and create authentic works of art. However, each time, these intentions end in failure. The problem of alienation for the Italian novel was not a fashionable theme imported from abroad. This socio-psychological motif resonated with a unique tone in the 1920s.

" The Indifferent Ones" marked the first milestone in Moravia's artistic journey. It is a novel of its time that exposes societal vices. The novel depicts the spiritual emptiness of the privileged youth of the 1920s. The story takes place during a time when Mussolini claimed that fascism would instill the moral virtues of ancient Romans in the younger generation. Moravia's hatred for this environment, this psychological type, and this selfishness not only did not wane but gained biting satirical force over the years. The writer does not forgive indifference. Fascism left a bitter residue in his soul, becoming a source for moral reflections. With each passing year, this anti-fascist tone became more pronounced, even though Moravia confessed that he had no intention of exposing the social system of fascism. The subsequent novels and stories were influenced by the works of Proust and Kafka, intertwining modernist and realistic tendencies throughout the 1930s.

By the mid-1930s, pessimism and disbelief in human potential intensified in Moravia's works. During this period, he wrote a cycle of philosophical-satirical stories that were later compiled into the book "Epidemic." These stories reveal elements of social satire. The author resorts to allegory to criticize fascist ideology. In the story "Epidemic," the symbol of fascism is a strange disease that manifests as a repugnant odor emanating from the infected person's head. For the afflicted, this foul smell transforms into a pleasant fragrance. A century after the epidemic began, the entire nation loses its sense of smell. The author sees no salvation from the fascist stench. Due to his "anti-fascist pamphlets," Moravia predominantly lived in France, fearing reprisals.

Moravia's fanaticism found support in Freud's theory in the 1930s, which he absolutized as the philosophy of human existence, with sexuality as the determining factor in personal and social behavior.

In 1940, he wrote the satirical novel "The Mask," which clearly satirizes the anti-fascist dictatorship and grotesquely portrays Mussolini, making his return to the country impossible.

Ethical issues are sharply emphasized in Moravia's post-war works. The anti-fascist pathos of his mature works defined new qualities in his writing - political tendencies, democracy, and the emergence of optimism. Neo-realism introduced new themes into his works. At the same time, the philosophical nature of storytelling was intensified. Throughout his creative process, Moravia frequently changed his style and novel structure. His ideal was "clairvoyant detachment." The writer scrutinizes certain aspects of his contemporary reality, creating archetypes and moods. His vocabulary is relatively simple, even sparse, with the main emphasis placed on syntax. This style almost negates lyrical elements.

The author does not aim to illustrate social events but rather focuses on the psychological state of society. Sometimes, Moravia deliberately exacerbates this state, resorting to parody and masks. Moravia has always been fascinated by masks. He does not reproduce reality but organizes masquerades that sometimes seem more authentic than reality itself.

His novels tend to dramatize the actions. In his belief, tragedy is a synthetic art, and he achieves synthesis in his novels.

Throughout Moravia's literature, the human being always takes precedence, even though, in depicting real personalities, he often resorts to abstraction, even absurdity. Despite life's circumstances, humans are inherently humane but in constant conflict with societal structures.