Scipio Slataper
Encyclopedia
Scipio Slataper was an Italian language
writer from Trieste
, most famous for his lyrical essay My Karst. He is considered, alongside Italo Svevo
, as the initiator of the prolific tradition of Italian literature in Trieste.
He was born to a relatively wealthy middle class family the city of Trieste
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (today in Italy
). His family was of Slavic
origin (mostly Slovenes from Goriška
), but had assimilated to the Venetian
-speaking urban environment of Trieste. After completing his high school studies in the native city, he moved to Florence
in Italy, where he studied Italian philology. In Florence, he collaborated to the literary journal La Voce, edited by Giuseppe Prezzolini
and Giovanni Papini
. During his stay in Florence, he started writing essays and articles on the literary and cultural situation in Trieste. He maintained a close contact with his native city, collaborating both with young Italian intellectuals from the Austrian Littoral
, both those who lived in Italy and those who remained in their native region. Slataper's circle included the journalist and critic Giulio Caprin, author Giani Stuparich
, his wife Elody Oblath and his brother Carlo Stuparich, the emerging literary critic Silvio Benco, and poets Umberto Saba
, Virgilio Giotti and Biagio Marin
.
After the suicide of his lover in 1910, Slataper retrieved to the village of Ocizla
in the Karst plateau
above Trieste, where he wrote his most famous work, the lyrical essay My Karst , considered one of the masterpieces of Italian fin-de-siecle prose. The essay, in which Nietzschean influences can be seen, is an assertion of vitalism and primitive life force. The essay also contains political and philosophical reflections. Among other, Slataper was polemical against the superficial business mentality of the Italian merchants of Trieste and criticized their anti-Slavic
prejudices. On the other hand, the work contains highly controversial depictions and reflection on the "suppressed brutal and barbaric nature" of the Slovene peasants from the area.
My Karst was published in Florence in 1912, and remained the only book Slataper published during his lifetime. In 1921, the book was translated to French
by Benjamin Crémieux, which helped its spread of Slataper's popularity Europe in the 1920s.
After graduation in 1912, Slataper moved to Hamburg
in Germany
, where he taught Italian language at the local university
. When Italy declared war to Austria-Hungary in March 1915, he moved to Italy and volunteered to join the Italian Army. He was sent to the front along the Isonzo river. In December 1915, he was killed in the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo
on the hills surrounding the town of Gorizia
.
Slataper had a crucial influence in the creation of a distinct literary tradition in Trieste. Authors influenced by him include Giani and Carlo Stuparich, Fulvio Tomizza
, Enzo Bettiza
, Susanna Tamaro
, Claudio Magris
and others. He also influenced several Slovene writers, most notably Marjan Rožanc
and Igor Škamperle
.
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
writer from Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, most famous for his lyrical essay My Karst. He is considered, alongside Italo Svevo
Italo Svevo
Aron Ettore Schmitz , better known by the pseudonym Italo Svevo, was an Italian writer and businessman, author of novels, plays, and short stories.- Biography :...
, as the initiator of the prolific tradition of Italian literature in Trieste.
He was born to a relatively wealthy middle class family the city of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (today in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
). His family was of Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
origin (mostly Slovenes from Goriška
Goriška
Goriška is a traditional region in western Slovenia on the border with Italy. The name means "the Gorizia region" because it is named after Gorizia, Italy. It is part of the wider traditional region of the Slovenian Littoral . Its principal urban center is Nova Gorica...
), but had assimilated to the Venetian
Venetian language
Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken as a native language by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where of five million inhabitants almost all can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia...
-speaking urban environment of Trieste. After completing his high school studies in the native city, he moved to Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
in Italy, where he studied Italian philology. In Florence, he collaborated to the literary journal La Voce, edited by Giuseppe Prezzolini
Giuseppe Prezzolini
Giuseppe Prezzolini was an Italian journalist, editor and writer, later an American citizen.-Biography:...
and Giovanni Papini
Giovanni Papini
Giovanni Papini was an Italian journalist, essayist, literary critic, poet, and novelist.-Early life:...
. During his stay in Florence, he started writing essays and articles on the literary and cultural situation in Trieste. He maintained a close contact with his native city, collaborating both with young Italian intellectuals from the Austrian Littoral
Austrian Littoral
The Austrian Littoral was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had separate...
, both those who lived in Italy and those who remained in their native region. Slataper's circle included the journalist and critic Giulio Caprin, author Giani Stuparich
Giani Stuparich
Giani Stuparich was an Italian author.He was born in Trieste, then in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.In 1948 he won a gold medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his "La Grotta" ....
, his wife Elody Oblath and his brother Carlo Stuparich, the emerging literary critic Silvio Benco, and poets Umberto Saba
Umberto Saba
Umberto Poli was an Italian poet and novelist, born in the cosmopolitan Mediterranean port of Trieste when it was the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Poli assumed the nom de plume "Saba" in 1910, and his name was officially changed to Umberto Saba in 1928. From 1919 he was the...
, Virgilio Giotti and Biagio Marin
Biagio Marin
Biagio Marin was an Italian poet, best known from his poems in the Venetian-Friulian dialect, which had no literary tradition until then. In his writings he has never obeyed rhetoric or poetics...
.
After the suicide of his lover in 1910, Slataper retrieved to the village of Ocizla
Ocizla
Ocizla is a small village in the Hrpelje-Kozina Municipality in the Littoral region of Slovenia, nera the border with Italy The local church is dedicated to Mary Magdalene and belongs to the Klanec Parish....
in the Karst plateau
Kras
Karst ; also known as the Karst Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region extending in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of Trieste...
above Trieste, where he wrote his most famous work, the lyrical essay My Karst , considered one of the masterpieces of Italian fin-de-siecle prose. The essay, in which Nietzschean influences can be seen, is an assertion of vitalism and primitive life force. The essay also contains political and philosophical reflections. Among other, Slataper was polemical against the superficial business mentality of the Italian merchants of Trieste and criticized their anti-Slavic
Anti-Slavism
Anti-Slavism, also known as Slavophobia, a form of racism or xenophobia, refers to various negative attitudes towards Slavic peoples, most common manifestation being claims of inferiority of Slavic nations with respect to other ethnic groups...
prejudices. On the other hand, the work contains highly controversial depictions and reflection on the "suppressed brutal and barbaric nature" of the Slovene peasants from the area.
My Karst was published in Florence in 1912, and remained the only book Slataper published during his lifetime. In 1921, the book was translated to French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
by Benjamin Crémieux, which helped its spread of Slataper's popularity Europe in the 1920s.
After graduation in 1912, Slataper moved to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where he taught Italian language at the local university
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
. When Italy declared war to Austria-Hungary in March 1915, he moved to Italy and volunteered to join the Italian Army. He was sent to the front along the Isonzo river. In December 1915, he was killed in the Fourth Battle of the Isonzo
Fourth Battle of the Isonzo
The Fourth Battle of the Isonzo was fought between the armies of Kingdom of Italy and those of Austria-Hungary on the Italian Front in World War I, between November 10 and December 2, 1915.-Overview:...
on the hills surrounding the town of Gorizia
Gorizia
Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
.
Slataper had a crucial influence in the creation of a distinct literary tradition in Trieste. Authors influenced by him include Giani and Carlo Stuparich, Fulvio Tomizza
Fulvio Tomizza
Fulvio Tomizza was an Italian language writer. He was born in Giurizzani in Kingdom of Italy ....
, Enzo Bettiza
Enzo Bettiza
Enzo Bettiza is a Dalmatian-born Italian novelist, journalist and politician.-Biography:Bettiza was born in Dalmatia, in a rich family of the Italian minority. His mother stemmed from a family of the Croatian isle of Brač...
, Susanna Tamaro
Susanna Tamaro
Susanna Tamaro is an Italian novelist. She has also worked as a scientific documentarist and movie maker direction assistant.-Biography:Susanna Tamaro was born in a family of middle class...
, Claudio Magris
Claudio Magris
Claudio Magris is an Italian scholar, translator and writer.Magris graduated from the University of Turin, where he studied German studies, and has been a professor of modern German literature at the University of Trieste since 1978.He is an essayist and columnist for the Italian newspaper...
and others. He also influenced several Slovene writers, most notably Marjan Rožanc
Marjan Rožanc
Marjan Rožanc was a Slovenian author, playwright and journalist. He is mostly known for his essays, and is considered one of the foremost essayists in the Slovene language, along with Ivan Cankar, Jože Javoršek and Drago Jančar, and as a great master of style.He was born in a working-class suborb...
and Igor Škamperle
Igor Škamperle
Igor Škamperle is a Slovenian sociologist, cultural theorist, novelist, essayist, mountaineer and translator.He was born in a Slovene-speaking family in Trieste, Italy. He studied comparative literature and cultural sociology at the University of Ljubljana, where he graduated in 1990...
.
Works
- Il mio Carso ("My Karst"). Firenze: Libreria della Voce, 1912
- I confini necessari all'Italia. Torino: L'Ora Presente, 1915.
- Ibsen (with an introduction by Arturo Farinelli). Turino: Bocca, 1917.
- Scritti letterari e critici ("Literary and Political Writings"), edited by Giani StuparichGiani StuparichGiani Stuparich was an Italian author.He was born in Trieste, then in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.In 1948 he won a gold medal in the art competitions of the Olympic Games for his "La Grotta" ....
. Rome: La Voce, 1920. - Scritti politici ("Political Writings"). Rome: A. Stock, 1925.
- Lettere ("Letters"), edited by Giani Stuparich. Turin: Buratti, 1930.
- Epistolario, edited by Gianni Stuparich. Verona: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1950.
- Appunti e note di diario, edited by Giani Stuparich. Milano: Arnoldo Mondadori Editore, 1953.
- Alle tre amiche : lettere, edited by Giani Stuparich. Verona: A. Mondadori, 1958.
- Le lettere a Maria, edited by Cesare Pagnini. Roma: G. Volpe, 1981.
- Passato ribele : dramma in un atto. Trieste: Edizioni Dedolibri, 1988.
Further reading
- Angelo Ara and Claudio MagrisClaudio MagrisClaudio Magris is an Italian scholar, translator and writer.Magris graduated from the University of Turin, where he studied German studies, and has been a professor of modern German literature at the University of Trieste since 1978.He is an essayist and columnist for the Italian newspaper...
, Trieste, un'identità di frontiera ("Trieste: A Borderland Identity"). Turin: Einaudi, 1982. - Katia Pizzi, A City in Search of an Author: the Literary Identity of Trieste. London: Sheffield Academic Press, 2001.