I nomi «sono pietre». Note di onomastica leviana

Abstract

In his introduction to the small volume by Santo Calì Le strade aspettano un nome, Carlo Levi stated very clearly the importance he attached to the process of naming, applied to both literature and reality. Pivotal to all subsequent reflections he made on the subject, Levi’s introduction deserves consideration as a theoretical and factual manifesto on the treatment of names. It also provides interpretive guidelines (and further meanings) to the onomastic choices he made elsewhere in his works, particularly in Cristo si è fermato a Eboli.