Titles in search of a text: Approaching the titling of "Pseudobiblia"

Abstract

The essay delves into the mechanisms and functions of a specific category of titles, those assigned to non-existent works (pseudobiblia) or to texts that were only planned but never actualized. These titles exhibit a markedly different and more intricate functionality beyond mere reference. The examples under scrutiny span various eras and contexts, ranging from Doni to Leonardo Sciascia, from an Italian translation of a novel by Philip Dick to Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, all against the backdrop of Borges’s model.