Abstract
Several critics have argued that Italo Svevo's Lo specifico del dottor Menghi follows some well-known science fiction works, which were published in Europe in the nineteenth and twentieth century.
This essay intends to discuss an unexplored influence of this literary genre on Svevo's short story, in particular the influence of Edward George Bulwer-Lytton's The Coming Race (1871), a work in which science fiction combines with utopian and esoteric ingredients.
In spite of the ideological and stylistic differences between the two works, a comparative study shows that The Coming Race and Lo specifico del dottor Menghi share two basic themes: the manipulation of the body by means of serums and fluids in order to prolong life, and the potential evil resulting from these pseudo-scientific experimentations. In fact, on the one hand, these substances seem to be elixirs of life, since they enhance mental and physical activities and weaken the emotional sphere; on the other hand, they can produce degenerative effects, as they paralyze feelings and actions and thus become fatal poisons, especially in the case of Menghi's specific.
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