Letteratura,riviste culturali,tutela del paesaggio: Elena Croce e Riccardo Bacchelli attraverso l’inedito carteggio

Abstract

This essay reconstructs the literary partnership between Elena Croce and Riccardo Bacchelli on the basis of ten unpublished letters by the latter, edited in the appendix from the original autographs. Through an analysis of Bacchelli's relationship with Benedetto Croce, these letters allow us to trace important decades of literary production from the 1940s to the 1960s, during which Bacchelli was invited by Croce to collaborate with cultural magazines she founded and directed, such as Aretusa, Botteghe Oscure, and Lo Spettatore Italiano. In their pages, the writer published rare philosophical short stories and civil poems, some of which have largely escaped critical attention, and can now be more fully understood in terms of content and editorial process. Elena Croce and Lo Spettatore played a decisive role in the critical reception of Bacchelli's works, as well as in their dissemination abroad, and the collaboration proved valuable in promoting the talent of emerging writers and critics. Finally, the documents shed light on the differing reflections of Croce and Bacchelli on the Italian landscape, both on a literary level and in terms of their commitment to its preservation through the association Italia Nostra.