Myth, Religion, Politics, and Literature in Giuseppe Levi’s Turin

In 1919, when Giuseppe Levi arrived in Turin, the city was the leading industrial and proletarian center in Italy. It was the city of Piero Gobetti and Antonio Gramsci, two of the prominent intellectuals of their epoch, both deeply involved in antifascism and influenced by Luigi Einaudi and Benedetto Croce. In Turin, Gobetti developed his revolutionary Liberalism, and Gramsci laid the groundwork for his critical Marxism. Here, Leone Ginzburg, a champion of antifascism, grew up and met Natalia, Levi’s youngest daughter. Leone died after being tortured by Nazi fascists. In Lessico famigliare, Natalia depicts Turin during the fascist period. In a nonapologetic dimension, the book upholds antifascism values, also through humor and critical glances. The themes of home and family are paralleled by the antithetic theme of the road, while speeches and words of the characters are caught in a performative net, as opposed to a stern and assertive stance.