Ritornare a Tilgher: Bergsonian Themes and the Human Condition in the Notebooks of Serafino Gubbio, Cinematograph Operator

Since its apearance in 1922, Adriano Tilgher's critical assessment of Luigi Pirandello has been evaluated in a negative light, especially its categories of vita and forma, — which Tilgher borrowed from Pirandello himself, specifically from the short story La carriola — considered as nothing more than abstract philosophizing and ultimately held responsible for the drying up of Pirandello' inspirations. Vita and forma were generically reduced by the vast majority of Italian critics, especially those valuing Croce's idea of art as lyrical intuition, to the camouflaging Pirandello's characters were forced to adopt to fit into the social fabric, thereby losing their metaphysical charge. In fact, when properly interpreted in the light of Henri Bergson's vitalist philosophy, vita and forma prove to be key concepts in the restoration of Pirandello to the canon of the European avant-garde. After a survey of some of the comments made by Italian scholars on the role of Adriano Tilgher's criticism, the article attempts to recognize his importance as the first critic to provide an exhaustive interpretation of Pirandello's thought. Finally, the paper will try to explore the novel Notebooks of Serafino Gubbio, Cinematograph Operator as a fruitful application of such principles.