Alberto Savinio's Alcesti di Samuele in the Aftermath of the Second World War

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Second World War, <i>Alcesti di Samuele</i> (Alcestis, Daughter of Samuel), by Italian writer, painter, set designer, and composer Alberto Savinio (1891–1952), voices the anxiety that surrounds the difficult process of postwar reconstruction. Savinio warns against the dangerous manifestations of nationalism that are ingrained in human nature, arguing that the only solution against future threats of totalitarianism is to take refuge in one's intellect, to maintain a critical detachment and resist propagandistic enticements. As Brecht had parodied the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party in <i>The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui</i>,¹ Savinio rationalizes past events through a deconstruction of the myth of the dictator as a supernatural being.