Authorial Echoes
Textuality and Self-Plagiarism in the Narrative of Luigi Pirandello

Catherine O’Rawe

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Luigi Pirandello
(1867-1936)
Italian playwright

Legenda: Oxford, 2005
£42.00 ($69.00 US)  Paperback  200pp
ISBN: 1-904713-03-3

Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) is best known for his experimental plays, but his narrative works have not enjoyed the same degree of critical attention. O’Rawe’s study is the first major reassessment of this output, including the ‘realist’ novels, the historical novel I vecchi e i giovani (1909) and the autobiographical Suo marito (1911). The book identifies in Pirandello a practice of ‘self-plagiarism’ — constant rewriting and revision and obsessive re-use of material — and explores the relation of these overlooked modes of composition to the author’s own theories of authorship and textuality. Drawing on a wide range of critical theory, O’Rawe repositions Pirandello as a major figure in the development of European narrative modernism.

Catherine O’Rawe is a Lecturer in Italian at the University of Leeds.

Reviews:

  • ‘A short review cannot do justice to this arresting critical work. A combination of bold ideas with a meticulous attention to detail and a broad theoretical foundation characterizes O’Rawe’s critical approach. Insights are always well substantiated with abundant evidence... Both a major contribution to Pirandello scholarship and a seminal challenge to narrative criticism.’ — Jennifer Lorch, Modern Language Review 103.4, October 2008, 1140-41

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