Giorgio Bassani and the cinematographic imaginary: adaptations, appropriations, rewrites and reception

Abstract

This article deals with the Giorgio Bassani’s relationship with the cinema, distinguishing different moments of contact between the writer and this audiovisual medium. We will mention the filmic rewriting based on his works, with special emphasis on the film adaptation of Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini, as an emblematic reference of the ideological disagreement expressed by the author towards Vittorio De Sica’s film. Moreover, we will focus on some specific ideas of the author about the difference between literary and filmic writing, as well as the degree of fidelity of the rewriting process of literary adaptations. Because of that we will make an analysis of the author’s reproductive reception in Spain and in Argentina, relating to a series of recontextualizations that have increased the interest in Bassani’s work inside the Hispanic context.