The adventures of the "Lunario"

Abstract

Gianni Celati usually presents himself as an adventure writer. In the novel Lunario del paradiso and even more in its rewritings the term "adventure" ("avventura") and its narrative tropes are particularly present. With this as starting evidence, the article analyses the structure of the text, in tension between two polar opposites: reality (which the '77 protest movement wanted to change, looking at Alice as an adventure heroine) vs literature (including adventure fiction, the main tool with which to transform that very reality). The novel's protagonist as well as its author are caught between these two poles. But any action on reality turns out to be a failure: it's a utopia. Here is the contradiction of Celati as a writer. But, once the "revolts" are over, Celati will find again in adventure and its authors the way to get in touch with the world and the others.