Gesualdo Bufalino
Gesualdo Bufalino was an influential Italian writer born in 1920 in Comiso, Sicily. He spent most of his life on the island, with notable interruptions during World War II when he joined the Italian partisans, faced capture, and later battled tuberculosis. After recovering, Bufalino became a humanities teacher and eventually a school principal before turning to literature full-time in 1976. His debut novel, "Diceria dell'untore," released in 1981, is a semiautobiographical work that reflects his experiences in a sanatorium and won the Campiello Prize, marking the start of his literary career. Bufalino's subsequent works, including "Argo il cieco" and "Le memzongne della notte," showcase his postmodern style and exploration of memory. He was known for his willingness to experiment with narrative forms, blending fiction with metafiction, and even venturing into genres like detective fiction. Bufalino's literary contributions also include translations and criticism, and he passed away in 1996 due to a car accident, leaving behind a legacy recognized for its depth and originality.
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Gesualdo Bufalino
Writer
- Born: November 15, 1920
- Birthplace: Comiso, Sicily, Italy
- Died: June 14, 1996
- Place of death: Vittoria, Sicily, Italy
Biography
Gesualdo Bufalino was born in Comiso, Sicily, Italy, in 1920. He lived and worked in Sicily for most of his life, leaving the island only during World War II and on some occasions later, when his literary fame forced him to travel. His father was a blacksmith and an enthusiastic lover of literature. Bufalino attended school in Ragusa and later attended the universities of Catania and Palermo.
In 1942, he joined the Italian partisans to fight the German forces in northern Italy. He was captured but managed to escape and spent some time in hiding, later returning to the front. During this time he contracted tuberculosis and was sent to a sanatorium in La Rocca, Sicily. In 1946, he was cured and returned to his studies, becoming a humanities teacher at a teacher training school in Vittoria, Sicily. Later, he became a principal at a school in Comiso. He retired from teaching in 1976, at which time his career as a novelist began.
While living in Vittoria, Bufalino wrote his first novel, Diceria dell’untore (1981; The Plague-Sower, 1988), a semiautobiographical account of his time in the sanatorium. With the help of Leonardo Sciascia, a Sicilian novelist with a deep interest in Sicilian literature, Bufalino found a publisher in 1981, and the book found an immediate readership, winning the prestigious Campiello Prize. Bufalino’s second novel, Argo il cieco: Ovvero, I sogni della memoria (1984; Blind Argus: Or, The Fables of the Memory, 1988), also draws on the author’s life. This novel intermixes its narrative with passages in which the author speaks directly in a series of metafictional comments about his life as a writer. This organizational mode, along with Bufalino’s recurring interest in the meaning of memory, established him as a postmodern writer.
Another novel, Le memzongne della notte (1988; Night’s Lies, 1990), won the Strega Prize, Italy’s most prestigious literary honor. Bufalino’s choice of subjects indicates the breadth of his interests and his willingness to experiment. In 1991, he published both a detective novel and a retelling of the Renaissance romance Il guerrin meschino (1473), with verse interludes recounting the sad state of the traditional Sicilian puppet theater, another testament to his fondness for postmodern modes. In addition to his novels, Bufalino also published translations and literary criticism. He died in a car accident in 1996.