Abstract:
This essay examines the philosophical dimension of
Pirandello's idea of writing and the different literary genres
included in II fu Mattia Pascal (1904). The analysis begins with
Pirandello's representation of journalism in the moment in which
Mattia discovers his "death"; it continues with the bureaucratic
writing responsible for Mattia's social identity, and finally it
focuses on the tomb inscription that concludes the novel. What
role does Pirandello attribute to writing in the search for human
identity? How does writing relate to death as a fundamental
theme of II fu Mattia Pascal? What are the implications of
Pirandello's order of writing for the autobiographical dimension
of the novel?