This study intends to offer a literary itinerary through those works by Anatole France, which make use of Antiquity to provoke estrangement feelings. The focus is set in particular on those texts, linked to the 19th century theme of "gods in exile" or "revenant gods", which find a crucial antecedent in Heine's works. One of the recurring issues in my interpretation concerns Anatole France's ambivalent attitude towards Christianity, object, at the same time, of harsh criticism and nostalgia).
The author
Diego Pellizzari, who holds a master's degree in classical literature as a Norman of Pisa and a doctor of comparative literature, arrived in Paris in May 2015 after receiving a Fernand Braudel scholarship from the FMSH. Currently a postdoctoral fellow at the OBVIL (Paris-Sorbonne University), he is responsible for the reception of the classical myth in the 19th century. He devoted articles to the Greek tragedy and its modern reception. His thesis L'esilio e il ritorno degli dèi pagani nei racconti dell'Ottocento will appear in the collection of the Associazione Sigismondo Malatesta (Opera Critica 2015).
The text
Diego Pellizzari, Estrangements païens et nostalgies chrétiennes : Anatole France et les dieux en exil, FMSHWP-2017-131, juin 2017.
