In the Holocaust literature, the image of the chrysalis – and in general the metamorphosis from larva to butterfly – is a recurrent presence, often connected to the representation of the concentration camp experience as a passage through death. In "Life and Fate", the chrysalis appears only in the narrative core, which is devoted to a group of Jewish deportees (1st part, ch. 42-49; 2nd part, ch. 45-49), and particularly in the story of little David and Sofya Osipovna Levinton, who face several stages of deportation together, from the cattle wagon to the gas chamber. The function of the presence of animals is revealed to be ambivalent; on the one hand, it is related to the epiphany of death in the characters’ fate; on the other, it refers to the growth and self-consciousness they both experience. Although with different semantic values, the presence of images associated to the chrysalis also plays an important role in Primo Levi’s works, and can be framed within his poetries particularly focused on the zoological world: sometimes the reference to metamorphosis is represented in the form of the cycle of life in nature, as in the short story "Carbonio" (Carbon); in other texts, the metamorphosis failure becomes a manifestation of death, as in the poem "Cuore di legno" (Wooden Heart); in "Se questo è un uomo" (If This Is a Man) and "La Tregua" (The Truce), the larval stage is exploited by Levi to describe the dehumanizing nature of the Nazi death camps. Even when the chrysalis is employed to designate a process of change – as in the short story "Vanadio" (Vanadium) –, there is no idealization of such process, unlike in Grossman. In sum, the difference in the representation of the chrysalis can be attributed not only to the authors’ biographical and poetic peculiarities, but also to the diverse faces of Shoah they illustrate: on the one hand, in Life and Fate Grossman describes the Jewish deportation without showing what life was like in the death camps; on the other hand, Levi connects the chrysalis (or, more accurately, the larva) to the concentration experience and, in particular, the character of the “Muselman”.

Obraz kukolki v romane “Žizn’ i sud’ba” V. Grossmana i v poètike Primo Levi

BOSCHIERO, Manuel
2016-01-01

Abstract

In the Holocaust literature, the image of the chrysalis – and in general the metamorphosis from larva to butterfly – is a recurrent presence, often connected to the representation of the concentration camp experience as a passage through death. In "Life and Fate", the chrysalis appears only in the narrative core, which is devoted to a group of Jewish deportees (1st part, ch. 42-49; 2nd part, ch. 45-49), and particularly in the story of little David and Sofya Osipovna Levinton, who face several stages of deportation together, from the cattle wagon to the gas chamber. The function of the presence of animals is revealed to be ambivalent; on the one hand, it is related to the epiphany of death in the characters’ fate; on the other, it refers to the growth and self-consciousness they both experience. Although with different semantic values, the presence of images associated to the chrysalis also plays an important role in Primo Levi’s works, and can be framed within his poetries particularly focused on the zoological world: sometimes the reference to metamorphosis is represented in the form of the cycle of life in nature, as in the short story "Carbonio" (Carbon); in other texts, the metamorphosis failure becomes a manifestation of death, as in the poem "Cuore di legno" (Wooden Heart); in "Se questo è un uomo" (If This Is a Man) and "La Tregua" (The Truce), the larval stage is exploited by Levi to describe the dehumanizing nature of the Nazi death camps. Even when the chrysalis is employed to designate a process of change – as in the short story "Vanadio" (Vanadium) –, there is no idealization of such process, unlike in Grossman. In sum, the difference in the representation of the chrysalis can be attributed not only to the authors’ biographical and poetic peculiarities, but also to the diverse faces of Shoah they illustrate: on the one hand, in Life and Fate Grossman describes the Jewish deportation without showing what life was like in the death camps; on the other hand, Levi connects the chrysalis (or, more accurately, the larva) to the concentration experience and, in particular, the character of the “Muselman”.
2016
978-88-9335-095-2
Grossman, Primo Levi, Shoah, Vita e destino, crisalide, Жизнь и судьба, Холокост, Примо Леви, куколка
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11562/960361
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