Carlo Porta

Stefan Pedatella (Barnard College)

Ed. by Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.1: Italian Writing and Culture, 453-present.
Vol. editors: Carla Bregman (Independent Scholar - North America), Jo Ann Cavallo (Columbia University)

Dates

Born 15 Jun 1775
Died 5 Jan 1821
Activity 1793-1821

Places

Born in Italy
Active in Italy

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Porta's Works

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There is no figure more important in the development of modern Italian dialectical poetry than Carlo Porta. Coming of age in the era of emerging social and political liberalism inaugurated by the French Revolution, Porta, in his comic satires of Milanese life, consistently undermines traditional sources of authority, not only by exposing the failings of those in political, religious, or economic power, but also by simply giving voice to a segment of lower-class society that had been hitherto almost totally ignored by lyric poetry in the Italian tradition. Very aware of the experimental – radical, even – nature of his poetic project, Porta, in a letter to his son (which serves as both an apologia of and a preface to his collected poetry), compares his work to a sharpened knife – a…

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1861 words

Citation: Pedatella, Stefan. "Carlo Porta". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 March 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12675, accessed 25 November 2024.]