A universal editor
Plus, a hacker attack and a Gucci biopic
Last week, on 28 July, the writer and publisher Roberto Calasso passed away in Milan. It was a sad day for humanists everywhere. Calasso was born into a family of Florentine aristocrats, and grew up in the company of some of the most respected intellectuals of the post-war era. During those years, surrounded by books, he became obsessed by myth and legend, and came to live and breathe ancient stories as naturally as air. His relaxed, unpretentious ability to cast new light on the classics would later prove a gift to the world. In the Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony (1988) he retold the Greek tales in a new, remarkable manner; delving deep into their hermetic depths and revealing their radical openness in an accessible but profoundly poetic voice. Later works, like Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India (1998), and The Celestial Hunter (2016), attempted a similar feat, far beyond the usual limits of the Western canon. As an editor, Calasso was loyal to Adelphi, and he helped make it one of the world’s great publishing houses. During his time there he endeavoured to introduce readers to under-appreciated authors, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe. The ongoing Italian fascination with Thomas Bernhard, Ingeborg Bachmann and Danilo Kiš among others, owes much to his legacy. Eva Barbarossa, the critic, is working her way through the entire Adelphi catalogue, and is making notes as she goes that are well-worth dipping into. If you haven’t read Calasso himself, though, you simply must. This short NYRB extract will, I’m sure, whet your appetite.
On the topic of titanic Italian intellectuals, this seems an opportune moment to bring up the somewhat irreverent and crass question that’s being banded around on bits of the internet: Has Giorgio Agamben totally lost it? Agamben, as you probably know, is one of the most celebrated living philosophers and has made important contributions to the fields of biopolitics (updating Foucault), the philosophy of language (Wittgenstein) and ‘poetic atheology’ among others. Since the pandemic, though, he has found himself in hot water. Last year, as governments introduced Covid-19 restrictions, he published a number of hyperbolic articles calling on the public to challenge what he predicted would be a permanent extension of the ‘state of emergency’ (as was the case during the rise of the Nazis). Now, I disagree with Agamben’s rhetoric here, and the argument. The problem is, though, that a good number of his critics have been just as superficial in their comments. Benjamin Bratton, for example, just published a blog over at Verso Books comparing Agamben to the right wing TV conspiracy theorist Alex Jones (!), which, leaving aside the rather cheap shot, is a ludicrous comparison. He’s far from alone. Yes, Agamben’s articles are a mis-step. It’s worth pointing out, though, that the author has repeatedly clarified he’s not against vaccines and masks and is simply drawing attention to issues surrounding the political paradigm that is determining how we, socially, relate to them. Personally, I remain unconvinced. But watching internet commenters pile on without even nominally engaging with the arguments is, to my mind, even more disturbing. There are exceptions. Timothy Morton, to take just one example, recently delivered a mesmerising and insightful lecture about the relaxing of lockdowns which is well-worth watching. It alone should lay waste to crass, anti-intellectual generalisations about “How Philosophy Failed the Pandemic.”
An odd bit of Covid-related news here. On Sunday the Italian region of Lazio’s IT systems were attacked by a computer virus which succeeded in disrupting the vaccination reservations portal for almost 72 hours. The regional governor Zingaretti claims this was a “terrorist attack”, though he has not named any suspects. His language, nevertheless, heavily implies that the ransomware was placed in the system by hostile agents; perhaps members of the anti-vaccine movement, or foreign agents looking to disturb the rollout. This is - to be clear - highly unlikely. Analysts have since demonstrated that the virus in question, was, in fact, a relatively commonplace “worm” which entered the systems via a state employee’s computer. The real concern, in other words, is not so much terrorism as to why and how such a simple bit of software was able to wreak such havoc in an apparently watertight government system. Security worries aside, the brief outage has, thankfully, had no obvious impact on the allocation of new doses. On the contrary, according to ilsole24ore Italy is currently ahead of schedule and, at the current rate of inoculation, should have vaccinated 80% of the population by the start of September.
Arts and culture: House of Gucci
In case you missed the memo on this one, I’ll start with a recap. Later this year, Ridley Scott, the director of Alien, Blade Runner, and other sci-fi masterpieces, is releasing a new feature about… the world of Italian high fashion. That’s right. House of Gucci, which has a cast including Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons and Mãdãlina Ghenea is out in November, and it promises to be, well, something. The first trailer was unveiled this week, and it has everything you’d imagine/hope/fear: immaculate costumes, gorgeous camera work, a trashy, overly melodramatic script, and some wobbly Italian accents. Obviously it’s far too soon to judge, but let’s just say it’s going to be near the top of my ‘to review’ list this coming winter.
The next link has been floating around for a while now - for years in fact - but I’ve only just been made aware of it. ‘Pictures from Italian profiles’ is a Facebook page which gathers together uncopyrighted images that private users registered in the country have posted to their accounts. It is, in essence, an art-anthropology project that’s made more interesting than you might expect thanks to the fun, and slightly devious curatorial approach. You’ll find families eating meals together, shots of old video games, nuggets of lost folklore and plenty of strange practical jokes. Minima & Moralia has published an interview with the page’s editor which you can read here [Italian only]. Otherwise I recommend just scrolling through for ten minutes, to get a snapshot of Italian life from the living rooms and terraces of the country’s small towns and suburbs.
Recipe of the week: Slow Cooked Courgettes with Mint, Chilli & Almonds
Here’s another one from Letitia Clark’s wonderful Sardinia book Bitter Honey. It’s a dish that will dispel any residual suspicion that the courgette – or zucchine – is a bland and uninteresting vegetable. Here Clark cooks them long and slow in lots of olive oil, with herbs, garlic, lemon, a little chili and some almond. It might not sound like much, and, it’s true, she does suggest this as a side dish to meat or poultry. Personally, though, I’m perfectly happy to eat a massive plate of these with some bread and a chunk of cheese as a mid-week lunch. A word of advice: this dish is even better served chilled, after a couple of days marinating in the fridge. If you’re interested, check out the recipe on her blog, for free, here.
That’s it for this week - as ever I do hope you enjoyed this instalment. If you haven’t already, please do follow the ‘Week in Italy’ Facebook page, or my twitter, for a few extra links and easy-access to the substack archive. If this email was forwarded to you, or you’re accessing on the web and would like to receive further updates, you can subscribe using this link below. Thanks!
About Me
My name is Jamie Mackay (@JacMackay) and I’m an author, editor and translator based in Florence. I’ve been writing about Italy for a decade for international media including The Guardian, The Economist, Frieze, and Art Review. I launched ‘The Week in Italy’ to share a more direct and regular overview of the debates and dilemmas, innovations and crises that sometimes pass under the radar of our overcrowded news feeds.
If you enjoyed this newsletter I hope down the line you’ll consider becoming a supporter for EUR 5.00 per month (the price of a weekly catch-up over an espresso). I’ll be launching a paid subscription option later this year, to help fund some more in-depth writing and some original graphics too. More on that, though, once the pandemic subsides. In the meantime, please do consider forwarding this to a friend or two. It’s a big help.