Fontamara information

Fontamara
	First edition (in German), 1933, cover by Max Bill
Author	Ignazio Silone
Translator	Nettie Sutro
Country	Switzerland
Language	Italian
Series	Abruzzo Trilogy
Genre	Political novel, realist novel
Publisher	Oprecht & Hebling
Publication date	1933
Published in English	1934
Media type	Print
OCLC	854824087
Followed by	Bread and Wine

Fontamara ([fontaˈmaːra]) is a 1933 novel by the Italian author Ignazio Silone, written when he was a refugee from Fascist Italy in Switzerland.^[2] It is Silone's first novel and it is regarded as his most famous work. It received worldwide acclaim and sold more than a million and a half copies in twenty-seven languages.^[2] It was first published in German translation in Switzerland in 1933;^[3] English translation was published by Penguin Books in September 1934.^[4] In 1980, it was adapted by Carlo Lizzani into an eponimous film.^[5]^[6]

Appearing on the eve of the Spanish Civil War, and published just a few months after Adolf Hitler came to power, when the world was beginning to take sides for or against Fascism, the novel had a galvanising effect on public opinion.^[2] Fontamara became "the very symbol of resistance",^[7] and is "widely agreed to have played a major role as a document of anti-Fascist propaganda outside Italy in the late 1930s",^[8] as it criticises the immorality and deceit of the Fascist party and its followers.

Fontamara is a fictional village in Marsica in the Abruzzo region; its name is derived from the Italian Fonte Amara (Bitter Stream).^[9] The people (the Fontamaresi) are poor, and the village is so remote that they are unaware of major social upheavals such as the rise of Fascism. There is a tremendous gap between the cafoni (peasants) who populate Fontamara and those who live in the city. The Fontamaresi work the earth to survive, turn to emigration as a means of economic improvement and are isolated, ignorant of events happening outside of the region and untouched by modernity and new technology. The Impresario, in stark contrast to the Fontamaresi, who have laboured for centuries to little avail, has quickly become the richest man in the region and embodies the power, authority and immorality of the Fascists. The Fontamaresi are exploited due to their naïvety and ignorance, the women are raped by the Blackshirts, Berardo Viola makes the ultimate sacrifice to allow the continued distribution of clandestine texts that spread the word about socialism and encourage rebellion against Fascism, and at the end the majority of the population are killed at the hands of the Government.

As with many rural novels, Fontamara discusses the various seasons, and seasonal duties, such as the grape harvest in the vineyards.^[10] It is a choral novel that focuses on the lives and points of view of the peasants of Fontamara, deprived of hope yet persistent and determined. It depicts solidarity amongst the peasants and the inequality of wealth between the agricultural workers and the professional classes in the city.

^ "Fontamara". Retrieved 13 May 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c Stille, Alexander (2000). The Abruzzo trilogy : Fontamara, bread and wine, the seed beneath the snow (1st ed.). South Royalton, Vt.: Steerforth Italia. ISBN 978-1-58642-006-2.
^ Silone, Ignazio (1933). Fontamara. Roman. Zurich: Oprecht & Hebling.
^ Silone, Ignazio (1934). Fontamara. Penguin Books Ltd.
^ "Fontamara (1980)". Retrieved 12 May 2011.
^ Healey, Robin (1998). Twentieth-century Italian literature in English translation : an annotated bibliography, 1929 - 1997. Toronto [u.a.]: Univ. of Toronto Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-8020-0800-3.
^ Cite error: The named reference Beecham, Silone and Fontamara was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Hanne, Michael (1992). "Silone's Fontamara: Polyvalence and Power". MLN. 107 (1): 132–159. doi:10.2307/2904679. JSTOR 2904679.
^ "Fontamara". Centro Studi Ignazio Silone. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
^ "FONTAMARA - Riassunto, Personaggi". Retrieved 9 May 2011.

[1st_edition_Fontamara-1] "Fontamara". Retrieved 13 May 2011.

[Alexander_Stille_Foreword-2] Stille, Alexander (2000). The Abruzzo trilogy : Fontamara, bread and wine, the seed beneath the snow (1st ed.). South Royalton, Vt.: Steerforth Italia. ISBN 978-1-58642-006-2.

[Silone_1933-3] Silone, Ignazio (1933). Fontamara. Roman. Zurich: Oprecht & Hebling.

[1934_English_Edition-4] Silone, Ignazio (1934). Fontamara. Penguin Books Ltd.

[Filmscoop_Fontamara-5] "Fontamara (1980)". Retrieved 12 May 2011.

[Healey_Fontamara_film_ref.-6] Healey, Robin (1998). Twentieth-century Italian literature in English translation : an annotated bibliography, 1929 - 1997. Toronto [u.a.]: Univ. of Toronto Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-8020-0800-3.

[Beecham,_Silone_and_Fontamara-7] Cite error: The named reference Beecham, Silone and Fontamara was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Polyvalence_and_Power-8] Hanne, Michael (1992). "Silone's Fontamara: Polyvalence and Power". MLN. 107 (1): 132–159. doi:10.2307/2904679. JSTOR 2904679.

[Centro_Studi_Silone-9] "Fontamara". Centro Studi Ignazio Silone. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.

[Inftube-10] "FONTAMARA - Riassunto, Personaggi". Retrieved 9 May 2011.

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