Poetry And Philosophy: The Art Of Calvino's Novels

Calvino, an Italian writer, was a rare genius in the literary world of the twentieth century. During forty years of writing practice, he constantly tried to seek and create appropriate ways and forms to illustrate the spirit of modern man.In this paper, the author attempts to discuss the value of Calvino's works and their contribution to writing from the viewpoints of poetry and philosophy. The former viewpoint addresses the art form in Calvino's works. He devoted himself to continuous innovation and reform of art. He employed many techniques to enhance his narratives. The latter is directed at the philosophy hidden in his works. Although Calvino didn't label himself a philosopher, his works display deeper thinking.This paper is mainly composed of four chapters. Chapter1: The Spectacle of Narration. The 'labyrinth narration' and the 'time zero narration' are wonders of literary narration. They greatly impact on readers. Chapter 2: The Game of Text. The author probes the spirit of art implied in the 'game of text' from the viewpoints of narrative style, parody narration and metafiction narration. Chapter 3: Intellectual Fantasy. Calvino called many of his works fantasy novels. These works expose the writer's exquisite imagination. The fairy tale is the most powerful way to exhibit literary fantasy, which is featured by his free traveling between real world and his visionary world.Chapter 4: Calvino and the Writing of Post-modernism. Deeply rooted in postmodernism, Calvino strongly demonstrated his postmodernist style in writing. And uncertainty is one significant trait in Calvino's postmodernism-featured works.