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Giosuè Carducci

ジョズエ・カルドゥッチ

Giosuè Carducci

Aliases: Giosue Carducci
Pen Names: Enotrio Romano（Pseudonym used for some polemical poems (e.g. the Giambi)）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1835-07-27 （Valdicastello di Pietrasanta, Grand Duchy of Tuscany）
Died
1907-02-16 （Bologna, Kingdom of Italy） age 71
Nationality
Italian
Languages
Italian, Latin (classical)
Religion
Atheist in youth; later leaned toward a socially oriented theism; some sources report reconciliation with Catholicism circa 1895
Residence History
Valdicastello (Pietrasanta), Tuscany → Florence → Bologna (university post and later life)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Literary critic, Academic (professor), Translator
Active Years
1850-1907
Affiliations
University of Bologna (Chair of Italian Eloquence), Galvani Lodge (Freemasonry, Bologna), Senate of the Kingdom of Italy (Senator)
Memberships
Freemasonry (Galvani Lodge), Senator of the Kingdom of Italy
Influenced By
Horace, Virgil, Homer, Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giacomo Leopardi, Heinrich Heine, Victor Hugo
Influenced
Giovanni Pascoli, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Younger generation of modern Italian poets

Education

Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
Degree: 博士号相当（教員資格取得）
Period: 1850年代中盤–1856頃
Year of Graduation: 1856
Country: Italy (then Grand Duchy of Tuscany)
Attended on scholarship; studied classics and Latin intensively.

Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature
1906
Work: Awarded for his lifetime poetic works (not a single work)
Organization: Swedish Academy
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Barbarian Odes (Odi barbare)

1877 Poetry collection

A major collection in which Carducci imitates classical stanza forms (Alcaic, Sapphic, etc.) in Italian, aiming for a deliberately 'barbaric' sound; combines classical form with modern national themes.

ClassicismNationalism / patriotismFormal experimentation
Translations
  • English translations (e.g. The Barbarian Odes, translated by William Fletcher Smith)

Rime

1857 Poetry collection

Early collection showing influences of classical and medieval Italian poetry.

Return to classical modelsYouthful lyricism

Rime e ritmi (Rhymes and Rhythms)

1899 Poetry collection

Late collection reflecting his mature poetic production; a culmination of long poetic work.

Mature lyricismReminiscence and classicism

Bibliography

  • Rime (1857)
  • Juvenilia (1871)
  • Primavere elleniche (1872)
  • Odi barbare (1877)
  • Giambi ed Epodi (1882)
  • Rime nuove (1887)
  • Rime e ritmi (1899)
  • Opere (collected works, Zanichelli edition, 1889–1909)

Adaptations

  • No prominent direct film adaptations; poems and quotations appear in Italian cultural references and monuments

Translations by Author

  • Translations of Heinrich Heine (German to Italian)
  • Translations of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German to Italian)

Translations of Works

  • Odi barbare — English translations (e.g. by William Fletcher Smith)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Technically adept revival of classical formsStyle valuing restraint and purity of sentimentAnti‑Romantic and anticlerical polemical prose
Recurring Motifs
Praise of the ancient world (Greece and Rome)Freedom and republican spiritPatriotism and historical memory

Health

  • Depression (in youth)
    1850年代（兄の自殺や父の死などの前後）
    Affected personal life and creativity but he continued to work
  • Stroke (1899)
    1899以降
    Caused paralysis of the hand and near loss of speech, hampering writing and lecturing

Legacy

Carducci is one of the leading Italian poets of the late 19th century; his revival of classical forms and establishment of a national poetry earned him the reputation of a 'national poet'. He became the first Italian Nobel laureate in Literature in 1906 and left a significant legacy as poet, critic and teacher.

Museums

  • Casa Carducci / Museum of the Risorgimento (Bologna) Bologna, Italy

Academic Societies

  • Italian literary study groups
  • Classical studies associations

Archives

  • Casa Carducci (holds Carducci's library and archival materials)

In Popular Culture

  • A crater on Mercury named 'Carducci'
  • Monuments and school names in Italy bear his name

Quotes

  • “…as a tribute to the creative energy, freshness of style, and lyrical force which characterize his poetic masterpieces.”
    Source: Swedish Academy (Nobel Prize citation) (1906)
  • “On thee I call, Satan, the King of the feast.”
    Source: Poem 'Inno a Satana' ('Hymn to Satan') (1865)

Trivia

  • He became the first Italian Nobel Prize laureate in Literature in 1906.
  • He is buried in the Certosa di Bologna cemetery.
  • A stroke in 1899 paralyzed his hand and nearly deprived him of speech.
  • In his youth he was an atheist and wrote anticlerical poetry that provoked controversy.