The awes and woes of modernity: Gozzano gazzettiere and the Great Exhibition of Turin 1911

This article discusses the prose pieces that Guido Gozzano wrote about the 1911 International Exposition in Turin. Against previous interpretations, I argue that, rather than constituting either an organic and carefully designed corpus or an assemblage of discreet and extemporary articles, Gozzano’s exposition narratives were, simultaneously, calculated and inconsistent, staged and contradictory. I demonstrate that these narratives should be seen as testimonials of Gozzano’s changing positions and multiple perspectives, as he experimented with different personas and plural interpretations in a moment of both commemorative celebration (the 50th anniversary of the Unification of Italy) and rapid epistemic change in the name of modernity, technology, and progress