"Il grande enigma del vero": Photographic and literary realisms in late nineteenth-century Italy

Abstract

Critical debate over the role of photography within verismo has centred on the relationship of photographic realism to specific varieties of literary realism, as well as on whether photography was simply a tool or a hobby for veristi. An investigation into the shared interest which Giovanni Verga, Luigi Capuana and Federico De Roberto had in photography can provide insights into their contrasting and evolving understandings of realism. Rather than dissolving the "enigma del vero" photography becomes one of the means through which its multiplicity becomes ever more evident.