The Moral Realism of Beppe Fenoglio's Appunti Partigiani

Abstract

Abstract: This essay conducts a reappraisal of Beppe Fenoglio’s Appunti partigiani, a work which has been unjustly neglected. It discusses the relationship of the Appunti to neorealist memorialistica and to Fenoglio’s later fiction such as Il partigiano Johnny, in terms of attitudes to the Resistance, literary technique, and the aesthetic of remaining true to experience without embellishment. The essay demonstrates how Appunti partigiani raises profound moral questions in its depiction of civil war, for example in the story of the execution of a spy, yet without necessarily condemning the Resistance itself. Finally, the essay examines the role of the narrator/protagonist “Beppe” in creating an intimate rapport with the reader, so that we trust him as someone with moral integrity and live through the experience of being a partisan with him. In conclusion, the essay argues that Appunti partigiani offers one of the most revealing accounts of the Resistance.