DUTCH LITERATURE 20g 



Neapolitan people, sometimes wild, noisy and scapigliato, but often melancholy in its 

 love songs. Another Neapolitan, Salvatori Di Giacomo, after a long silence, is beginning 

 to write once more, and his poetry often contains high lyrical qualities. 



Political movements in Italy have usually had literary beginnings, and Italian 

 Nationalism, which arose as a reaction against the predominance of socialism and 

 internationalist anti-patriotic ideas and proclaimed the necessity of a greater faith in 

 Italy and of a more virile policy, has as its advocates a number of brilliant and enthusi- 

 astic young writers. The most remarkable of them is undoubtedly Enrico Corradini, 

 the precursor and apostle of the movement; his two novels La patria lontana and La 

 guerra lontana, although not without artistic faults, are vigorous, effective and sound, 

 and inspired by lofty patriotism. His more recent books on the campaign in Tripoli 

 are also remarkable. Such writers as " Giulio De Franzi " (Luigi Federzoni), Goffred 

 Bellonci, Maurizio Maraviglia, also play an active part in the movement. 



Of the other more purely literary and artistic movements none seem likely to make 

 their mark on contemporary 'thought. The " Futurists," of whom F. T. Marinetti is 

 the chief exponent, while professing to create a new literature, a new art and new music, 

 are hardly to be taken seriously, while the same may be said of the shrieking and some- 

 what bumptious group of writers who centre around Giovanni Prezzolini and his 

 organ La wee, and wish to reform the world by substituting invective for argument. 



Journalism continues to make great strides; the modern sensational style, with 

 " scare " headings, etc. has been generally adopted, but the papers are larger, fuller of 

 news and better written than before, and have an ever increasing circulation. Many of 

 the most eminent authors, university professors, scientists and statesmen contribute to 

 their columns. Among the best Italian journalists Luigi Barzini of the Milan Corriere 

 della sera occupies a high place, and his vivid articles and telegrams from many lands 

 where wars, revolutions and. other exciting events occur, will always be read with in- 

 terest. " Rastignac " (Vincenzo Morella) of the Rome Tribuna is one of the best known 

 leader writers, and Enrico Scarfoglio, proprietor of the Naples Mattino, is also a very 

 clever journalist. Giuseppe Bevione, for some years London correspondent of the 

 Turin Stampa, is one of the most serious of the younger newspaper men. Plenty of 

 literary talent gathers round the Rome Giornale d' Italia, to which the above-mentioned 

 Nationalist writers contribute, as well as Diego Angeli, the art critic, translator of 

 Shakespeare, novelist, and satirist of society's shortcomings, whose witty and slightly 

 malicious articles delight the readers of the same paper. Another writer de omnibus 

 rebus el de quibusdam aliis is Ugo Ojetti. 



Little has appeared worthy of note on the Italian stage. The one real success of the 

 last few years is Sem Benelli's brilliant historical tragi-comedy La Cena delle be_ffe. 

 D'Annunzio has written two new plays Fedra, an attempted revival of the classical 

 drama, and // Martirio di San Sebastiano, originally written and produced in French; but 

 although both contain many beautiful passages they are lacking, like the author's other 

 tragedies, in dramatic quality. The most characteristic productions of the modern 

 Italian stage are the dialect plays, which are associated with the various dialect com- 

 panies touring about the country. (Luici VILLARI.) 



DUTCH LITERATURE 1 



The stagnation, if not decline, of Dutch literature after the flourishing period of 

 1880-1890 must for a great part be ascribed to the fact that criticism came too strongly 

 to the fore, and the discussion of literary method and ideals took the place of original 

 production. Moreover, naturalism, introduced into Holland through Zola's powerful 

 influence, had triumphed too much, and when the reaction came no definite path lay 

 clear. In this way there came a certain anarchy in feeling and in thinking, and only in 

 the last few years has imagination begun to occupy a prominent place in Dutch litera- 

 ture. The discord between what used to be congenial minds was made apparent by the 

 constant appearance of new periodicals. So by the side of the Nicuwe Gids, the Twce- 



VSee E. B. viii, 719 et seq. 



