Paolo Quazzolo: Trieste e il caso Ibsen

Published by Marsilio in 2020 and equipped with a preface by Franco Perrelli, Trieste e il caso Ibsen. Polemiche e dibattiti tra Otto e Novecento (Trieste and the Ibsen case. Controversies and Debates at the Turn of the Twentieth Century) is a recent work by Paolo Quazzolo, Associate Professor of Drama Studies at the University of Trieste and author of many publications on theatre, both from a historical and critical point of view, as well as monographs on specific playwrights. This is his first book on Ibsen. In this work on Ibsen in Trieste the historical and critical approaches previously employed by Quazzolo seem to merge, enhancing each other to create new perspectives. Here the author reconstructs the first reception of Ibsen in Italy focussing on the encounter between the Norwegian playwright and the city of Trieste at the turn of the twentieth century, and recognises in this encounter some unique elements, charged with promises of mutual enrichment: on the one hand the reception of Ibsen in Trieste – once some initial scepticism was overcome – set the tone for the national reception of the playwright; on the other, the entrance of his dramas both on the stages and in cultural debates in Trieste during those years contributed to reconceptualizing the identity of a city which, in that moment, was defining its role and position in the cultural landscape of Italy. One of the most interesting aspects of this book is the narrowing of its focus to a very specific geographic area, which allows