Astonishment and prophecy in Primo Levi's poetry

Abstract

The Italian and Holocaust survivor Primo Levi is considered the greatest exponent of post-war testimonial prose. His poetic work, however, seems to be located at the vertex of this: characterizing a priori as more sporadic and less known. This article aims, therefore, to think about his place in the timeline and in the framework of his literary productions. The research also addresses the main aspects of Levi’s poetry, both in terms of form and content. In order to do so, we analyze, in general terms, the lines of force that build his identity as a writer of texts in verse, through two themes that potentially spread through his poems - the astonishment and the prophecy (whose relationship with the experience of the Lager is given). From this thematic pair, other associated topics are unfolded, which will also be contemplated through a critical and interpretive reflection, still making a path of search for the unconscious of the texts.