Literary and Linguistic Symbols of the Fatal Signs of Death in the Literature of Dino Buzzati

Abstract

In this paper we will try to identify the literary and linguistic symbols of the fatal signs of death, focusing on the concept of "happy death" as a key concept in the literature of Dino Buzzati. The literature of this author passes from the traditional writing to the narrative forms of magical realism, and unfolds an imagination which shows how the reality of this world cannot be separated from the mystery of our daily existence. Also, we will analyse if there is a connection between Buzzati’s literary vision and the metaphysical debate on the existence of God. These research questions, aim to highlight the fact that the most obvious novelty of Dino Buzzati's literature should be summarized in the assessment that all the echoes of Death in his works are described with humor and self-irony, ranging from jokes to punitive and apocalyptic sarcasm. Death is shrouded in the allegory of the "receiving the call"; sooner or later it knocks on the door of every human being. Buzzati's literature is precisely the attainment of such a dimension, where art becomes sublime, and it is very hard to define clear lines, between the human existence and what happens after it.