Leopardi, Gramsci e il "caso italiano"

The papers offers a parallel between Giacomo Leopardi's and Antonio Gramsci's ideas on the history of Italian language, against the background of Italy's sociocultural conditions, respectively, at the beginnings of the 19th century and in the early 20th century. A crucial point on which both authors insist is the lack of linguistic as well as cultural cohesion of the country. This circumstance has heavy consequences on the function of the intellectual groups, weakening not only the role of public communication, but also the effectiveness of journals, theaters and of private "conversation" of upper class' salons. It is suggested that an intriguing analogy exists between Leopardi's criticial analysis of "the present state of Italians' customs" and the "nexus of problems" on which Gramsci elaborated his concept of "hegemony".