The animal as a creative variant in Leonardo Da Jandra's literary project

Abstract

The literary work of Leonardo Da Jandra's is closely related to his philosophical view and his notion of utopia. This notion consists basically of two things: the evasion of any form of social and state oppression and the ability to be selfsufficient without relying on any sort of modern technology. His philosophical view is an amalgam of romantic ideals, mystic practices and Socratic maieutics. His literary work dramatizes the hero's intent to leave behind an unfulfilled life in order to achieve Da Jandra's philosophical and utopian ideal. Thus, the circle achieves its full closure; until the moment when the animal's voice intervenes. This narrative voice, present for the first time in Zoomorfias, is the first and only crack in the system. This crack comes from a cowardly, subservient and submissive animal, who in spite of all his defects, becomes the leader of his group and succeeds in gaining the reader's empathy.