La otra “Guerra Silenciosa”. El problema de la tierra y la explotación indígena en las novelas de Alberto Manzi

Abstract

Alberto Manzi (1924-1997) is a personality who, despite having passed away more than twenty years ago, is still alive in the memory of many Italians. He is commonly remembered as “the teacher of television” who, with his program Non è mai troppo tardi, helped to promote the education of the Italian population after the Second World War. However, there is a lesseknown side of Manzi, who was a profound expert on Latin America and author of several novels with a South American and Peruvian setting. Based on the reflections of Antonio Melis, who pointed out the evident influences and references to Peruvian authors such as Arguedas and, especially, Scorza, the article will focus on the theme of indigenous exploitation in three of Manzi's novels, E venne il sabato, La luna nelle baracche and El Loco, with particular attention to the theme of latifundism and the Agrarian Reform, begun more than fifty years ago with the government of General Velasco Alvarado, and will also analyze the coincidences between Manzi's work and Scorza's thought.