La letteratura controrivoluzionaria italiana (1789-1799)

Abstract

- Italian counter-revolutionary literature (1789-1799) analyzes Luciano Guerci's recent book (A spectacle never seen again in the world. The French Revolution as a unique, upside down event, for Italian counter-revolutionary writers 1789-1799, Turin, 2008). This is the first analytical study of the major texts, which display common elements. The Revolution is seen by these Italian writers as a unique historical phenomenon and interpreted as a complete overthrow of ancien régime society and Christian religion. The protagonists, whose articles appeared in the «Ecclesiastical Journal of Rome» are, among others, ex-Jesuits, still influential in the Curia, for whom the Revolution was begotten by the "heretical" culturer of the previous centuries, from the Protestant reform to jansenism, the Enlightenment and freemasonry. This original contribution adds to what has become a new field of studies on the Counter-revolution in Italy, France and elsewhere in Europe.Keywords: Counter-revolution, Italy 1796-1799, Jansenism, Jesuits.Parole chiave: Controrivoluzione, Italia 1789-1799, giansenismo, gesuiti.