ABSTRACT
The philosophy of history in both historical novels is, broadly speaking, consonant with that underlying the microhistorical approach to historical writing. Sebastiano Vassalli's aim in writing La chimera mirrors that of the microhistorian, for in both cases, the objective is to provide a history from the point of view of the loser in the historical process — the witch — in an effort to redress the age-old trend of history and to challenge the notion of'objectivity' in historical discourse. For Vassalli, the relationship with Manzoni is one made up not only of thematic manipulations and annexations, but of ideological, ethical and aesthetic confrontation. While Alessandro Manzoni's Lucia is portrayed primarily in spiritual, incorporeal and sexless terms, Vassalli portrays women as flesh and blood, sexual creatures. Language, for Vassalli, is the mother of reality and truth, for all realities or truths are constructed by narrative expression.
