ABSTRACT
Since any outline of the Italian cultural scene in the 1920s would inexorably touch upon the antagonism between Strapaese and Stracitta a brief discussion of these two opposing movements will aid our understanding of the climate within which Elio Vittorini made his debut. Whether this Italian 'type' existed or not is another matter; however, it is significant that many of the portraits of such a character published at the time made use of the burlesque genre, that is, refrained from a realistic approach to the topic. From a stylistic point of view, the choice of the burlesque genre coupled with the use of an archaic toscaneggiante prose style constituted a rather fashionable choice in Italian literary circles at the time. Vittorini adds to it selvaggio ingredients such as a vulgar, plebeian vocabulary and a politically charged allegory. Vittorini seemed so intent to emulate, if not surpass, Malaparte's style, that the final result is an over-vulgar and over-histrionic piece of literature.
