ABSTRACT
The angry disillusionment with the fascist regime, following Mussolini's decision to support General Franco's insurrectionist army against the Spanish Republican government, marked a sharp turning point in Elio Vittorini's life. Vittorini's increasing involvement in the publishing world was also one of the reasons behind his decision to move to Milan. Up until the late 1930s Vittorini's 'left-wing fascism' was based around the principles of corporativism, which, although radical, were well represented and respected within fascist political circles. Fascism earns its living day after day, in the jungle of contradictions of the old world. Between 1933 and 1941, Vittorini translated fifteen novels, seven collections of short stories and one travel book, by either English or American authors. The most concrete homage that Vittorini made to North American literature is undoubtedly the long anthology Americana, published by Bompiani under unusual circumstances in 1942.
