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In the critical literature on Georg Büchner this monograph represents the first organic work devoted to the subject of the body – a pivotal issue for an understanding of his writings. The book investigates the significance assumed by the human body in three spheres of analysis: the political, the erotic and the scientific-philosophical. In the latter area the analysis hinges on the relations between Büchner's work and the writings of the three principal French materialist philosophers of the eighteenth century: La Mettrie, d'Holbach and Helvétius. The appraisal of this relation illustrates not only Büchner's appropriation of the legacy of ideas of French materialism, but also moments in which he satirises, sarcastically criticises or outrightly rejects certain central aspects of this vision of man and nature. From this analysis and the study of the political significance of the body and the erotic aspect, it emerges that the body, understood as Leib – human body, lived and living, the hub of subjective perception and experience – not only has a crucial function in the figurative layout of the literary works, but is also the focal point of Büchner's view of man, thus assuming a central importance both in the three areas examined and in the more strictly aesthetic sphere. This book won the Premio Associazione Sigismondo Malatesta "Opera Critica" - Letteratura, Teatro e Arti dello spettacolo - Edizione 2009. - Nella letteratura critica su Georg Büchner questa monografia rappresenta il primo lavoro organico dedicato alla tematica del corpo – tematica centrale per la comprensione degli scritti büchneriani. Il volume indaga la valenza assunta dal corpo umano in tre ambiti di analisi: quello politico, quello erotico e quello scientifico-filosofico. In quest'ultimo ambito, l'analisi verte sul rapporto tra l'opera büchneriana e gli scritti dei tre principali filosofi materialisti del Settecento francese: La Mettrie, d'Holbach e Helvétius. L'indagine di tale rapporto evidenzia non solo momenti di appropriazione del patrimonio di idee del materialismo francese, da parte di Büchner, ma anche momenti di satira, critica sarcastica o aperto rifiuto di alcuni aspetti centrali di quella visione dell'uomo e della natura. Da tale analisi e dallo studio della valenza politica del corpo e della tematica erotica emerge come il corpo, inteso come Leib – corpo umano, vissuto e vivente, centro di percezione ed esperienza soggettiva – non abbia solo una funzione centrale nell'impianto figurativo delle opere letterarie, ma costituisca anche il punto focale dello sguardo büchneriano sull'uomo, assumendo così un'importanza centrale sia nei tre ambiti esaminati che in quello prettamente estetico. Questo volume ha vinto il Premio Associazione Sigismondo Malatesta "Opera Critica" - Letteratura, Teatro e Arti dello spettacolo - Edizione 2009.

In the critical literature on Georg Büchner this monograph represents the first organic work devoted to the subject of the body – a pivotal issue for an understanding of his writings. The book investigates the significance assumed by the human body in three spheres of analysis: the political, the erotic and the scientific-philosophical. In the latter area the analysis hinges on the relations between Büchner's work and the writings of the three principal French materialist philosophers of the eighteenth century: La Mettrie, d'Holbach and Helvétius. The appraisal of this relation illustrates not only Büchner's appropriation of the legacy of ideas of French materialism, but also moments in which he satirises, sarcastically criticises or outrightly rejects certain central aspects of this vision of man and nature. From this analysis and the study of the political significance of the body and the erotic aspect, it emerges that the body, understood as Leib – human body, lived and living, the hub of subjective perception and experience – not only has a crucial function in the figurative layout of the literary works, but is also the focal point of Büchner's view of man, thus assuming a central importance both in the three areas examined and in the more strictly aesthetic sphere. This book won the Premio Associazione Sigismondo Malatesta "Opera Critica" - Letteratura, Teatro e Arti dello spettacolo - Edizione 2009.