From ‘saltimbanco’ to ‘chierico’, a link between Modernism and Avant-Garde

The aim of the article is to investigate the relationship between the poetical and ideological figure of Aldo Palazzeschi and the critical work of Edoardo Sanguineti, to the extent of the essays and interventions dedicated by Sanguineti to the Florentine poet. We will analyze how this relationship, which is suspended between forcing, critical comprehension, and ideologically instrumental reuse, evolves through the years. We will see its traits, its methods, and its critical instruments, from Gramsci to the Italian anthropological school. In conclusion, the main purpose of the essay is to understand the reasons that led Sanguineti to ideologize Palazzeschi’s modernist nihilism and describe how this operation is emblematic about the difficult relationship between modernism and the avant-garde, in terms of historical and literary values.