Englisch Begriff oder Satz:The fullness of life ... is in fact ... the acknowledgement of an absence.
Dear Colleagues,
The following passages are taken from Italo Calvino's "Perch¨¦ leggere i classici". (pp. 157 - 158)
"In this story about military ethos written by the great author of open warfare, one has to admit that the great absentee is war itself ....
The fullness of life which is so much praised in Tolstoy by experts on the author is in fact-- in this tale as much as in the rest of his oeuvre-- the acknowledgement of an absence. As in the most abstract of narrators, what counts in Tolstoy is what is not visible, not articulated, what could exist but does not."
Would anyone help me finding out the original in Italian and give me a short explanation about "the fullness of life" and "the acknowledgement of an absence"?
Wenjer Leuschel: 22:52 Sep 24, 2005: Many thanks to both of you, Vittorio and Fortiter. But I still don't understand what Calvino wanted to say with "questa pienezza di vita" and "la constatazione di un'assenza". Vittorio's interpretation says, "An intense life is in fact the knowledge of an empty one."
My questions would be:
1. Do the commentators praise of Tolstoj's intense life or of "the fullness of life" in Tolstoj's works?
2. Is the phrase "la constatazione di un'assenza" a commonly used phrase in Italian and does it mean "the assertainment of absence" in the sense of "the certainty of a void"?
I would appreciate your further explication very much, if you please. Vittorio Preite: 08:41 Sep 25, 2005: Not an empty one, but of something missing (> un assenza). >Un vuoto: a missing person, a missed life goal. Example: someone buries himself/herself in an intense activity/life to forget some earlier disappointment. -
Erklärung: As you can see below, my "translation" is the original text by Calvino quoted in a literature article, that is what you were looking for. Vittorio's interpretation is just an attempt of his.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 11 hrs 7 mins (2005-09-25 05:56:48 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
A. "Constatazione di un'assenza" is not a phrase I use every day at my grocer's... However it's not so "unique" or odd, especially in a literary/philosophical/psychological/bureaucratic milieu:
- "L'ipotesti di questo convegno nasce dalla constatazione di un'assenza ormai annosa
della riflessione semiotica dall'oggetto "moda"" (www.arthist.lu.se/kultsem/ AIS/sem-rep/rep_conf/93-07-12-IT.html)
- "Affermo questo in seguito alla constatazione di un'assenza totale delle istituzioni
italiane presso forum europei" (www.studiocelentano.it/editorial/031199.htm)
- "Dopo la morte e la sepoltura di Gesù la prima esperienza che le donne ei discepoli
fanno la constatazione di un’assenza: la tomba è aperta, vuota" (www.jomix.org/vangelo.asp?id=69).
B. "Constatazione di un'assenza" underlines more a process (better "assertainment" versus "certainty"/consapevolezza I think) and secondly underlines the objectivity of the fact (in this case the absence/void), while in "certainty"/consapevolezza something personal or mental ("awareness"...) seems to be more involved. I can have a consapevolezza di un vuoto but actually I'm surrounded by many people and I just believe to be alone. If I faccio la constatazione di un vuoto I'm not surrounded by others: I'm really alone, indeed.......
C. Calvino goes on:"...poiché ciò che conta in Tolstoj è ciò che non si vede, ciò che non è detto, ciò che potrebbe esserci e non c’è”. ....
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 11 hrs 12 mins (2005-09-25 06:01:24 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
There are some mistakes in my quotations:
- "L'ipotesi..." (not "L'ipotesti")
- "... le donne e i discepoli fanno e' la constatazione di....."
I'm sorry.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 18 hrs 0 min (2005-09-25 12:49:32 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
What can one understand? The meaning of the sentence is that man reaches the fullness, the best and highest level, the acme of life when he is able to become aware - or rather when he can acknowledge - the "absence". Not an absence whatsoever. But the absence in general. Or, if you prefer, your need for something more, something other and indefinite that man's heart always searches for. Exactly as Vittorio wrote, "something always missing"......
Many thanks to both Vittorio and Fortiter!
Vittorio's explanation is also very helpful. Paola's opinion is noted. Special thanks to Vittorio and the other contributors. It's pitty that I cannot split the points among you. 4 KudoZ-Punkte wurden für diese Antwort vergeben
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the fullness of life ... is in fact ... the acknowledgement of an absence.
Ma questa pienezza di vita tanto lodata dai commentatori di Tolstoj è la constatazione di un'assenza
Erklärung: As you can see below, my "translation" is the original text by Calvino quoted in a literature article, that is what you were looking for. Vittorio's interpretation is just an attempt of his.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 11 hrs 7 mins (2005-09-25 05:56:48 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
A. "Constatazione di un'assenza" is not a phrase I use every day at my grocer's... However it's not so "unique" or odd, especially in a literary/philosophical/psychological/bureaucratic milieu:
- "L'ipotesti di questo convegno nasce dalla constatazione di un'assenza ormai annosa
della riflessione semiotica dall'oggetto "moda"" (www.arthist.lu.se/kultsem/ AIS/sem-rep/rep_conf/93-07-12-IT.html)
- "Affermo questo in seguito alla constatazione di un'assenza totale delle istituzioni
italiane presso forum europei" (www.studiocelentano.it/editorial/031199.htm)
- "Dopo la morte e la sepoltura di Gesù la prima esperienza che le donne ei discepoli
fanno la constatazione di un’assenza: la tomba è aperta, vuota" (www.jomix.org/vangelo.asp?id=69).
B. "Constatazione di un'assenza" underlines more a process (better "assertainment" versus "certainty"/consapevolezza I think) and secondly underlines the objectivity of the fact (in this case the absence/void), while in "certainty"/consapevolezza something personal or mental ("awareness"...) seems to be more involved. I can have a consapevolezza di un vuoto but actually I'm surrounded by many people and I just believe to be alone. If I faccio la constatazione di un vuoto I'm not surrounded by others: I'm really alone, indeed.......
C. Calvino goes on:"...poiché ciò che conta in Tolstoj è ciò che non si vede, ciò che non è detto, ciò che potrebbe esserci e non c’è”. ....
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 11 hrs 12 mins (2005-09-25 06:01:24 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
There are some mistakes in my quotations:
- "L'ipotesi..." (not "L'ipotesti")
- "... le donne e i discepoli fanno e' la constatazione di....."
I'm sorry.
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 18 hrs 0 min (2005-09-25 12:49:32 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
What can one understand? The meaning of the sentence is that man reaches the fullness, the best and highest level, the acme of life when he is able to become aware - or rather when he can acknowledge - the "absence". Not an absence whatsoever. But the absence in general. Or, if you prefer, your need for something more, something other and indefinite that man's heart always searches for. Exactly as Vittorio wrote, "something always missing"......
Many thanks to both Vittorio and Fortiter!
Vittorio's explanation is also very helpful. Paola's opinion is noted. Special thanks to Vittorio and the other contributors. It's pitty that I cannot split the points among you.
The translation workplace 
Zustimmung (Netto): +1
