Overview

Originally published in Italian in 1965, A Test of Powers was immediately seen as one of the central texts of Italian intellectual life. By the time of the 1968 student revolts, it was clear that Franco Fortini had anticipated many of the themes and concerns of the New Left, which is no surprise, given that Fortini had spent more than two decades immersed in fierce ideological debates over anti-Fascism, organizing, the alliance between progressivism and literature, and other topics that found their way into A Test of Powers. In addition to politically focused essays, the book also features essays on a range of writers who influenced Fortini, including Kafka, Pasternak, Eric Auerbach, Proust, and Brecht.

Full Product Details

Author:   Franco Fortini ,  Alberto Toscano
Publisher:   Seagull Books London Ltd
Imprint:   Seagull Books London Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 4.30cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9781803095950

ISBN 10:   1803095954
Pages:   468
Publication Date:   01 August 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  General/trade ,  Professional & Vocational ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Awaiting stock  

Table of Contents

Translator’s Introduction: The Labour of Division Translator’s Acknowledgements Preface to the First Edition (1965) Preface to the Second Edition (1969) PART I: The Literary Institution I. Eroticism and Literature II. A Test of Powers III. Clarifications IV. Cunning as Doves V. Literary Institutions and the Progress of the Regime VI. Two Avant-gardes VII. Avant-garde and Mediation VIII. Written and Spoken PART II: The Condition of the Guest I. Radek’s Hands II. The Writers’ Mandate and the End of Anti-Fascism III. In Defence of the Idiot PART III: Of Some Critics I. Reading Spitzer II. Mimesis III. Deus Absconditus IV. Lukács in Italy V. The Young Lukács VI. The Passage of Joy PART IV: For Some Books I. For Herzen II. Rereading Pasternak III. Notes on Proust IV. Tolstoy, the Master and the Man V. Kafka’s Men and the Criticism of Things VI. Two Returns VII. Brecht or the Talking Horse VIII. The Chinese Spectre

Reviews

“An elegant and provocative project—the first book of Fortini’s prose to appear in English translation—that challenges one’s political assumptions about the conflict between Israel and Palestine, not only at the time of the Six-Day War but also today . . . Toscano has done a masterful job of rendering Fortini’s often difficult prose into a fluid and concise English.” -- Praise for “The Dogs of the Sinai” * Los Angeles Review of Books * “Forensic and devastating.” -- Praise for “The Dogs of the Sinai” * Times Literary Supplement * “Fortini’s poetic production, literary criticism, political writings, translations, and journalism have assured him a position of the first rank among intellectuals of the Italian postwar period.” -- Praise for “The Dogs of the Sinai” * Italica *

Author Information

Franco Fortini (1917–94) was a poet, essayist, literary critic, Marxist intellectual, and translator of Brecht, Goethe, and Kafka, among others. He is the author of The Dogs of Sinai, also published by Seagull Books. Alberto Toscano teaches at the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. He is the author of Fanaticism and Late Fascism and coeditor of The SAGE Handbook of Marxism.

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