Religion Reconsidered: The Gospel according to the Italian 20th Century

This dissertation centers around the representation of Jesus in twentieth-century Italian literature and cinema. In Italy, these rewritings have often been produced during moments of socio-political transition, many times by artists who are not religiously observant. My dissertation examines the ways in which five Italian artists (Papini, Pasolini, De André, Rossellini and Berto) engaged with the rewriting of the gospel, each in their own intellectual context and with specific political goals. In my dissertation, through a close reading of these new representations of Jesus, I seek to bring to the forefront the complex reasons why those Italian authors decided to rewrite the canonical gospels into their own gospel. These rewritings transform and mold the canonical gospels into new ones through the use of different media, such as novels, films, or music, but also through the use of different scenarios, characters, and episodes. This thesis investigates this process of rewriting, to find out the needs of these artists to re-write the gospels and thus create their own gospel. Consequently, my doctoral dissertation seeks to analyze Jesus as a narrative character, by investigating those artistic works that focus on the Jesus of the gospels. These works include two novels, two movies, and one concept album, by such foremost authors and artists as Giovanni Papini and Giuseppe Berto, film directors Pier Paolo Pasolini and Roberto Rossellini, and songwriter Fabrizio De André.Doctor of Philosoph