La Produzione giornalistica di Luciano Bianciardi e di Anthony Burgess: motivi, occasioni, stile

One is a cosmopolite, conservative English man who firmly believed in thears gratia artis(art for art’s sake) motto and always had a conflicting relationship with his catholic faith. The other is an Italian anarchist intellectual sympathising with the Communist Party who could apply the concept of “engagement” to realms other than his work. On Sundays he preferred going to watch a football match rather than going to church.Hence, Luciano Bianciardi (Grosseto, 1922 – Milan, 1971) and Anthony Burgess (Manchester, 1917 – London, 1993) may apparently have very little in common, except from the fact that they both were writers, essayists and the authors of hundreds of newspaper and journal articles.However, if one concentrates particularly on their articles, and bears in mind the profound differences of their opinions, it is easy to find some common ground. In the 1970’s, they both started considering the relevance of television as the new mass-communication device that invaded many household. They both condemned the pervasive hegemony of the American culture and society over the Western European countries. They both rejected any sort of censorship, were interested in music, and had a special relationship with Italy (more obvious for Bianciardi, very strong for Burgess).Despite apparently enormous differences, through their newspaper and journal articles, Luciano Bianciardi and Anthony Burgess show two surprisingly similar intellectual paths.