(22 june 2018) The Italian Institute of Culture in Tokyo will host a conference on June 29th dedicated to Giacomo Leopardi titled “Pessimism and Infinity, The Reception of Leopardi in Japan”. “Leopardi (1798-1837) is commonly considered one of the most important poets and philosophers in Italian literature. In this conference, through the reading and commentary of some of his most significant poems, we will illustrate his pessimistic conception of the world” as stated on the website of the IIC. In 2006, among the many works of Leopardi, his most famous such as the “Canti” and the prose and dialogues of the “Operette morali” (Small Oral Works), were fully translated into Japanese. However, Japanese writers of the twentieth century had nevertheless been deeply influenced by English or German translations. In the interwar period he was widely popular as an “ensei” poet, in other words “pessimistic”. The theme of Leopardi’s image in Japan will also be addressed during the conference.
