La Ricerca della lingua nelle novelle del primo Capuana (1867/1889)

The aim of this research is to underline the language in Capuana’s early novels. The study is divided in two main parts dealing with a theoretical aspects and with an exhaustive linguistic analysis. In the first part an overview of Capuana as storyteller is given and the strong interest of the author in the Italian Linguistic Question is pointed out. The second part is focused on a detailed linguistic analysis of eighteen tales written by Capuana between the 1867 and 1889. This period is taken in consideration because it represents the most producing moment for Capuana as writer and literary reviewer .The analysis involves every linguistic level (graphology, phonology, morphology, syntax, lexicon) and it is carried out through a text rewriting process. According to this, making use of a comparative method is possible to highlight the variances between the different editions of the tales. The results showed that the Sicilian writer’s works are characterized by an uncertain writing that is typical in a transitional period marked out on a sense of literary confusion due to a lack of shared norms. In fact, a comparison allows to compare Capuana’s doubts and uncertainties to the ones of the late 19th century writers.