Pier Vittorio Tondelli

Infobox Writer
name = Pier Vittorio Tondelli


caption =
pseudonym =
birthdate = birth date|1955|9|14
birthplace = Correggio, Italy
deathdate = death date and age|1991|12|16|1955|9|4
deathplace = Reggio Emilia, Italy
occupation = Novelist, intellectual
genre =
movement =
notableworks =
influences =
influenced =

Pier Vittorio Tondelli (September 14, 1955 - December 16, 1991) was an Italian writer who wrote a small but influential body of work. He was born in Correggio, a small town in the province of Emilia-Romagna in Italy and died in nearby Reggio Emilia of AIDS. Tondelli enjoyed modest success as a writer but often encountered trouble with censors for his use of homosexual themes in his works. [ [http://www.glbtq.com/literature/tondelli_p.html glbtq >> literature >> Tondelli, Pier Vittorio ] ] Tondelli was buried in a small cemetery in the hamlet of Canolo, just outside of Correggio. [Tondelli, Pier Vittorio, and Fulvio Panzeri. "Opere: romanzi, teatro, racconti". Classici Bompiani. Milano: Bompiani, 2000: liii]

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Biography

Tondelli developed an early interest in reading as an adolescent, reading what one might normally expect from a young adult male -- "Treasure Island", "Journey to the Center of the Earth", and various Westerns. As Tondelli grew older, his reading tastes would develop and in 1974 he began to write his first narratives, saying: "I have always written, starting at 16 years of age with the usual story about adolescent frustrations". [Tondelli, Pier Vittorio, and Fulvio Panzeri. "Opere: romanzi, teatro, racconti". Classici Bompiani. Milano: Bompiani, 2000: xxxiv] These adolescent frustrations are conflicts between Tondelli's religiosity, his desire to express his artistry, and his homosexual desires as well as a change in Tondelli's belief system, in which he writes: "I find it vulgar to pray to God side by side with people for whom God is different from my God." [Tondelli, Pier Vittorio, and Fulvio Panzeri. "Opere: romanzi, teatro, racconti". Classici Bompiani. Milano: Bompiani, 2000: xxxv] Tondelli developed a jealousy towards God, who he describes as unique to himself, developing a "mysticism" all his own but admits to losing something as his belief system matures. [Tondelli, Pier Vittorio, and Fulvio Panzeri. "Opere: romanzi, teatro, racconti". Classici Bompiani. Milano: Bompiani, 2000: xxxv]

Tondelli takes his high school exams in 1974 and then enrolls at the University of Bologna's DAMS (Discipline Arte Musica e Spettacolo) where he takes courses of Umberto Eco and Gianni Celati, two of Italy's most celebrated writers and academics. In 1979, Tondelli sends a manuscript to Aldo Tagliaferri. Tondelli credits Tagliaferri with teaching and guiding him in his writing, but reinforcing upon the young author the necessity of re-writing one's work. A year later in January 1980, "Altri Libertini" was published, and, the following month, Tondelli graduates from the University of Bologna.

In April of 1980, Tondelli is called to military service, a requirement for Italian men at the time, stationed at Orvieto and then in Rome. Tondelli's military service provided him with the necessary experience to write two works: "Il diario del soldato Acci" and "Pao Pao".

Works by Tondelli

Many of Tondelli's works have been published by Bompiani in a two-volume set. Volume 1 contains his novels and short stories, and Volume 2 contains more stories, essays, conversations and miscellaneous writings. Volume 1 includes an introduction and chronology by Fulvio Panzeri: "Opere". Milano: Bompiani, 2000. ISBN 8845244385. Volume 2 contains an extensive bibliography of Tondelli's writings and writings on/about Tondelli, his works, etc. Many of his works can also be purchased individually as well.

*"Altri Libertini" (1980)
*"Il Diario Del Soldato Acci" (1981)
*" Rimini" (1985)
*"Camere Separate" (1989)
*"Pao Pao" (1989)
*"Un weekend postmoderno. Cronache dagli anni ottanta" (1990)
*"L'abbandono. Racconti degli anni Ottanta" (1993)
*" Dinner Party" (1994)
*"Biglietti Agli Amici" (1997)
*"Racconti"
**"La casa!...La casa!..."
**"Desperados"
**"Attraversamento dell'addio"
**"Ragazzi a Natale"
**"Pier a gennaio"
**"Questa specie di patto"
**"My sweet car"
**"Un racconto sul vino"
**"Sabato italiano"

Criticism and Interpretation

Most of the criticism of Tondelli is in Italian, but there are a few well-researched monographs in English. Below is a list of English and Italian sources on the works and writings of Tondelli.

Literary Criticism in English

*Baranski, Zygmunt G. and Lino Pertile. "The New Italian Novel". Writers of Italy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1993.
*Duncan, Derek. "Reading and Writing Italian Homosexuality: A Case of Possible Difference". Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Ashgate, 2006.
*Pallotta, Augustus. "Italian Novelists Since World War II, 1965-1995." Dictionary of literary biography, v. 196. Detroit, Mich: Gale Research, 1998.

Literary Criticism in Italian

* [http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/b/buia Buia, Elena. "Verso casa : viaggio nella narrativa di Pier Vittorio Tondelli", 2000.] This essay can be downloaded free from [http://www.liberliber.it Liber Liber] .
*Masoni, Viller, and Fulvio Panzeri. "Studi per Tondelli: le tesi di laurea e i saggi critici del Premio Tondelli 2001." Parma: Monte Università Parma, 2002.
*Mondello, Elisabetta. "In principio fu Tondelli: letteratura, merci, televisione nella narrativa degli anni Novanta". Cultura, 601. Milano: Il saggiatore, 2007.
*Palandri, Enrico. "Pier: Tondelli e la generazione". Contromano. Roma: Laterza, 2005.
*Rota, Enos. "Caro Pier--: i lettori di Tondelli: ritratto di una generazione". Milano: Selene, 2002.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.glbtq.com/literature/tondelli_p.html Tondelli, Pier Vittorio (1955-1991) biography]
* [http://tondelli.comune.correggio.re.it/database/correggio/tondelli.nsf?OpenDatabase Centro di Documentazione Pier Vittorio Tondelli]
* [http://www.comunecorreggio.info/cultura/linco/l0014/capitoli/cronologia.htm Chronology of the Life of Tondelli]
* [http://www.antoniospadaro.net/tondelli.html Antonio Spadaro's Site on Tondelli]

Persondata
NAME= Tondelli, Pier Vittorio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Italian novelist
DATE OF BIRTH= September 14, 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH= Correggio, Italy
DATE OF DEATH= December 16, 1991
PLACE OF DEATH= Reggio Emilia, Italy