Giacomo Leopardi and the Aesthetics of Ugliness: Body, Disease, and Materialism

In this thesis I focus on Leopardi’s conception of corporality, starting from his perception of his own body and from the sense of entrapment which was already discernible in the writings of his childhood and which always led him to strive for freedom. I explore how Leopardi uses self-narrative and poetic projections to come to terms with his condition and his perception of his disenfranchised body as a site of meaning. I argue that Leopardi was perfectly aware of how the body – and especially the ugly body – is a bearer of social meaning and of how it functions as a site in which one’s identity is challenged and within which it is shaped. Ultimately, I will show how Leopardi transformed his physical vulnerability and illness into powerful cognitive tools.