I “sommersi”: italiani nel Gulag. L’epistolario di Emilio Guarnaschelli come traccia di ricezione

We examine the corpus of letters from the exile and confinement of the communist worker Emilio Guarnaschelli sent from 1933 to 1937, published posthumously in a work entitled A Little Stone, first appeared in France (1979), and subsequently in Italy, in its original language (1982 and 1998). We deal with an exceptional document on the period of Stalinist purges, whose value, also recognized by historians, overcome that one of histo- riographical documentation, showing also literary qualities. The Guar- naschelli case and its testimonial corpus represent an emblematic case study in regard to the problem of a “missed” and delayed reception, and appear to be of considerable complexity also for the purposes of a mere- ly historiographical excavation. We will explore the contents in order to identify the fundamental issues of a critical reflection on the dynamics and different levels of reception of repressions in the Italian culture, through an integrated multidisciplinary approach, centered on the con- cept of “trace”, indicating, finally, further perspectives of search.