Renato Poggioli russista

This article examines Renato Poggioli’s contribution to Russian literary studies and reassesses his legacy within Italian scholarship. It distinguishes two phases in his intellectual development while emphasizing their underlying continuity. Between 1928 and 1941, Poggioli’s work centred on contemporary Russian literature, especially Silver Age poetry, combining textual exegesis, translation, and active participation in Italian literary debates. From 1946 to 1963, his American academic career brought a growing interest in nineteenth-century prose and a shift towards comparative criticism and the study of ideas, informed by psychology, sociology, and philosophy. The article then explores the uneven reception of this work. While Poggioli’s role in establishing an enduring Silver Age canon is widely recognized, his critical writings have received only partial reassessment, despite the continuing methodological relevance of his comparative approach. His translations, meanwhile, have attracted sustained scholarly attention, prompting a partial reappraisal of his formal choices. Particular attention is paid to his practice of “rhythmic translation”, which reproduces the metrical patterns of Russian originals in Italian, privileging formal over functional equivalence. Once widely contested, this approach has gained renewed recognition and found new applications in contemporary translation. The article argues that Poggioli’s metrical practice currently represents the most vital aspect of his legacy for Italian scholars and translators of Russian poetry, while calling for further investigation into the extent and causes of this apparent revival.