Fictional geometries and geometric fictions in Se um viajante numa noite de inverno, by Italo Calvino

Abstract

 In 1973, Italo Calvino officially became a member of Oulipo, a group of writers and mathematicians, which brought him closer to discussions on aesthetic formalisms and literary axiomatisms. One of the most evident consequences of the relation with Mathematics in his writings is the deconstruction of the concept of literary space in the light of geometric metaphors. Both in terms of utterance and in terms of discourse, Calvino’s fiction deconstructs representative and narrative procedures, by highlighting the spatial dimension of words and the topological paradoxes of an endless literary space within a materially finite text. With a view to discussing those issues, this paper analyzes the most famous novel by Calvino, Se um viajantenumanoite de inverno (2005), in order to understand how a geometric reading of spatialities in this book can unveil some of the dimensional particularities of calvinian geometry – instead of the euclidean one.