Italian Incompleteness: A Lecture by Roberto Esposito

A lecture by
Roberto Esposito, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa

Italy is a country trapped in an incurable state of incompletion, condemned to the eternal pursuit of something that has always eluded it, incapable of achieving development that corresponds to its potential. The challenge is to work on this incompletion, on the energy contained in potentiality that has never been realized, that has remained as it is. What must be attempted is a leap forward, or at least a sidestep, which is impossible for countries that are more fulfilled and therefore unable to take alternative paths. Italian thought – but also Italian art and literature – has always worked, more or less consciously, on this possibility. It lies on the margin that separates might and action, possible and real, premise and result.

Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò
New York University
May 3, 2018