Abstract

This article is an experiment that uses quantitative methods to try to answer the question: how does the morphology of an aesthetic object behave, when in a historical phase of shock? Taking 1945 as a symbolic date, it will therefore try to investigate the evolution of a sample of verses written in Italy from 1930 to 1944, and from 1945 to 1957. The resulting picture will reveal four indicators in the post-1945 period: 1) conservativeness in terms of subjects; 2) pedagogic propensity; 3) simplification and rationalisation of structures; 4) constant innovation of style and form. Prompted by a few considerations about the method, interpretative assumptions will be made and unspecific explanations will be rejected, in the attempt to stick to a close approach that reflects what Wittgenstein defined as «intermediate links».