Abstract

The article proposes a reading of Una pietra sopra and Collection of sand and considers the issues of political and aesthetic literature of Calvino that emerge as focal points in the construction and organization of the texts included in the two books of essays. The hypothesis is that in these two works Calvino set out not only to make a critical analysis of literature and its cognitive tools, but also a complex reflection on the relationship between the literary space and other cultural areas. The point of view proposed by the author is rooted in the aesthetic reasoning of Emilio Garroni, with particular reference to the concepts of "other than Art" and "imaginative powers".