''Solaria'' was a modernist literary magazine published in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, Italy, between 1926 and 1936. The title is a reference to the city of sun. The magazine is known for its significant influence on young Italian writers. It was one of the publications which contributed to the development of the concept of

Europeanism European values are the norms and values that Europeans are said to have in common, and which transcend national or state identities. In addition to helping promote European integration, this doctrine also provides the basis for analyses that cha ...

History and profile

''Solaria'' was established in Florence in 1926. It was inspired from two magazines: '' La Voce'' and '' La Ronda''. The founders were Alessandro Bonsanti and Alberto Carocci. Its publisher was Edizioni di Solaria, and the magazine was published on a monthly basis. As of 1929 Giansiro Ferrata served as the co-editor of the magazine. Alessandro Bonsanti replaced him in the post in 1930 which he held until 1933. The major goal of ''Solaria'' was to Europeanize

Italian culture The culture of Italy encompasses the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, and customs of the Italian peninsula throughout history. Italy has been a pivotal center of civilisation, playing a crucial role in the development of Western culture. I ...

and to emphasize the contributions of Italian modernist writers such as

Svevo Aron Hector Schmitz (19 December 186113 September 1928), better known by the pseudonym Italo Svevo (), was an Italian and Austro-Hungarian writer, businessman, novelist, playwright, and short story writer. A close friend of Irish novelist and po ...

and Federigo Tozzi to the European modernism. It adopted a modernist approach. The magazine had an

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

stance. Its contributors were mostly the

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writers. They included Alberto Carocci,

Eugenio Montale Eugenio Montale (; 12 October 1896 – 12 September 1981) was an Italian poet, prose writer, editor and translator. In 1975, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for 'for his distinctive poetry which, with great artistic sensitivity, has ...

Elio Vittorini Elio Vittorini (; 23 July 1908 – 12 February 1966) was an Italian writer and novelist. He was a contemporary of Cesare Pavese and an influential voice in the modernist school of novel writing. His best-known work, in English speaking countries ...

Carlo Emilio Gadda Carlo Emilio Gadda (; 14 November 1893 – 21 May 1973) was an Italian writer and poet. He belongs to the tradition of the language innovators, writers who played with the somewhat stiff standard pre-war Italian language, and added elements of di ...

. and

Renato Poggioli Renato Poggioli (April 16, 1907 in Florence – May 3, 1963 in Crescent City), was an Italian academic specializing in comparative literature. After 1938, he lived in the United States. At the time of his death, he was the Curt Hugo Reisinger Pro ...

. The novel of Elio Vittorini, ''Il garofano rosso'', was first published in the magazine. The magazine also featured poems by young Italian artists, including Sandro Penna.

Gianna Manzini Gianna Manzini (24 March 1896 – 31 August 1974) was an Italian writer whose ''Ritratto in piedi'' won her the Premio Campiello in 1971. It is a semi-autobiographical portrait of her father, an Italian anarchist. After several banishments for hi ...

published her first short stories in the magazine. It also featured translations of modernist writers, including

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

, and

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

. ''Solaria'' was harshly criticized by other Italian literary circles and magazines, including '' Il Selvaggio'', '' Il Bargello'' and '' Il Frontespizio'', due to its frequent coverage of the work by

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

writers. After producing a total of forty-one volumes ''Solaria'' ceased publication in 1936. Its final issue was dated 1934, although it was published in 1936. In fact, it was

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

by the fascist authorities partly due to the serialization of Elio Vittorini's novel, ''Il garofano rosso'', in the magazine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Solaria 1926 establishments in Italy 1936 disestablishments in Italy Anti-fascism in Italy Banned magazines Censorship in Italy Defunct literary magazines published in Italy Defunct Italian-language magazines Magazines established in 1926 Magazines disestablished in 1936 Magazines published in Florence Literary modernism Monthly magazines published in Italy Poetry literary magazines