Johnny must (not) die. On philology and criticism in “Partigiano Johnny”

Abstract

This essay analyses the creative process of Fenoglio’s Partigiano Johnny and its subsequent editorial history, showing the connection between its diegetic structure and the destinal outcome of the main character’s. In doing so, an explanation is given regarding the reason why critics are divided between those who believe the death of Johnny is necessary and those who are persuaded that Fenoglio wanted him alive at the end of the story. The opposition between an interpretation of this masterwork as a piece of epic or as a Bildungsroman is thus formulated in structural terms: Johnny’s death being the pivotal element of such interpretations.