“In ossequio a una norma il cui senso ci sfugge”. Writing with Bruno Celano

Abstract

The title of this article is the incipit of a formula used by Bruno Celano, to be placed in the first note of the two-handed essays. In its complete version it is as follows: «In complying with an Italian rule, whose point we do not fully understand, we declare that sections X and Y are by Bruno Celano and sections W and Z are by N». Given the highly dialogic process of writing that took place with Celano, we can easily understand why he, with gentle irreverence, obeyed by disagreeing to attribute ownership of each section to each author. In his vast production, publications with another author are few and recent. However, recounting the creative practice of joint writing allows us to show a distinctive feature of Bruno Celano's entire oeuvre, which was thinking and researching in dialogue.  In the current paper, Clelia Bartoli, Marco Brigaglia, and Giuseppe Rocché trace some aspects of the backstage of Celano's work, especially in the utmost years marked by illness.