The given essay aims at rebuilding the meaning of the literary witness of the Italian writer Dante in the later work Paralipomeni della Batracomiomachia by the Italian writer Leopardi. By intertwining the theoretical testimonies of the Zibaldone work by Leopardi with the many linguistic materials linked to the Comedy by Dante, this essay identifies in the fiction and in the theme of travelling the converging point of both works.

The metaphor of the window - together with the visual-pictorial ones - is essential in the literary *mimesis*: the underlying question concerning the gap among different linguistic codes was first found in the French tradition and it has been further analyzed by recent literary studies. This important kind of metaphor appears in Verga's narrative and especially in his Milanese tales: it can be found both in relation to the meta-textual images used by the author and to the critical lexicon of the time. The analysis of the different framing values and the related features leads to focus on the theoretical contradiction of realism (between the ambition to adhere to things and the indisputable need to preserve the bonds of the work) and to see the specific evolution of Verga's art and work, in relation to these issues and their European scope.

Carefully examining the theme of the carnival and of the mask in Verga’s narrative, the critical essay intends to bring out the alienat- ed and upset nature that the urban modernity takes on in the artistic representation of the writer, the instincts of death and self-destruc- tion that pass through it at his sight. The analysis of the novel Lib- ertà, which the essay proposes an original interpretation, is essential for this purpose.

A partire dal romanzo di Romano Luperini ("L'uso della vita", Transeuropa, 2013)si analizza il modo con cui la cultura italiana si è rapportata al Sessantotto