Beniamino Joppolo: anti-fascism and social fantastic

Abstract

Joppolo’s anti-fascist political stance is paradoxical to say the least. His “provocative irony” is a systematic political stance attitude that led him to stay clear of any radical positions and to argue in favor of artists’ and intellectuals’ detachment from the political life. Joppolo’s work, especially his plays, defends the necessity of simple action, carried out in the “everyday life humility”. As the writer develops his reflection, mathematical and artistic creativity eclipses the socio-political axis. These reflections climax into two concepts: the social fantastic, already theorized by Mac Orlan, and the abhumanism, imagined by both J. and Audiberti, promoted as an overarching principle, both the essence and substrate of Joppolo’s ethics. In the end, the complex evolution of his thinking crystallizes in abhumanism understood as the synthetic blend of communism, ecumenical Christianity and existentialism.