Poesia, liturgia e il demonio della modernità nel pensiero di Cristina Campo

Abstract

The paper studies the links between poetry, liturgy and modern values in Cristina Campo. From the very beginning, poetry and liturgy were at the center of Cristina Campo’s thought. However, it was only after the mid-60s that they became inextricably intertwined as the most eloquent signs of the dissolution of both the Catholic Church and Western civilization produced by the complete implementation of modern values. Campo came to think that there was a causal relation between the decadence of poetry and the abandonment of traditional liturgy by the Catholic Church after the reforms implemented by the Second Vatican Council. In this paper, we explore firstly, the metaphisical status of poetry and liturgy as archetypes of destiny; secondly, the socio-historical role of poets and priests as exorcists of mere mundanity; thirdly, the way in which the use of technology has altered the essence of both poetry and liturgy. The last two chapters are devoted to Cristina Campo’s positive assessment of poetical and liturgical form as a protection against the intrinsecally chaotic prin ciples of modernity that find their most perfect expression in urban multitudes.