«Un modo diverso di dire io». Life in Quest of Narrative in Primo Levi's «Il sistema periodico» (1975)

In this paper I will investigate the construction of the Self in Primo Levi’s Il sistema periodico (1975). I will tackle it by studying its narrative structure and by showing how Levi tried to rebuild his fragmented (ontological) Self within the text. My hermeneutical analysis will involve mostly Ricœur’s Oneself as Another (1990), whose dialectic triad amongst idem, ipse, and alterity will allow me to approach Levi’s narrative structure. Finally, my reading of Il sistema periodico will prove Levi’s failure in his attempt to recover his self-identity. Therefore, I will underscore the ethical and palliative function of writing for the others that he implies in the book’s last chapter, Carbonio