Copyleft, n. A mode of product distribution that allows use, modification, copying, and free dissemination of the same, provided its origin is indicated and its free nature is preserved.
Copyleft is a way to spread culture, a set of licenses that address various fields, from IT to literature, allowing authors to distribute their works freely and openly, provided their intellectual property is recognized, and - most importantly - in such a way that no one can take advantage by claiming copies as their own and "locking them" by reapplying copyright on them.
The pioneers of applying copyleft to literature in Italy were the writers of the Wu Ming collective (previously known as Luther Blisset). With their debut novel, "Q," available for purchase in bookstores but also freely downloadable from their website, they demonstrated that the free availability of the text online not only didn’t harm but actually boosted sales of physical copies, as evidenced by the fact that "Q" remains a remarkable commercial success to this day.
An offshoot of Wu Ming is the reading group iQuindici, which primarily reviews the proposals of new writers who intend to release their works under a free license. In their well-stocked copyleft library, which has a dedicated space on their website, I discovered this astonishing debut work by the almost unknown Francesco Fagioli.
"Un Certo Senso" is the protagonist, known in his everyday life as Antonio Senso, the inadvertent author of the most bizarre, insane, and brilliant epistolary novel I have ever come across. It consists of no less than sixty-one letters sent to the administrator of the condominium where Senso lives, a certain Dr. Barbaro, who, over the course of the narrative, becomes the imaginary interlocutor and alter ego of the protagonist, presumably because none of the letters reach their destination.
An almost trivial and bureaucratic opening: Senso complains to the administrator about foul odors emanating from the plumbing in his bathroom, attributable to the blockage of the waste-water column serving the apartments above and below his. The whole is spiced with a veiled threat of informing the competent Health Office if the situation is not promptly resolved.
As we continue reading, we learn that Senso hasn’t sent the letters because he deemed them inadequate and intends to draft and send one that is up to the situation. From this point onward, the writer digresses, tackling topics and arguments that gradually move away from the starting point, going so far as to list colorful conjectures about his neighbors, a detailed compendium of his sexual tastes, the story of his life as a man and as an artist: a story of absurd impulses and failures, frustration, and loneliness. The letters become increasingly whimsical and dreamlike, a progressive departure from reality that eventually leads him to metaphysical shores, as evidenced by the surreal dissertation on animal dreams and metempsychosis explained by a nightingale, the spectacular climax of the narrative.
Kafka, Buzzati... Comparisons abound. A book that amazes, and that starkly contradicts the cliché that what is inexpensive (or even free) cannot be comparable in quality to what is expensive. The text can be found at this link. You can download it, consult it freely, make as many copies as you like, and distribute it to whomever you want, all without violating any laws.
Then, if you want to purchase a physical copy, you can find it in bookstores. This too is copyleft.
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