Gustav Meyrink
Il Domenicano bianco

Now available again, thanks to Edizioni Bietti and curated by Gianfranco de Turris, a historic critic of Lovecraft and Tolkien—authors he was the first to introduce in Italy—is a classic of fantastic and esoteric literature, namely "The White Dominican" by the great Gustav Meyrink (1868-1932), an expert in occultism and Eastern philosophies as well as a remarkable writer. Meyrink, known for the famous "Der Golem", a masterpiece novel from which three films were derived, was praised by names like Kafka and J.L. Borges, and here in Italy, by experts in esotericism such as Julius Evola (a representative of the radical right) and Elemire Zolla (also famed for his studies in esotericism). Evola, in the 1930s, took great interest in Meyrink and translated—for Romanzi dell’occulto of Fratelli Bocca—several books by the Austrian writer, including "The White Dominican", undeniably the Meyrink novel where the symbolic and spiritual aspect is the deepest. This is a masterpiece of the fantastic genre where the component of "imagination" is wonderfully intertwined with the occult. The novel is based on Tao philosophy, a doctrine Meyrink was familiar with, being an expert scholar and practitioner of Eastern disciplines in addition to being affiliated with numerous sects and brotherhoods that flourished in Austria and Germany at the beginning of the 20th century.

Meyrink was an extraordinary personality and had “the vision of things”: his studies led him, as one can see by reading his books, to unite Eastern and Western spiritual traditions. "The White Dominican" is set in an enigmatic town with gray contours that might remind one of the mythical Pearl from Alfred Kubin’s novel "The Other Side". The main character is Cristoforo Colombaia, a mystical figure, heir to a lineage that has followed the teachings of Taoism through the centuries to achieve immortality via “the dissolution of the corpse” and “the dissolution of the sword”. Cristoforo Colombaia, “awakened” by the peculiar figure of the White Dominican—perhaps modeled on the sect of the “White Monks” of Tibet—thus aims to complete the path of his lineage. He will ultimately succeed in reaching the goal through numerous difficulties: he will have to fight with the “Head of Medusa”—symbolizing modern pseudospirituality—and unite, in a sort of “metaphysics of sex”, with the female element represented by Ophelia. "The White Dominican", through its arcane symbolism and its atmosphere suspended between dream and reality, often touches on poetry and is one of Meyrink’s most accomplished novels.

The volume also benefits from a highly respectable critical apparatus—“Gustav Meyrink and Esotericism. Testimonies (1934-1976)”—which includes several contributions from scholars and experts on Meyrink such as Massimo Scaligero, Julius Evola, Serge Hutin, Jean-Pierre Bayard, and Gérard Heym. The original preface by Julius Evola has also been maintained, and a critical contribution from Gianfranco de Turris himself has been included.

Gustav Meyrink “The White Dominican” – Edizioni Bietti – L'Archeometro – 290 pages – Euro 19.00 – 2012 – curated by Gianfranco de Turris