Come «un caos che si arricchisca di determinazioni». Osservazioni sull'architettura testuale di Gadda

This paper analyzes several aspects of Gadda’s style in his two major novels: La cognizione del dolore and Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana. The analysis is carried out using methodological instruments of text linguistics. Some constructions, such as subject inversion, right dislocations, deictic and anaphoric references, are examined and put in connection with theorical reflections concerning the relation between language and knowledge carried out in other works by the author (Meditazione Milanese, Racconto italiano di ignoto del Novecento). The purpose is to demonstrate that the author redetermines the language tools that he uses, changing their linguistic value by inserting them in his particular and unrepeatable pastiche. In particular, the above mentioned constructions, together with other rhetoric and his personal use of punctuation, ensure a ‘right oriented’ thematic progression. This texture creates a cohesive short circuit: whereas the macro-structures are often characterized by a low level of cohesion, the micro-structures are overly-defined and show a high level of cohesion.