Tra realismo e utopia : i discorsi parlamentari di Francesco De Sanctis

Francesco De Sanctis' work has a literary and a political shape, as often happened in the nineteenth century. However, unlike authors such as Alfieri or M.me de Staël, De Sanctis' political motif is not written, but it reveals itself in his action as a minister and as a deputy. This essay focuses on De Sanctis' parliamentary speeches, which so far have not received the attention they deserve. In particular, it examines their formal structure and some of their most relevant contents. Hence, the article considers De Sanctis' contribution to the building of an effective parliamentary regime (the deliberative practice), his development of a political language inspired by concreteness and feasibility (a language form distinct and distant from academic discourse), his constant comparison with the European dimension.

Among the most relevant contents of de Sanctis' speeches, the article takes into account his reflection on school, and the administrative structure that supports the educational system, and the invitation to the development of a bipartisan Italian political system. A kind of development that, although argued in a realistically way, will remain a utopia. [Publisher's text]