Keywords

Primo Levi, L’altrui mestiere, Other People’s Trades, self-identity, Heimlich, Unheimlich

Abstract

Primo Levi reveals much about himself in the fifty-one short essays of L’altrui mestiere (Other People’s Trades). This study analyzes L’altrui mestiere as the awareness of the “self” through the observation of “otherness” — other people, but also other living beings which are not human (mammalian animals and insects), others as minerals, and others as hypotheses, theories, writings, microcosmic or macrocosmic conceptions that Levi uses to weave a discourse of “alterity” as a mirror of “identity.” L’altrui mestiere’s narrative pattern revolves around contrasts and comparisons between the familiar and the unfamiliar, the canny and the uncanny, the Heimlich against the Unheimlich. Ultimately, Other People’s Trades sends a powerful, positive, universal message of respect and compassion about the human condition and enforces the natural curiosity about getting to know better who and what surrounds us.

https://www.nemla.org/content/dam/www/nemla/nis/xlv/NIS_Vol_XLV_2024-Primo_Levi_Special_Issue.pdf

Original Publication Citation

Klein, Ilona. "Alterity as a Mirror of Identity: Primo Levi's Self Representation in Other People's Trade." Primo Levi: Essays in Dialogue with Nicholas Patruno. Eds. Chiara Benetollo and Roberta Ricci. NeMLA Italian Studies, vol. XLV, 2024, pp. 152-169.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2024

Publisher

NeMLA Italian Studies

Language

English

College

Humanities

Department

French and Italian

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

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