By Patrizia Riello Pera, Padua, Italy.

In 1987, the Campiello Prize was awarded to Raffaele Nigro for “I fuochi del Basento”, a novel that offers one of the broadest and most significant representations of Southern Italian society between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The work stands out for its ability to portray the life of entire communities, tracing their economic, cultural, and social transformations through a long historical journey that involves different generations and a vast plurality of characters. Rather than focusing on the events surrounding a single protagonist, the novel constructs a grand collective portrait in which men and women belonging to different social classes take part in the changes that swept through Southern Italy during a decisive phase of its history. Nigro conveys with extraordinary effectiveness the complexity of a world in motion, marked by hopes of redemption, conflicts, migrations, individual aspirations, and profound inequalities. Through a narrative rich in energy and civic engagement, the author brings to light realities often marginalised by traditional historiography, showing how major historical processes have a concrete impact on the everyday lives of ordinary people. Basilicata does not appear merely as a geographical setting, but as a human space in which cultures, traditions, aspirations, and tensions intertwine, reflecting universal questions linked to progress, social justice, and collective belonging. The strength of the novel also lies in its ability to alternate choral moments with individual stories, offering a nuanced vision of society without ever losing contact with the concrete dimension of human experience. The broad and engaging narrative style accompanies the reader through a journey rich in episodes, encounters, and changes, while maintaining constant attention to the dynamics that shape the destiny of communities. With this recognition, the Campiello Prize honoured a work that combines historical research, social sensitivity, and extraordinary narrative power. “I fuochi del Basento” thus establishes itself as a great civic novel, capable of portraying not only a region and an era, but the very evolution of a society grappling with the challenges of modernity.

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