the italianist 31 2011 416-434

Langelico stupro: Guido Ceronettis Difesa

della luna e altri argomenti di miseria terrestre
Sabina Sestigiani

1 Introduction

This article discusses Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna e altri argomenti di
miseria terrestre.1 Ceronettis work was published in 1971 as a reaction to the
first manned moon landing, and examines the moral and philosophical discourse
around the alleged divine design that is presented as entitling humankind to take
control over the entire universe, including astral bodies. Following this seminal and
controversial publication of 1971, Ceronetti continued to develop and elaborate
his philosophical speculations on the moon and its possible exploitation over the
following thirty-five years or so.2 Since 1971, Ceronetti has become famous for his
erudite and humorous invectives against human exploitation of the environment.
I believe that he can be regarded not only as the Italian guardian of the moon, but
also as one of the most environmentally engaged Italian authors and philosophers
of our time.3 For Ceronetti, space exploration is nothing but part of a greater
human lack of care for the environment. In defending the moon against what
he sees as human invasion, Ceronetti criticizes pollution and ecological abuse as
well. As he elucidates in Difesa della luna: i voli spaziali sono una parte, la pi
misteriosa ancora, del processo dinquinamento del nostro pianeta, di cui una
ricerca intelligente va mettendo in luce, con fittissimi e ininterrotti avvertimenti
a popoli e governi, langosciosa ricchezza dei fenomeni e lenormit delle
proporzioni (DL, p.18).4
Ceronetti constructs his discourse against ecological exploitation and the
conquest of the moon around an alleged divine legitimization of these abuses to
be found in the Bible. In this article, I will focus on those key verses of Genesis and
Psalm 8, on which, Ceronetti claims, science has drawn to justify its arrogant claim
to be entitled to exploit natures resources. Ceronetti argues that a misunderstanding
of Genesis 1 has enabled this biblical text to serve as a justification for ecological
disaster, and in his proposed new Italian translation of Genesis 1. 26 and 28, he
suggests an image of violent human subjugation of nature which illustrates this.
He further intuits that both in the act of naming of Genesis 2 and in Psalm 8 there
reside grounds for a possible misinterpretation of these passages which in turn could

Sestigiani Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna 417

justify a violent human attitude towards Creation, although his intuition falls short
of deeper analysis and remains in awe of the opacity of the sacred nature of the
Scriptures. Ultimately, Ceronetti suggests that the elusive tone of the Sacred Scriptures
is innate to their genre, and that one should acknowledge their mysterious message
without aspiring to comprehend it rationally. Even when hinting at a dark aspect to
the biblical act of naming, Ceronetti respectfully recognises the Sacred Scriptures
essential inscrutability, and invites the reader to interpret them with caution.5
I argue that despite Ceronettis final absolution of the biblical verses, the
obscure side of naming which Ceronetti perceives, and the violence which he
sees as being intrinsic in Adams first performance of the act, could be seen as
justifying a sort of colonial subjugation of the environment. I also argue that the
potential religious justification of environmental exploitation detected in Genesis
and Psalm 8 is further complicated and reinforced by a consideration of the way
in which, in Hegels philosophy, Adams act of naming is heralded as the first
example of linguistic objectification, which is capable of annihilating the object
named.6 On this first act of naming, Hegel founds his philosophy of language;
I suggest that Ceronettis perception of the ambiguous plane of naming, therefore,
stems from Hegels Philosophy of Spirit, also mediated by Maurice Blanchots
theory of language, and his vision of death among the interstices of literature.7
I argue that the darker interpretation of naming which emerges from Hegel and
Blanchot allows Ceronetti to present the human landing on the moon as a violent
act, a ritual sacrifice, a rape which kills off the moon myth once and for all. Hegel
and Blanchot are thus central to the argument of this article, although they are
discussed at a later stage, after I have analysed more closely the implications of
Ceronettis translation of the Bible in his Difesa della luna.

2 Ceronetti and Difesa della luna8

Difesa della luna is divided into eight essays which are linked to one another by
satirical poetic interludes. The ironic tone of the short poems accomplishes the
double task of lightening the tone of the overall content of Ceronettis Difesa della
luna and connecting the variegated discourse of the essays. Ceronetti organises the
eight essays of the book into two parts: the first part discusses lunar topics, while
the second is concerned with terrestrial and human matters. In this way, Ceronetti
juxtaposes the moon, the symbol of dreams and immaculate alterity, the ideal
realm of poets, prophets and philosophers, with what he sees as the moribund
earth, corrupted by rational humans in their rush towards economic prosperity.
Myth and Reason, spirit and matter; the book reflects this symmetry in its very title:
Difesa della luna e altri argomenti di miserie terrestri. The first part of the book
comprises a preface and five essays. The first two essays, which are the main ones

418 the italianist 31 2011

that I will be analysing in this article, present biblical subjects: La Genesi, il sacro,
la luna, and Salmo 8, Genesi 9; the third essay deals with Giacomo Leopardis
lunar poem Canto notturno di un pastore errante dellAsia, and is titled Intatta
luna. The fourth and fifth essays are of a satirical nature: Il genio di Jules Verne
and Lo spazio per il francobollo. The second part of Difesa della luna comprises
three essays or chapters on terrestrial matters: Il distruttore distrutto; Filosofia
dellinquinamento; and Alla ricerca di un sigillo.
Ceronettis preface, I giorni della Luna e il mistero della grande peste,
beautifully introduces his reflections on what he sees as the lunar invasion and
offers the reader a concise version of the core of his thought and poetics. He
explains that what he aspires to achieve in his book, more than a detailed account
of the first manned moon landing, is a depiction of the visions and promptings
which inspired his own philosophical investigation of this event. Ceronetti is
interested in the symbols which stir his analysis and speculations, and so he
summarizes: la scena sparita, resteranno le antiche visioni, i miti intatti, le
massime infallibili, a incandelare il buio, come sempre (DL, p.10). Ceronetti
suggests that myth and symbols namely the myth of the moon and its sacred
literary aura are lost in the illusory achievements of science and modernity:
lillusione della conoscenza unubriachezza in cui la realt dei segni, invece
di far sudare e stridere, si perde (DL, p.12). Ceronettis analysis cannot be
considered a mere environmentalist tirade, but rather is presented as a real moral
grievance, which does not hope to stop the progress and pollution attendant upon
lunar enterprises. He envisages a tragic human condition and does not hope to
salvare la vita condannata (DL, p.15). In fact, Ceronetti considers the ravaging
of the environment as being already inscribed in humankinds tragic destiny,
and as being destined to lead, eventually, to its final destruction, and he does not
expect to stop it. And it is the moralist writer, who knows that there is no hope of
saving the world, who sardonically cheers this process on: coraggio, al lavoro,
staniamo il mito, impaliamolo (DL, p.14).
Ceronettis moral tone, which brings to the fore the contradictions, the
irresolvable conflicts of human nature, rather than a resolution or the construction
of a coherent system of thought, is also reflected in his fragmented and disjointed
writing style. He always leaves the reader with the impression of an unfinished text,
incoherent and loosely structured. For Ceronetti, the fragment is both a thematic
and a stylistic choice. As he himself remarks in a later work, La vita apparente,9
his intuitions, passions and projects are often abandoned unfinished, but their
inconclusive state is still capable of profound eloquence, and conveys the force
of a contradictory yet illuminating moral system. Ceronettis predilection for the
fragment and the racconto breve is a constant characteristic of his writing, and
is evident in his entire oeuvre. As he explicitly comments: solo il racconto breve,
forma superiore al contingente, indifferente alla fede o al silenzio, resta vivo e

Sestigiani Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna 419

possible (La vita apparente, p.309). Alberto Roncaccia remarked on Ceronettis

preference for the racconto breve, linking Ceronettis stylistic inclination to Maurice
Blanchots analysis of tragic thought embedded in Blaise Pascals famous wager
on Gods existence.10 Roncaccia has the great merit of having drawn attention to
Blanchots essay on Pascal and having pointed to a similar tragic tone in Ceronettis
fragments and the tension between the two sides of Pascals wager. Akin to Pascals
insoluble gamble on the presence or absence of God, the tragic tone of the fragment
in Ceronetti so Roncaccia states is due to its conflictual nature, to its refusal to
resolve or clarify ambiguity. It pertains to the irresolvable conflict of tragedy, and
its discontinuous style is the more authentic, in that it alludes to an unresolved state
of being, which Ceronetti considers closer to reality.

3 Ceronetti and the Bible

Ceronettis predilection for the racconto breve and his epigrammatic style is also
indebted to his passion for the Bible and his numerous biblical translations from
Hebrew into Italian. Being an acclaimed translator of the Psalms, Ecclesiastes
and the Book of Job, Ceronetti adopted for his Difesa della luna a style which is
certainly indebted to those biblical books. The Italian philosopher and scholar
of religious studies, Elmire Zolla, paid tribute to Ceronetti, defining him as the
Italian Swift for his use of satire, and highly praised his prose for its biblical
tone.11 Ceronettis interest in biblical exegesis is not common in the Italian literary
scene and may be linked to the authors biography.12 Ceronettis apocalyptic style
and interest in biblical books may derive from what he feels to be the sacred
atmosphere of his birthplace, Turin: the city of the Turin Shroud and of a longstanding Jewish community,13 as emerges in an interview with Alfredo Cattabiani.
Here Ceronetti reveals that his experience of the Turin synagogue played an
important role in his decision to translate some books of the Bible directly from
Hebrew into Italian, explaining that his interest in biblical exegesis derives from
his love for the Semitic words and the sense encapsulated in them, which he
wished to comprehend:
Ma allora perch hai tradotto molti libri dellAntico Testamento? Mah!
Queste cose sono certamente predestinate. Forse laver sentito lodore della
vecchia sinagoga di Torino, laver udito quei suoni e averli voluti penetrare
in ogni modo. [] Il lavoro intorno a un versetto non mi consola per quel che
esso dice ma in quanto aggregato di parole semitiche piene di significato.14
Ceronetti analyses the Scriptures from the point of view of a lay person, but has
been compared to the Church Fathers for his prophetic and passionate tone.15 The
prophetic tones of Ceronettis prose are not intended to lead to the redemption

420 the italianist 31 2011

of humankind; he does not aim at changing the future nor fostering any utopia.16
In his unyielding moralistic writing, in which each word has been philologically
interrogated, Ceronetti searches for something that words cannot contain or
explain: the sacred, the inexplicable, as Citati again points out.17 His passion for
biblical texts betrays this.
In his analysis and translation of the Scriptures, Ceronetti combines his precise
philological examination with his visionary intuitions. In turn, his prose is affected
by his philological investigations. In fact, his interest in philology, in dissecting the
words to study their deeper meaning, often renders his prose dissonant, as if broken
into continuous asides to let the sense erupt from beneath the surface of the words.
But his exegesis is, by his own avowal, personal, unruly, and, arguably, not always
philologically accurate. Indeed, he claims that he wishes to penetrare in quel che c
scritto, aiutandomi pi con le sregolatezze dellesegesi che con le potenze filologiche,
in me fiacche come le mani di Dedalo (DL, p.43). Ceronetti uses philology freely; he
incorporates it into his poetry and essays, creating a singular style where poetry and
philosophical reflections are suggestive of philological interrogation: come filologo
io non sono che un miserabile dilettante, per come poeta mi sento filologo. Senza
la filologia mi sentirei intimamente cieco.18 Ceronettis style, which mixes poetry,
philosophy and philology and showcases unexpected thematic juxtapositions,
stimulates questions, instills doubts. The symbols, the allusions, and the mythical
images that Ceronetti evokes in his amateur philological exercises are stronger
than his unassuming admission of weakness. As he humbly remarks: questa mia
Difesa della luna [] poveramente fabbricata, da un artigiano fuori del contesto,
con pezzi di Bibbia e di giornale (DL, p.101).

4 The Bible and dominion over the universe

Ceronettis intuition of a distorted use of the Bible as a divine legitimization for

environmental abuse is not entirely new. In 1967, Lynn Whites groundbreaking
article The historical roots of our ecological crisis, 19 foregrounded the
connection between the Sacred Scriptures and humankinds arrogant misuse of the
ecosystem, which showed its most devastating effects in colonial and imperialistic
appropriation of land. Whites article is famous for his critique of Christianitys
anthropocentrism and of Gods alleged blessing of the human exploitation of
nature for purely human ends. White takes issue with the notion that man named
all the animals, thus establishing his dominance over them and that God planned
all of this explicitly for mans benefit and rule: no item in the physical creation had
any purpose save to serve mans purposes (White, p.1205). The article suggests
that ecological exploitation, thanks to Western technological superiority, is a result
of such biblical teachings inscribed in Christianity and Western society at large.

Sestigiani Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna 421

The sheer gusto for conquest and appropriation and eagerness to display
technological supremacy seem to have driven the desire to land on the moon. There
also seems to be a link between this desire for subjugation and Christianity. In fact,
domination is legitimised by a questionable use of verses from Genesis which is
particularly evidenced in the clergys comments and reactions to space missions. The
commentary of the Evangelical ministers, Andr Lelivre and Alphonse Maillot on
the Book of Psalms, is an illuminating example. 20 It contains a footnote to Psalm 8
which comments on the Psalm itself and on the description of the act of Creation
of the Universe found in Genesis, saying that these biblical passages are evidence
of humankinds permission to use the universe for its own purpose with the help
of science and progress. This comment provoked Ceronettis fierce reaction in
Difesa della luna.21 To add more strength to Ceronettis intuition and his critique
of this particular comment of Maillot and Lelivre, it is interesting to note that
the 2007 edition of the ministers book, which I quote below, contains a specific
reference to Neil Armstrong. For chronological reasons, this reference to the 1969
moon expedition could not have appeared in the 1962 edition that Ceronetti
quotes in Difesa della luna (DL, p.40). Yet this detail emphasizes that Ceronettis
critical stance against Maillot and Lelivres take on divine legitimization of the
exploitation of space and of the environment at large was confirmed by this later
addition. Maillot and Lelivres commentary on Psalm 8, as it appears in the 2007
edition of their text, reads as follows:
Souvenons-nous que le pote, qui chantait ainsi la grandeur et la matrise de
lhomme sur lunivers, en tait peine lge du fer, et que dj il apercevait,
comme lauteur de Gen. 1 et 2, que tout tait entre les mains de lhomme.
Absolument tout, mme ces cieux et ces astres qui effrayaient un grand
nombre de ses contemporains. Ici on peut cerner lapport capital de la
religion isralite la civilisation; cest cette remise du monde entier dans les
mains de lhomme, cette dsacralisation de lunivers. [] il est indiscutable
que lAT donnait [] de mme que le NT, une justification la civilisation
scientifique; les chrtiens nont donc pas regarder la science comme une
ennemie obligatoire. Armstrong, en mettant les pieds sur la lune, aurait pu
rciter le Ps 8.22
The correlation between the Bible and science and technology used to master
the universe and space also finds support in the Papacys mention of Genesis and
Psalm 8 as sanction for space missions. In 1962, as Soviet astronauts Andriyan
Nikolayev and Pavel Popovich were on their earth orbit mission, Pope John
XXIII declared that their endeavour was encouraged and openly approved of by
the Scriptures.23 In 1969, Pope Paul VI sent a message containing Psalm 8 with
Armstrongs enterprise. It was an offering to be left on the moon, as a sign of
approval and blessing for the Apollo 11 mission.24

422 the italianist 31 2011

In accordance with White, and as a reaction to the Christian interpretation

of Genesis 1 and Psalm 8, Ceronettis Difesa della luna aims to disclose a colonial
Judaeo-Christian justification behind the environmental crimes of Western
societies, and it is in this critical light that Ceronetti deploys his most striking
reasoning in the analysis of the conquest of the moon.
Ceronettis essay highlights this point through a close reading of literary
examples dealing with the theme of the moon (for example, Giacomo Leopardis
Canto notturno di un pastore errante dellAsia, Jules Vernes Voyage to the Moon,
and Norman Mailers Of a Fire on the Moon), but also of the Bible. It is, in fact, on
Ceronettis biblical references that this article will focus. In particular, Ceronetti
claims that Genesis 1. 26-28 and Psalm 8 have shielded with divine protection the
space experiments conducted by the former USSR and by the United States from
World War II until the conquest of the moon in 1969. Ceronetti complains that in
the Scriptures humans have found the sacred right which they believe entitles them
to do anything, anche i graffi nellaldil atmosferico. Basta citarlo per sentirsi a
posto: col progresso e col cielo (DL, pp.25-26).
Ceronettis analysis of Genesis 1. 26-28 starts with his revised translation
of the passage from the Hebrew. Ceronettis translation of Genesis diverges from
the official translation approved by the Roman Catholic Church mainly in his
replacement of the official dominare (to have dominion over) with the much
stronger schiacciare col piede (to trample), thus anticipating the violence that he
perceives in Armstrongs walk on the moon. His translation aims at deconstructing
the aura of technological and scientific progress surrounding the image of
Armstrongs first footprints on the moon, suggesting instead an invaders tread on
uncontaminated territory.
In Ceronettis words the translation reads:
26





27


28

E dice Elohim facciamo un uomo

Che come la nostra ombra e simile a noi sia
E i pesci del mare e gli uccelli del cielo
Tutte le bestie buone e le feroci
Tutti i rettili che sulla terra strisciano
Col piede schiacci
E crea Elohim come la propria ombra luomo
Come ombra di Elohim lo crea
Maschio e femmina li fa
E li spruzza di sacro Elohim e gli dice
Siate fertili e molti e la terra riempite
E mettetevela sotto e coi piedi schiacciate
I pesci del mare gli uccelli del cielo
E ogni vita che vaghi sulla terra. (DL, p.27, my emphasis)25

Sestigiani Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna 423

The key word in Ceronettis translation from Hebrew of the above passage from
the Book of Genesis, is radh. Ceronetti translates this word not with the official
dominare, endorsed by the Catholic Church,26 but with schiacciare. Ceronetti
claims that his translation is faithful to the primary sense of the Hebrew word
radh, which in fact does mean to trample on, to press down, to stamp on, to
tread on, to lay to the ground. In Hebrew, the sense rendered by the translation
approved by the Catholic Church comes as a second meaning, as Ceronetti
says.27 Indeed, according to Francesco Scerbos Dizionario Ebraico e Caldaico
del Vecchio Testamento, radh translates signoreggiare, dominare only as a
second meaning, while Scerbo presents calcare, pigiare luva coi piedi as the first
meaning of radh.28 Of course it should also be noted that Scerbo highlights the
fact that the verbs calcare and pigiare cannot be exclusively linked to the Hebrew
radh. For example, in Joel 4. 13 (Date mano alla falce, perch la messe matura;
| venite, pigiate, perch il torchio pieno) the verb is altogether different from
radh, stemming instead from iard (come or go down, descend);29 but even in this
instance, Ceronetti claims, the sense of violence would be maintained, as here the
sense of descent implies discendere, col senso di far scendere allo Shel, abbattere,
uccidere (DL, p.27). Ceronetti is aware that the translation of radh can be
inconclusive, as other dictionaries also indicate.30 But perhaps this is one of those
instances where Ceronetti seems to rely more on the power of divination of his
sregolatezze dellesegesi (DL, p.43) than on unequivocal philological laws to
investigate the Scriptures. So Ceronetti appears to adopt Scerbos first meaning for
radh, and argues that the bottom line is la distruzione pura (DL, p.27). This
makes it easy to imagine that the beginning of life in Eden saw a primitive struggle
between Adam and the other living creatures. Ceronetti sets up quite a violent
scenario, far from the image of an idyllic garden. He depicts rather a struggle con
la pietra alzata e il coltello in pugno (DL, p.27), bringing out the harsh meaning
of radh which lies sul fondo cupo del [] pozzo semantico (DL, p.29) of the
Scriptures. It is due to the authors investigation into the philological origin of
the Hebrew version of the Book of Genesis that this more forceful meaning of
radh is revealed. For Ceronetti verse 26 of Genesis 1 brings to the fore an amoral
relationship between humans and nature, which condemns the two parties to
eternal war and the blind continuity of massacre (DL, p.29), and also, in a sense,
sanctifies and approves the human war on nature.

5 Riempite la terra e annientatela

Verse 28 of Genesis 1 is another very important and instrumental biblical verse

for Ceronettis interpretation. In verse 28 we find Gods decree of fecundity for
human beings. For Ceronetti Gods call to humans is a disastrous condition for the

424 the italianist 31 2011

earth, la sfortunata terra (DL, p.29), which is condemned to be filled, crowded

and eventually destroyed. The phrase schiacciare col piede does not mean to
subjugate, but to annihilate, to destroy, to make disappear. Khavsh, the verb used
in Genesis 1. 28, is again translated by mettetevela sotto e coi piedi schiacciate by
Ceronetti, as opposed to soggiogatela e dominate in the official Italian translation.
Scerbos translation for khavsh seems to validate Ceronettis choice, since the
translation given is: calpestare, mettere sotto i piedi, conculcare, sforzare.31 This
interpretation of khavsh seems to lend weight to Ceronettis choice for Genesis
1. 26. By a metonymic use of words in other words, by applying the rule of the
parallelismus membrorum it becomes acceptable to assume that the meaning
of khavsh could be extended to the radh of Genesis 1. 26. Hermann Gunkel
also comments on the violent connotation of the terms radh and khavsh; like
Ceronetti, he seems stunned by the violence implied by those verbs: people were
promised dominion over the earth and all animals in harsh terms ([ khavsh],
[ radh], to subdue). These are powerful words, the program for the whole
history of the culture of the human race! Here, too it seems a hymn to humanity
sounds through.32 The violent sense of feet trampling the earth and its creatures
gains legitimacy and urgency in Ceronettis new translation.
Ceronetti foretells that the earths demise will be the result of an excessive
number of people weighing on the planet: Allora, forse: riempite la terra e fatela
sparire sotto il vostro numero, riempite la terra e annientatela (DL, p.30). He
suggests the contradictory nature of the biblical text: it indicates subjugation, and
adopts violent terms, which are redolent of vita abbattuta, di nemico ucciso, di
femmina forzata, di terra contaminata (DL, p.30), and yet the beauty of the
images it evokes enchants the reader even if its message appears blurred.
Ceronetti believes that verses 26 and 28 are almost irreligious in their crude
summons to violence. Ceronetti is never tired of repeating that lirreligioso assalto
alla terra (e ai corpi celesti) che pochi occhi guardano piangendo, non nato dalla
ragione, liberata dalle nebbie mitiche, ma da questa remota sciagura sacra (DL,
p.34; emphasis added). Who would have ever conceived such an atrocious thought?
Perhaps, Ceronetti wonders, the underlying intention of the authors of Genesis 1
was to introduce Evil in the guise of a radical and blind human persecution of life
on earth.33 But whatever the reason behind these verses, Ceronetti warns us that
it is hard to follow the Scriptures and to arrive at a full understanding of what the
text says.34
To complicate things further, Ceronettis admission of amateurism, which
I believe stems mostly from his use of the humility topos, nevertheless forces the
reader to consider his very personal interpretation of those verses of Genesis with
some caution:
La verit da dire, senza vergogna, che sono un modesto filologo dilettante.
Il mio dilettantismo molto esteso, direi integrale; privo, qualche volta, di

Sestigiani Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna 425

freno; per non arrogante, anzi sovente contrito e spaventato. Insomma,

posso dirmi uno specialista di dilettantismo, il quale, confessando vuoti e
limiti, e mettendo in guardia contro i suoi risultati, spera di non essere, se
non per gioco, tra gente avvertita, un impostore.35
Armed with a very individual interpretative key, Ceronettis biblical exegesis is
striking and illuminating, but certainly open to criticism.36 It is necessary to bear
in mind his admission of unruly philological exegesis, but I believe that Ceronettis
strength lies mostly in the suggestions and the doubts he instils. Ceronetti thus
reads verses 26 and 28 of Genesis 1 in a new light. In an almost irreverent move,
Ceronetti sees the creation in Genesis as a declared war between humans and the
other living creatures in Eden, and maintains that that first treading on the earth
and on the creatures of Eden foreshadowed other devastating exploitations of
the planet earth. Moreover, Adams footprint on the bountiful Garden of Eden
will be the forerunner of another famous footprint: Armstrongs. His moonwalk
and his footprints on the ground seem to complete Gods commandment to have
dominion, or rather, as Ceronetti interprets it, to trample over the entire universe,
including the astral bodies.

6 The first naming: a mesmeric caress over the universe and Psalm 8

Ceronetti sees the arrival and landing of humans on the moon as a violent assertion
of power over a defenceless astral body, an angelico stupro (DL, p.72), to use
Ceronettis own words. His study of whether humans are truly entitled to have
dominion over, or rather to tread on, the universe, as the Bible seems to suggest,
and whether the 1969 moonwalk is a natural consequence of such a trampling,
proceeds in his analysis of Genesis 2 and Psalm 8.
Genesis 2 introduces Adams act of naming. Ceronetti has an ambivalent
attitude towards this biblical episode. For Ceronetti the practice of naming is
tantamount to the link keeping animals bound to humans. The very name that
humans give to them has an effect: it casts a spell on them. As Ceronetti writes:
qui c vera sottomissione, e autorit dallaltra parte, in senso antico, perch c
servit magica. Per il canale del nome, luomo pu agire su una serie illimitata di
esseri viventi (DL, p.36).37 The name forces both parties into a sort of captivity, as
if it evoked something of the inner self of the one who is named, who, in turn, falls
prey to the one who names. The magic of the name is so strong that, without the
name, no action could take place against the unnamed physical object. Ceronetti
again: senza il nome, non esiste azione su qualcuno: si taglia in due una lucertola,
mancando il nome non ci sarebbe il taglio (DL, p.36).38 But ultimately Ceronetti
believes that Adams naming does not justify violence against animals and the

426 the italianist 31 2011

entire creation. In a way it mitigates the brutality unleashed in verses 26 and 28 of

Genesis 1, as it does not necessarily imply a violent action. As Ceronetti remarks,
Gen. 2 dice che luomo nomina. Non si parla di stendere al suolo gli animali
nominati o di farne quel che si vuole, ancora meno di mangiarli (DL, p.36). The
power that humans exercise over animals through naming is milder than the power
indicated in Genesis 1. 26, but because it is mysterious and internal, Ceronetti
insinuates that there might be something more to it.
There is a dark and unexplored side to the act of naming, a bloody one.
Like a diviner who sees his rod shaking in the close presence of water, Ceronetti
intuits that something may lie underneath the Scriptures, although he is aware that
the text cannot reveal it openly: il testo ha orrore di essere pi preciso su questo
punto (DL, p.36). This is an example of the reticence of the Scriptures and of
a certain degree of ambiguity intrinsic in oracles.39 What is of interest here is the
magic power which is unleashed in the act of giving names. In verses 19 and 20
of Genesis 2, it has a positive connotation; however, Ceronetti has an inkling that
it could bring death as well as heavenly communion. In fact, in Psalm 8 the act of
naming is again linked with that same image of feet trampling Creation also seen
in Genesis 1. 26-28. Because verses 6-9 of Psalm 8 paraphrase Genesis 1. 26-28,40
they are a reminder of the violence in Genesis, and seem to suggest another source
of legitimisation of environmental abuse. The power of Gods name seems to also
indicate another source of dominion as stemming from the name itself. Ceronettis
translation of Psalm 8 sheds some light on this discussion on the act of naming.
2 O nostro ineffabile Signore

Quale potenza il tuo nome

Sopra tutta la terra


4


5



6

7

La tua forza celeste canter

[]
Quando vedo i tuoi cieli
Atto delle tue dita
E la luna e le stelle che hai fissato
Che cos luomo
Perch tu pensi a lui
E un figlio di uomo
Perch tu vegli su lui?
Ma poco meno di un Dio lo fai
Di luminosa gloria lo incoroni
Lo fai delle cose fatte
Dalle tue mani padrone
Metti sotto i suoi piedi
Tutte le cose

Sestigiani Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna 427

8

9

10

Tutte le pecore tutti i buoi

E le bestie delle lande
Uccelli del cielo e pesci del mare
Cosa che batta sentieri marini
O nostro ineffabile Signore
Quale potenza il tuo nome
Sopra tutta la terra.41

Like Genesis 1. 26 and 28, Psalm 8 was quoted and used as a sort of divine
authorization for violence on nature by ministers Maillot and Lelivre and by the
Papacy, as well as in press coverage of the 1969 moon landing. As in verses 26 and
28 of Genesis 1, in Psalm 8 we find references to human dominion over nature in
terms of feet walking over creatures and the face of the earth. And as in Genesis 2,
19 and 20, there is a reference to the act of naming. In this Psalm, the magic of the
name relates to God Himself. The potent name of God communicates and bestows
an extraordinary force on humans. Humans are not named by God, but His name
remains tatuato nei visceri (DL, p.43)and represents the matrix of all actions.
The name of God on Earth is the spark that initiates all action and life. 42
The names that Adam bestows on creatures and Nature in response to Gods
summons signal his dominion over them, but this dominion is gentler than the
one in Genesis 1. 26-28. Adams names are a natural psychic relationship which
allows communication and magic dominion: una carezza mesmerica, non un
rapporto stravolto carnefice-vittima, padrone-schiavo (DL, p.44), as Ceronetti
remarks. There is no sign of the violent relationship of Genesis 1 where humans are
truly the executioners of the animals. To stress this difference, Ceronetti remarks
that the verb mashl (dominare, signoreggiare) of Psalm 8. 7,43 is less strong
than radh and khavsh of Genesis 1. Even if the text explicitly mentions the
action of putting under the feet, which human beings can apply to the whole of
the rest of Creation, these are feet which are not trampling on a slaughtered thing.
Ceronetti muses:
Il Nome ha piedi, lunghi piedi, ma leggeri, che non si posano sulla luna per
lasciare unorma capace di durare (previsione di un fisico!) un milione di
anni, n sulla terra per fiaccarle il grugno, perch la luna e la terra sono gi
lorma dei suoi piedi. (DL, p.44; emphasis added)
The relationship of power between the name and the sheep, the name and
the fish that is referred to in Psalm 8, does not leave indelible scars, does not
trample on, nor does it violate astral bodies and stars. Like Adams mesmeric
caress in Genesis 2. 19-20, the name touches without striking. The moon
would not need to be literally walked on; to blow its name in the wind would
suffice to touch its surface.

428 the italianist 31 2011

7 Hegel, Blanchot and the act of naming

Yet the ambiguity of naming, because it implies a certain relationship of dominion

over the named objects, could be conducive to exploitation of the earth and the
moon. Ceronetti says that Il potere magico [del nome] pu condurre molto in l,
fino al sangue versato (DL, p.36). Ceronettis intuition of an unexplored dark
side to the act of naming of Genesis 2 perhaps reflects the theories of language
of Blanchot and Hegel, 44 and their particular take on the act of naming. In their
Jena Lectures on the Philosophy of Spirit and Literature and the Right to Death,
Hegel and Blanchot respectively mention the act of naming as narrated in Genesis
2. 19-20.45 As Alexandre Kojve has also remarked in his Introduction to the
Reading of Hegel,46 Hegel reads Adams naming of animals and the universe as a
sort of annihilation of those creatures and objects. Hegel remarks that in looking
at something, what is being looked at becomes one with the viewer. The viewer,
then, adds something to the object, namely that Night, that Self, in which the
viewer immerses the object, making it an object for them. What is added to the
object is a synthesis of content and I (the viewers looking); hence something of the
object has been lost. In Hegels words, the external object was negated [] in that
very synthesis, and has become something other than it is. It has come under the
domination of the Self [] Not only has a synthesis occurred, but the being of the
object has been negated (Hegel, p.88). Adams naming exemplifies this passage
of objectification. When he assigns a name to an animal or an object in unspoilt
Nature, that very name becomes the essence of the thing even though the thing
itself is altogether different from the noun. This name-giving is therefore a negative
function. By means of that function the thing is objectified. Hegel points out that
this is the most basic creativity exercised by the mind, and this creativity is in a
way recognized in Genesis. To name, Hegel summarises, is our way of creating all
Nature, possessing it as our own, stamping it with our spirit. Nature is thereby
made spiritual; the objects being is thus our own (Hegel, p.20).
According to Hegel, things do not impinge on us; rather than a realm of
images, the world is a realm of names, of meanings bestowed. The viewing Self
inflicts his/her meaning on objects by naming them, and in the name the objects
lose their own materiality: they are annihilated. In a passage of his Jena Lectures,
Hegel better explains this discourse:
Rather, it [the object] is a name, a sound made by my voice, something
entirely different from what it is in being looked at and this [as named] is
its true being. [] By means of the name, however, the object has been born
out of the I [and has emerged] as being []. This is the primal creativity
exercised by Spirit. Adam gave a name to all things. This is the sovereign
right [of Spirit], its primal taking-possession of all nature or the creation
of nature out of Spirit [itself]. (Hegel, p.89; emphasis added)

Sestigiani Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna 429

In his Literature and the Right to Death, Blanchot, taking the opening
move from Hegel and his Jena Lectures, also mentions the act of naming as
narrated in Genesis 2. 19-20. He famously outlines the role of death in language
and literature, maintaining that death is reproduced each time speech takes place.
Because of its distancing from the physicality of the object being uttered, speech
virtually kills the object off, turning it into an idea. By taking Hegels digression on
Adams first naming in his Jena Lectures as an example of this murderous action
of speech, Blanchot not only indicates the highly evocative power of the act of
naming as articulated in Genesis, but moreover suggests that his critical work on
language and literature somehow stems from that image. Blanchot glosses Hegel
by emphasising that according to the German philosopher the annihilation of
the object in the act of naming starts when an object is deprived of its materiality
and becomes an idea. Blanchot talks about a hecatomb (Blanchot, p.42) at the
moment of speech annihilating all creation. He retakes Hegels scene of the naming
in Genesis and comments:
God had created living things, but man had to annihilate them. Not until
then did they take on meaning for him, and he in turn created them out of the
death into which they had disappeared; only instead of beings (tres) and,
as we say, existants (existants), there remained only being (ltre), and man
was condemned not to be able to approach anything or experience anything
except through the meaning he had to create. (Blanchot, p.42)
Like a King Midas, the human being is condemned to giving death to anything
he speaks of. Each existing being is thus called out of existence by the idea which
consequently kills it with a name. Stemming from the first murder performed in
speech in the Garden of Eden of which Hegel speaks in his Jena Lectures, Blanchot
grieves for the loss of materiality of the object whose name is spelled out. The
damnation of literature is thus this suffocation of corporeality, which is surpassed
and sublimated in order to let speech take place. What man rejects by saying it,
like the cadaverous reality of Lazarus which smells bad and is lost in the tomb,
is the existence which precedes literature and is lost forever in speech (Blanchot,
p.46). In speaking, we are hence perpetrating a violence, which derives from
Adams first naming.
Hegels and Blanchots insights into the violence of the name, and its intrinsic
component in the nature of speech, uncomfortably justifies the brutality of the
subjugation of objects and creatures in nature. Reflecting the justifications used by
inconsiderate exploiters of the earths resources and moonwalkers in Ceronettis
Difesa della luna, Hegels and Blanchots ideas on language seem to mitigate the
scandal of the subjugation of the named and their lack of voice.47 The darker side
of naming, which Ceronetti perceives in the Scriptures, and on which he does not

430 the italianist 31 2011

elaborate because he interprets it as a sign of the opacity of the Sacred Text, is the
violence that is embedded in naming.

Conclusion

The American flag and footprint on the moon have the symbolic significance of
conquest, but also stand for a figurative annihilation of the astral body closest
to earth. Armstrongs footprint could be read as a consequence of the precept
given by God to humans in Genesis to have dominion over the whole of Creation.
Literally, Armstrong, as representative of humankind, has taken up the task of
trampling on the moon, thus assuming command over it. This action on the
moon resembles more the predatory act of possession of Genesis 1. 26 than the
more mitigated verses of the dominion through the act of naming of Genesis 2.
19-20. Ceronetti gives an interpretation of Genesis 2. 19-20 which sheds light
on the delicate taking of possession of the name. Its carezza mesmerica (DL,
p.44) communicates with the named object without exercising violence over it.
The act of naming of Genesis 2. 19 and 20 interpreted by Ceronetti is the delicate
communication between humans and nature which is absent in the stepping of
man on the moon.
In the view of the moon landing presented in Difesa della luna, by its
annihilating power, I argue that Armstrongs footprint is closer to Hegels violent
naming as taken up by Blanchot in his Language and the Right to Death.
Armstrongs foot violates the territory of the moon, literally squashes it under his
foot as he walks over the dead astral body. Man has hoisted his sign over it, and
erased the individuality of the moon. In a way, his action has cancelled the reign of
the moon, its mysterious influence over the tides and the cycles of the planet earth
and has forced his presence upon it. By being on it, man has appropriated the astral
bodys being and made it his own.
In conclusion, in Ceronettis Difesa della luna, environmental exploitation
and colonialism assume rapacious characteristics which stem from Ceronettis
reading of Genesis 1. 26. The abuse of the environment is described through
the image of feet, whose trampling originates in the first human treading on the
universe, and Armstrongs footprint on the moon therefore re-enacts the dark and
murderous step of Adam on the newly-created Earth.

Notes
1

Guido Ceronetti, Difesa della luna e altri argomenti

Many of his articles on extra-terrestrial exploitation

di miseria terrestre (Milan: Rusconi, 1971). All further

have been published in the Turin daily, La Stampa. In 2005

references are abbreviated to DL and are to this edition.

Adelphi published a collection of critical essays, which

Sestigiani Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna 431

also contains an extract from Difesa della luna. See Guido

Ceronetti, La lanterna del filosofo (Milan: Adelphi, 2005).

spezzati; Guido Ceronetti, La vita apparente (Milan:

Even though Ceronetti pays particular attention to

[T]utto quel che intraprendo, sono subito relitti e tronconi

Adelphi, 1982), p.117.

the moon and its myth in literature and our collective

10

imaginary, it should also be pointed out that Italian

(Rome: Bulzoni, 1993), pp.16-17. See Maurice Blanchot,

literature in general displays a special interest in imaginary

Tragic Thought, in The Infinite Conversation, translation

and real lunar voyages. I believe that this is mostly due

and foreword by Susan Hanson (Minneapolis: The

Alberto Roncaccia, Guido Ceronetti: critica e poetica

to a tradition of moon-related mythology in Italian

University of Minnesota Press, 1993), pp.96-105.

literature, which stems from Dante, Ariosto, and Leopardi.

11

It is interesting to note that Italian literature has taken a

critical stance towards the conquest of the moon. Apart
from Giuseppe Ungaretti, who welcomed the event as
the exploration of an amazingly beautiful landscape
(Album Ungaretti (Milan: Mondadori, 1989), p.267), many
Italian authors have perceived the event in a negative
light. Besides Ceronettis essay, Difesa della luna, Andrea
Zanzotto presents similar concerns with environmental
issues in his 1969 lunar poem Gli sguardi i fatti e senhal
(in Poesie e prose scelte (Milan: Mondadori, 2007),
pp.359-75). Giorgio Manganellis Sulla luna (in Lunario
dellorfano sannita (Turin: Einaudi, 1973), pp.129-33) also
criticises the event, and its sensationalist press coverage.
4

See also DL, p.18: Le nozioni, che la ricerca fornisce con

crescente velocit e ampiezza, sul disastro ecologico,

necessario saldarle con lintera storia dellesplorazione
spaziale, che figlia dellinquinamento.
5

See DL, p.41: I testi sacri sono filatori dinfiniti imbrogli, e

se qualche ingenuo pastore casca nelle loro trappole, non

da stupire. Bisogna affrontarli con diffidenza. Gli oracoli
non sarebbero veri oracoli, senza una misura variabile di

Elmire Zolla, Testimone e Geremia, Il Messaggero, 22

June 1971.
12

It is worth noting that in the contemporary Italian literary

scene, Erri De Luca has also translated some books of the

Bible from Hebrew into Italian. See Giona/Ion (Milan:
Feltrinelli, 1995); Kohlet/Ecclesiaste (Milan: Feltrinelli,
1996); and Il libro di Rut (Milan: Feltrinelli, 1999).
13

See Guido Ceronetti, La Sacra Sindone del Cristiano

Ignoto, Piccolo inferno torinese (Turin: Einaudi, 2003),

pp.84-89. Ceronetti talks about the sacred aura which the
Turin Shroud bestows upon the city. Ceronetti explains that
his torinesit (p.84) is imbued with the awareness of being
born in the city which hosts the Shroud
14

Alfredo Cattabiani, Quando leterno pi attuale

dellattualit. A colloquio con Guido Ceronetti, scrittore

tragico, Il tempo, 19 December 1982.
15

See Lorenzo Mondo, Difensori della luna, La Stampa,

1971 (consulted at the Fondo Ceronetti, Biblioteca

Cantonale di Lugano, precise date missing): laico, ma con
la voce roca, la passione e linvasamento degli antichi padri
della Chiesa.
See Pietro Citati, Ceronetti, il buio e il deserto, La

autentica disonest, che per loro come un paio di gambe,

16

per camminare in mezzo agli uomini.

Repubblica, 27 January 1991.

See Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel and the Human

17

See Citati: Ma le parole non gli bastano. Non colgono ci

Spirit: A Translation of the Jena Lectures on the Philosophy

che egli vorrebbe: il sacro.

of Spirit (1805-1806), trans. by Leo Rauch (Detroit MI:

18

Wayne State University Press, 1983), p.89.

7

See Maurice Blanchot, Literature and the Right to Death,

in The Gaze of Orpheus and Other Literary Essays, ed. by

P.Adams Sitney (Barrytown NY: Station Hill Press, 1981),
pp.21-62.
8

I wish to thank Francesco Bindi for forwarding to me

excerpts of his Tesi di Laurea entitled Guido Ceronetti

Opera Critica (Facolt di Lettere e Filosofia, Universit degli
Studi di Firenze, 2000). I am particularly indebted to his
insights into and analysis of Ceronettis Difesa della luna.

Pino Mercuri Il momento del senso: conversazione con

Guido Ceronetti, in Io e la morte, ed. by Pino Mercuri

(Milan: Edizioni dellApocalisse, 1980), pp.47-59 (p.56).
19

Lynn White, The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis,

Science 155 (3767) (10 March 1967), pp.1203-07.

20

See Andr Lelivre and Alphonse Maillot, Les Psaumes.

Chants damour: 1 75 (Lyon: ditions Olivtan, 2007; first

published, Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1962).
21

See DL, p.40: Il commento dei pastori evangelici Maillot

e Lelivre al libro dei Salmi contiene una nota al Salmo 8

432 the italianist 31 2011

che come il rictus della tenebra mentale, fotografata al

in Russia: Cosmonaut Worship to Orthodox Revival,

magnesio una cecit immobile e sicura.

Astropolitics, 7 (2009), 150-63.

22

Lelivre and Maillot, Les Psaumes, pp.79-80 (emphasis

added). See also DL, p.40.

23

See Ceronettis rejection of the papal blessing in DL,

25

See La Bibbia di Gerusalemme (Genoa: Marietti, 1989).

This text uses the official translation of the Conferenza

Episcopale Italiana, which was introduced in 1971, and

p.48: Giovanni XXIII, nel maggio del 1962, mentre in

which follows the indications of the Second Vatican

orbita volteggiavano [] Nikolaev e Popovic, dichiarava

Council: E Dio disse: Facciamo luomo | a nostra

che limpresa era apertamente confessata dalla Scrittura,

immagine, a nostra somiglianza, | e domini sui pesci del

dov detto (Gen.9,7): et ingredimini super terram et

mare | e sugli uccelli del cielo, | sul bestiame, | su tutte

implete eam (cos Elohim ai Noachidi, perch ripopolassero

le bestie selvatiche | e su tutti i rettili che strisciano sulla

la diluviata), e alla stravaganza della citazione papale

terra. | Dio cre luomo a sua imagine; | a imagine di

ripopolare la terra e passeggiare in unorbita spopolata

Dio lo cre; | maschio e femmina li cre. Dio li benedisse

stanno insieme come il miele e la polvere da sparo

e disse loro: | Siate fecondi e moltiplicatevi, | riempite la

replicavano i due pupilli della scienza progressista, che

terra; | soggiogatela e dominate | sui pesci del mare | e

n Dio n angeli si erano fatti incontro alla loro nave

sugli uccelli del cielo | e su ogni essere vivente, | che striscia

spaziale []. Povera scrittura, costretta a fare da treppiede

sulla terra (Genesis 1. 26-28). When I refer to the English

e da bersaglio a questi atleti del pensiero!. See also

translation of the Bible, I quote from The Jerusalem Bible

Astronautical and Aeronautical Events of 1962: Report

(London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1966).

of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

26

to the Committee on Science and Astronautics, U.S.

compare Giovanni Diodatis translation of the Bible which

House of Representatives Eighty-eighth Congress, First

dates from 1607 and which became very famous thanks

Session, June 12 1963, p.276: December 23: Pope John

to Gabriele DAnnunzios praise for its literary language.

XXIII, addressing diplomats gathered in Consistorial Hall

Diodatis translation uses signora in Genesis 1. 26. See

of the Vatican, called upon men of all nations to join in

also the Vulgate, which uses praesit in its translation,

cooperative and peaceful exploration of outer space. The

which can be rendered with governare, reggere,

church applauds mans growing mastery over the forces

proteggere, tutelare. Ceronetti comments on these

of nature. Thanks to those men who harbor thoughts of

translations in La difesa della luna (pp.26-27), stating

peace, mankind could dedicate itself, in noble rivalry, not

that none of them succeeds in rendering the force of the

to the great economic and social tasks which confront

Hebrew radh.

it but to the continuing exploration of space and to the

27

See La Bibbia di Gerusalemme, Genesis 1. 26, and

See DL, p.27: il senso di dominare, assoggettare,

bold achievements of modern technology; Pope Urges

nellebraico radh, viene dopo quello primo ed essenziale

Spacemen to Credit God, The Voice, August 1 1962, p.2;

di premere, pestare, calpestare, stendere al suolo.

Space at a Glance, Red Bank Independent Daily Register,

August 13 1962.
24

See DL, p.49: Papa Paolo VI ha mandato addirittura,

con Armstrong, in un disco, qualche nota del Salmo 8 sul

suolo lunare. Il giorno dellimpresa, allora della riuscita,
irradiava un messaggio di approvazione infinita. See also
Virgiliu Pop, Lunar exploration and the social dimension,
Proceedings ESLAB 36 Symposium, Earth-like Planets
and the Moons, ESTEC, Noordwijk (3-8 June 2002) ESA,
SP-514 (October 2002), p.300. Pop mentions Pope Paul
VIs Angelus of 7 February 1971, in which his Hymn to the
Glory of Man read: Honour to Man, king of the Earth, and
today prince of the heavens (Lunar exploration, p.300).
See also Virgiliu Pop, Viewpoint: Space and Religion

28

See Francesco Scerbo, Dizionario ebraico e caldaico del

Vecchio Testamento (Florence: Libreria Editrice Fiorentina,

1912), pp.342-43.
29

See Scerbo, Dizionario ebraico e caldaico, p.342. See

also Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament,

ed. by Francis Brown, S.R.Driver, and C.A.Briggs (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1951), p.922. For the meaning of
iard, see Hebrew and English Lexicon, p.432.
30

See DL, p.27: Qualche volta, radh si confonde con lhifl

di iard, discendere. See also Hebrew and English Lexicon,

pp.921-22.
31

See Scerbo, Dizionario ebraico e caldaico, p.131, n.14.

Sestigiani Guido Ceronettis Difesa della luna 433

32

Hermann Gunkel, Genesis, trans. by Mark E.Biddle,

di fenomeni incomprensibili accompagnati da dolori

(Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1997), p.114. On the

immeritati: c il talismano, c loracolo (Piccolo inferno

interpretation of Genesis 1. 26-28, and in particular the

torinese, p.84).

significance of humankinds dominion over the world, see

40

See Charles Augustus Briggs and Emilie Grace Briggs,

The Anchor Bible Dictionary, ed. by David Noel Freedman,

The International Critical Commentary. A Critical and

6 vols (New York: Doubleday, 1992), p.944: Dominion is

Exegetical Commentary on The Book of Psalms (Edinburgh:

not a license to caprice and tyranny but, in the best sense,

T.& T.Clark, 1927), pp.61-62: The relation of v. 6-9 (Psalm

a challenge to responsibility and the duty to make right

8) to Gn.1. 26-28 is evident [] We can hardly suppose

prevail. See also Bruce Vawter, Genesis: A New Reading,

that Gn.1 derived its conception from Ps. 8, for it is there

(London: Chapman, 1977), p.59.

part of the larger conception, and is therefore original and

33

See DL, p.31: Con lentrata in scena delluomo, il Dio

scopre la sua faccia di distruzione.

34

See DL, p.30: In questo garbuglio sacro, lamoralit

Ps. 8 derivative.
41

DL, p.39, p.43; my emphasis. Compare La Bibbia di

Gerusalemme, Psalm 8. 2-10: O Signore, nostro Dio, |

cos nuda, cos forte, che, per vincere la paura, i venuti a

quanto grande il tuo nome su tutta la terra: | sopra i cieli

contatto si affrettano a proclamare la grande bont di una

si innalza la tua magnificenza. | [] | Se guardo il tuo cielo,

simile legislazione.

opera delle tue dita, | la luna e le stelle che tu hai fissate, |

35

Guido Ceronetti, La musa ulcerosa (Milan: Rusconi,

1978), p.384.
36

See Claudio Casoli, Difesa della luna di Guido Ceronetti,

Letteratura, and Cesare Cavalleri, Difensore dufficio della

Luna, Avvenire, p.6. (Articles consulted at the Fondo
Ceronetti, Biblioteca Cantonale di Lugano, full publication
details missing). Both critics refer to the lack of soundness
of Ceronettis own interpretation of Genesis 1. 26-28.

che cosa luomo perch te ne ricordi | e il figlio delluomo

perch te ne curi? | Eppure lhai fatto poco meno degli
angeli, | di gloria e di onore lo hai coronato: | gli hai dato
potere sulle opere delle tue mani, | tutto hai posto sotto
i suoi piedi; | tutti i greggi e gli armenti, | tutte le bestie
della campagna; | gli uccelli del cielo e i pesci del mare. | O
Signore, nostro Dio, / quanto grande il tuo nome su tutta
la terra.
42

37

See also Peakes Commentary on the Bible, ed. by

Matthew Black and H.H.Rowley (London: Routledge,

2001), p.179: The act of naming is a very important

Si vede luomo agire, ma il Nome che lo muove, e il

nome non luomo (DL, p.44).

43

See Scerbo, Dizionario ebraico e caldaico, p.195. See also

symbol. It has in it an element of creative activity. To know

Hebrew and English Lexicon, p.605: rule, have dominion,

the name of a person or thing is to know its essential

reign.

nature and to have power over it.

38

It is curious that in order to demonstrate the power

44

It is worth noting that Ceronetti has translated from

French into Italian a book by Maurice Blanchot. See

of naming, Ceronetti gives an example where an act of

Maurice Blanchot, Il libro a venire, trans. by Guido Ceronetti

violence, seemingly deadly, is involved: literally, a naming

and Guido Neri (Turin: Einaudi, 1969). We can argue that

that invokes the cutting in two of an animal, and therefore

Ceronetti has been influenced by the French critic, even

its death. Similarly, Maurice Blanchot refers to the shadow

though, as has emerged from a conversation with Diana

of destruction which is contained in language and naming.

Resch, curator of the Fondo Ceronetti/Flaiano at the

Blanchot argues that language would not exist if living

Biblioteca Cantonale in Lugano, after his 1969 experience

creatures were not capable of dying, since language is a

as translator of Blanchot, he has not taken any further his

bold allusion to death, a deferred assassination. See

study of the French author.

Blanchot, Literature and the Right to Death, pp.42-43.

39

Ceronetti often uses the word oracolo to refer to the

45

In a text dating from before The Phenomenology,

Hegel, here the friend and kindred spirit of Hlderlin,

Sacred Scriptures (see DL pp.41-43, p.54, p.58); Ceronetti

writes: Adams first act, which made him master of the

adopts the term oracolo also to define the Turin Shroud:

animals, was to give them names, that is, he annihilated

essere nati in prossimit di qualcosa che abbia aura e

them in their existence (as existing creatures) (Blanchot,

suggello sacro attenua la sventura di entrare in un mondo

Literature and the Right to Death, p.42).

434 the italianist 31 2011

See Alexandre Kojve, Introduction to the Reading of

although it does not thereby exploit, it may well open the

Hegel: Lectures on the Phenomenology of Spirit, trans. by

way to exploitation. See Martin Heidegger, The Age of the

James H.Nichols Jr., ed. by Allan Bloom (Ithaca, NY: Cornell

World Picture, in The Question Concerning Technology and

University Press, 1980), pp.3-30.

Other Essays (New York & London: Garland, 1977); see also

46

47

It is interesting to note that Martin Heidegger too guards

Kate Rigby, Topographies of the Sacred. Poetics of Place

us against the danger of enframing in language. He warns

in European Romanticism (Charlottesville and London:

that in naming things in accordance with a logic that is not

University of Virginia Press, 2004), p.124.

necessarily their own, language inevitably enframes, and

Sabina Sestigiani, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

(sabina.sestigiani@hotmail.com)
Department of Italian Studies, University of Reading and Departments of Italian, University of Cambridge and University of Leeds

10.1179/026143411X13184933852010

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