Cappelli, pipe e bastoni. Una strategia narrativa nel Don Giovanni in Sicilia di Vitaliano Brancati

This paper explores how Vitaliano Brancati employs objects as narrative devices in Don Giovanni in Sicilia. Rather than serving a mimetic function, items such as portraits, pipes, and walking sticks create networks of resemblance and reflection that shape the characters’ identities. In particular, they render Giovanni Percolla visible without direct psychological depth, revealing Brancati’s critique of simplistic realism. The study argues that this interplay between characters and things constitutes a key strategy of the novel and a hallmark of Brancati’s style.