THE EMPOWERED WORKSHOP

THE BACKGROUND TO GRAMSCI'S PHILOLOGICAL READING

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the background of the philological approach that has inspired Gramscian studies since the late 1970s. The aim is to identify to which antitheses it was submitted, even before aiming to become hegemonic in the interpretation of Gramscian work. The objective of this text is to present to the Brazilian public the antecedents of the philological current that elaborated the working method which, today, is the inspiration for the so-called National Edition of the Prison Notebooks, currently under elaboration in Italy. This text is divided into three parts. In the first part, an attempt is made to establish the historical links between traditional philology and its genetic-critical strand. The second and third parts deal, respectively, with the contributions of Gianfranco Contini and Dante Isella in the conception of the method that would consecrate its formulators, to the point of being structural for critical editions of classical authors of Renaissance literature and, more importantly for our case, of Antonio Gramsci.