Alexandre Deleyre, Agostino Paradisi il Giovane e la polemica letteraria del 1765 sulla (presunta) decadenza dell’Italia

Abstract

The present article takes into exam the French-Italian literary controversy that took place in 1765 and which, despite its brief duration, revived the national sentiment in wide portion of the Italian cultured world. The dispute began in response to an anonymous Lettre, although sent by the French Alexandre Deleyre (1726-1797), published on march 1765 in the Parisian journal Gazette littéraire de l’Europe: according to the controversial Encyclopedist, eighteenth century Italy was in full moral, cultural, political and economic decadence. The Italian poet Agostino Paradisi il Giovane (1736-1783) sent to the Venetian journal «La Minerva» a very well informed anonymous Epistola. It was printed on october 1765, and is to be considered the clearest and most thoughtful response from the Italian side to Deleyre’s denounces and accusations.