Word
Shards – Anthology by Maria Cristina Buoso
Review
by Maria Teresa De Donato
A remarkable expressive
ability and a desire for experimentation characterize Maria Cristina Buoso’s literary
production.
In Schegge di parole (= Word
Shards), this second aspect certainly dominates and takes the
reader back, at least as far as the form is concerned, to the literary
avant-gardes of the early twentieth century. These avant-gardes aimed to break
with the past and with tradition and, on the contrary, projected towards the
future, modernity, speed, and technology. This was especially true of the
futurist current this Anthology is inspired by.
From an aesthetic point
of view, onomatopoeic expressions, ‘free words’ that do not respect the use of
margins, uppercase, and lowercase letters used to emphasize concepts and
feelings rather than respecting spelling rules; extremely short sentences,
often expressed by a single verb are like bullets that hit a target, they get
straight to the point, they do not get lost in explanations or narratives.
The concept is clear,
and the
message is almost brutal. There are no embellishments of any kind.
The precariousness of
Life is denounced openly and without subterfuge or euphemisms:
*Let's
Paint
with
our Hands
So as NOT to Dirty our
Hearts
with
Too Much Joy.* (Buoso, 2021, p. 12)
The theme of femininity
is also present in this work. However, it is not a superficial, ephemeral, or
sappy femininity, but rather an authentic, visceral, rebellious, and contesting
one that scrupulously observes the world around her and, in particular, her own
"cracks":
I
am a shadow
That
CROSSES My Body
That
Trudges Tired
[…]
Among
Lost Petals […]
Of
Dust and Smoke. (p. 13)
Aspects such as fake
feelings, indifference, and hostility are denounced by highlighting the
spiritual poverty that dominates today's world full of "soulless
bodies..." (p. 19)
Parentheses used in
reverse and interspersed with suspension points seem to be the metaphor of how
everything and the opposite of everything is possible: nothing is certain,
nothing is defined, everything is yet to be discovered, understood, evolved ...
while the observer can only wait for what must happen ... to reveal itself.
For the reader who goes beyond
the aesthetic examination, Schegge di parole is an Anthology of profound
concepts, truths, even burning ones, that are shouted and revealed without
subterfuge or word games. Those who must understand ... and want to ... they will, while the others ... shall
continue to lead their meaningless life
“In
the Coldness of the Winter
Of
a Modern World.* (p. 44)
A further characteristic
of this work is the alternating sensations, feelings, hopes, and desires, through
which it distances itself from Futurism precisely because of these aspects.
Although from an
aesthetic point of view, this Anthology takes us back to Filippo Tommaso
Marinetti and the Manifesto of the avant-garde literary movement he developed,
in substance we perceive from the verses of the author, Maria Cristina Buoso, a
feeling of anger and frustration, but also a nostalgic streak for something
that Humanity has lost and that seems difficult, if not impossible, to recover
and, therefore, the consequent and veiled regret for a tradition and a past
that are certainly more significant.
