Gadda

Gadda is an Italian surname. The most prominent bearer is Carlo Emilio Gadda (1893–1973), an Italian writer whose career spanned journalism, engineering, and fiction. Born in Milan, he trained as an engineer and worked in industry before devoting himself to literature.

Gadda’s work is marked by linguistic experimentation, polyphonic narration, and a dense, encyclopedic use of vocabulary. He is regarded as a major figure in 20th‑century Italian literature, bridging naturalistic and modernist traditions and foreshadowing some aspects of postmodern writing. His prose often combines technical, legal, dialectical, and everyday language to analyze social and existential questions within Italian society.

Among his best‑known books are La cognizione del dolore (1936), a psychologically and socially intricate novel that examines memory and guilt, and Quer pasticciaccio brutto de via Merulana (1957), a long, intricate investigation of a murder in Rome. These works are noted for their complex structure, sharp social critique, and a stylistic richness that challenges conventional narrative forms.

Gadda’s influence extends beyond his immediate historical context; his experimental approach to language and form has inspired later generations of writers and scholars, contributing to discussions of how language, power, and identity intersect in modern literature. He remains a central reference point in studies of Italian modernism and 20th‑century narrative technique.