Dear readers,
Since you are reading this editorial, it means that we made it to September 11 – a date laden with meaning on its own, but which, for us, becomes simply the day this issue, Prometeo 171, was published. It has been a peculiar summer. This summer season has been climatically contradictory and politically intense. It has been unusually so, since this season is normally marked by a certain communal pause. The seasonal sentiment is expressed not only in how summer sees a certain communal dormancy, but also in the root of vacation, which derives from “vacuum,” or emptiness.
What will autumn have in store for us? What lies ahead? Hard to say, prophecies are not our forte. Besides, as the great French diplomacy was fond of reminding us, “Politique et amour, ni jamais ni toujours.” It may be, then, that the meeting at the August summit in Alaska may dilute the acme of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and bring the issue back to a painful but necessary negotiating track.
However, the possible reflections are not entirely optimistic. And not so much about Kiev and its environs, but on a global scale. That is why we have devoted no less than twenty pages to a topic that, unfortunately, seems destined to resurface with a high degree of virulence: the return of nationalisms. Revised, corrected, hybrid, even democratic, in short, put whatever adjective you like, but the end of globalization, as it has developed over the past thirty years, only foments new territorial, or better yet geostrategic, contentions under the guise of patriotism.
True to its editorial line, Prometeo avoids the newsfeed reportage on certain contexts, regardless of how much on is the time’s agenda. Instead, measure in our approach, Prometeo has enlisted three specialists – Francesco Dall’Aglio, Giovanni Savino and Paolo Di Motoli – to provide us a researched account of three relevant nationalisms: the Slavic, the Russian and the Israeli. All three are examined from a historical perspective The excavation of roots that run deep into history remains our guiding principle for interpreting events, and, on closer inspection, it is the only possible radical stance at this moment.
The September issue offers many features worth noting, and it is only due to space constraints that I limit myself to a few. I cannot fail to recommend Rinaldo Psaro’s article on the periodic table: we thought we had studied it in high school, that we knew enough about it, but retracing its history from Mendeleev’s discovery to the present day sheds new light on the subject. Equally rich and multidisciplinary is Adele Molinaro’s report on oxygen, once Lavoisier’s “acid generator,” forever suspended between life and toxicity. Two contributions stand out for their evocative power: Luca Fezzi’s reading of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives as a tool for refining the art of leadership, and Giacomo Berchi’s portrait of the youthful life and intense thought of Pico della Mirandola. There is also a strong literary presence in Prometeo 171: Alessandro Pagnini revisits the mean- ing – pedagogical, but also social – of poetry through T.S. Eliot; Rosita Copioli restores the tragic figure of
Electra to her grandeur; and Anna Chichi reflects on the “end of history,” beginning from Stefano D’Arrigo’s “Horcynus Orca.”
I cannot help but dwell, in closing the Editorial, on the first feature and the last of the issue. I’ll joke about it and say that they are the alpha and omega of this Prometeo. At the opening of this Prometeo, you will find a short note under my signature with essential information about our archive, which, as promised, is now beginning to appear online. It may raise eyebrows, but I consider it an important milestone.
At the end of the issue, instead, you will find a bold experiment, presented without preconceptions. For now I will say no more, except that we will surely return to it in the future. In the meantime, read it—and if anyone wishes to comment, please write me.
Alas, assuming that September is the true New Year, best wishes to us all.
Gabriella Piroli