Alberto Moravia’s 1929 novel ‘Gli indifferenti’ remains a stark portrait of Italian bourgeois apathy

Alberto Moravia’s debut novel ‘Gli indifferenti’, published in July 1929, depicts a Roman bourgeois family obsessed with money and appearances, revealing a society exhausted by moral indifference. The work quickly secured Moravia’s place as a leading voice in 20th‑century Italian literature.

Writer and critic Walter Siti, in his new essay published by Rizzoli, argues that contemporary fiction has become a “therapeutic” safe‑space that avoids discomfort. He warns that the novel has lost its historic “devil’s courage”, stating, “Il romanzo non ha più il coraggio di essere ‘del diavolo’.” Siti calls for literature that again scares readers and challenges prevailing ethical sanitisation.

Both pieces reflect an ongoing debate in Italy about the role of the novel: from Moravia’s early critique of a complacent bourgeoisie to Siti’s plea for literature that confronts rather than comforts.