DB as a writer is moderate, essential, clear and effective
He demonstrates a command of narrative writing
He is more immediate and to the point in recounting facts often spoken of viva voce and in talking of dreams full of details
His dialogues are fluent
At times the dialogue highlights pastoral and educational attitudes dear to him
At other times he is apologetic: he shows things or argues with things passionately
At other times he is intimate and spiritual
While at other times he is ordinary, popular
Clear ability, refined over long period, to compose,
In scenes where he presents a typology of characters threaded with caricature the writing is very effective
He puts together tiny but complete tales of adventure
Tonal variety and shades of meaning
All in function of a narrative plan with great symbolic, practical intensity
Narrative order:
Events are not imagined
DB needed to work on a range of memories, events, emotions, sensations experienced over different periods
And he needed to order them according in a particular way: their reference to the Oratory of St Francis de Sales
Surfacestructure
(chronology as organising principle)
Spatialstructure
(geography as organising principle)
Deepstructure
(inner organising principle)
The surface structure(declared in the introduction) is sub-divided into Decades
Ten years of early childhood
1825-1835
1835-1845
1845-1855
Chapters , within these decades, highlight:
The character’s formational journey on the one hand
The progressive appearance and shaping of elements which make up the Oratory
Spatial structure
DB attributes particular value to places and settings where his oratorian vocation developed: These are points on a symbolic map
The variety and succession of places becomes an important organising principle for the narrative: values linked with spaces
Change of place: pilgrimage towards the promised land of the Oratory
The deep structure (beneath the surface)
Is made up of:
DB’s value systems
Beliefs
Mental framework (mentality, culture)
Emerges free, beyond any formal division
Behind it all there is DB the man, with his entire inner world
This deep element (very much alive in the MO) gives the document intense polysemic value and makes it most precious for us
The various organisational structures enrich the overall scene with its glimpses and multi-faceted views, with tones and shades of meaning which attrracts a range of readers with different interests
Ideal readers DB had in mind:
Salesians of the ’70’s of the 19th century
with well-defined mental features
equipped with a bagful of tools for interpretation identical to his own,
a kind of spirituality typical for his setting
a theological and pedagogical terminology with meanings different to our own
The interpretation of the MO and full understanding of the author’s intentions requires:
