The aim of this essay is to explore the relationship between the word and the fictional concealment in the narrative work of
one of the most original – but, strangely, least known – Italian authors of the 20th century, Tommaso Landolfi. This analysis
examines a single work by Landolfi, the long story Ottavio di Saint-Vincent, which seems to have a particular relationship
with the whole narrative production of this author because of its concern with metanarrative. The story of the poor poet Ottavio of
Saint Vincent, who pretends to be a fictional duke conforming to the duchess’ wishes, surfaces more than once as a metaphor for
literary creation itself.
