Abstract EN:

At the beginning of the 20th century, the traditional values were chal-lenged again, and it caused a severe crisis among the intellectuals, who felt excluded from the economical progress; serra feels it even more as he is personally tormented, and particularly sensitive, and it becomes the origin of an elaborate analysis and of a pathetic effort in order to take new resolutions. With his solid classical background, and being a faithful disciple of carducci, he defends the traditional culture against the anarchic inva-sion of the new ideas spread by the florentine group of "la voce", at least, as long as he has not discovered the ferments really able to deve-lop an authentic renewal. In spite of a deep provincialism and dilettan-tism, he keeps in touch with both italian and french novelties, and he renders a reliable account of the critics of his time. Instead of follo-wing croce like everyone else, he tries to make carducci's method more actual : it is a "know-how-to-read", that is to say a concrete and deep con-tact with the writer; it is also a technique which is half a reserved autobiography based upon the identity of the human soul and half a col-laboration intending to understand the work in all its dimensions and to promote it.