Primo Levi's Science Fiction

Levi first began writing science fiction stories relatively early on in his writing career. Many stories first appeared in newspapers such as Il mondo and Il giorno and were reworked for republication in the later collections. They thus run contemporaneous with his testimonial work, and, as I show, act as extensions of Levi’s writing about the Lager. This chapter, as well as exploring such links, examines the ways in which Levi uses fiction as a vehicle to comment on and think through contemporary and future scientific developments. In this sense they are themselves forms of experimental writing. In particular, it looks at his problematization of scientific ‘progress’ as inevitably beneficial for human life, and explores the moral and ethical concerns that he feels are raised by such developments. It also analyses his engagement with the technologization of social life and the body, as it impacts on individual identity and autonomy, asking finally what suggestions these experiments hold for our own futures.