Gli immaginari tecnologici di Primo Levi

Reflections on the need for a socially sustainable evolution of the human-machine relationship easily intertwine with Primo Levi’s narratives. His short stories, in particular, showcase forms of human-machine interaction, envisaging as a critical concern the possible submission of the former to the latter. Conversely, the ideal of a positive development of technology is explored antiphrastically in several stories that will be the subject of investigation. The machines at the core of these narratives, acting as destabilising elements and alienating the characters from the real world, should not, however, be associated with a phobic portrayal of the places and spaces that contextualise them. The fear of enslavement to the machine by the subject who uses it is rather presented dialectically: how far can we go? Can a line be drawn somewhere between the aptness of unleashing one's curiosity and the need to curb one’s desire for knowledge? Levi presents the reader with a series of more or less implicit questions, focusing on ethical issues. The stories seem to aim at reorienting the dystopian perspectives of much science fiction literature, suggesting the valorisation of critical thinking as a possible way out against the feared technological drift.