Lieblose Turandot. Hildesheimer e la noia del potere

Between 1954 and 1963 Hildesheimer proposed four different versions of the theatrical fable Turandot, well known in Europe mainly thanks to the Carlo Gozzi’s play (1762) and the F. Schiller’s later rendition (1802). Hildesheimer distanced himself both from the Gozzi/Schiller tradition and from other nineteenth- twentieth-century versions, by focusing rather than on the main character – the Princess Turandot – on another figure, who was not present in the traditional versions: the fake Prince of Astrakhan. This new character is an adventurer/ artist, who is able to break the rules of the trial the story is centered around, unmasking the power games in the Peking Court. Throughout the following decade, Hildesheimer then turned the figure of the adventurer/artist/forger, provocatively recommitted, into an intellectual capable of social and political involvement.