"Madness is a human condition. Madness exists and is present in us as reason is. The problem is that society, in order to call itself civilised, should accept both reason and madness, instead it mandates a science, psychiatry, to translate madness into illness in order to eliminate it. The asylum has here its raison d'être." (Franco Basaglia, 'Che cos'è la Psichiatria', Baldini Castoldi 1967)
One hundred years ago Franco Basaglia was born in Venice, promoter of psychiatric reform in Italy and responsible for the collective awareness of an uncomfortable, yet undeniable truth: madness, as a human condition, is present in us as reason is. Starting in 1978, the 'Basaglia Law' inspired by him - which provided for the closure of asylums - had a strong impact on Como too, where the large provincial psychiatric hospital had been in operation since 1882.
On the basis of these premises, we have dedicated the 24th edition of the Parolario 2024 Literary Festival to the theme of MADNESS.
From Tuesday 4 to Sunday 9 June in Como and from Friday 14 to Monday 17 June in Cernobbio, MADNESS will therefore be the subject of book presentations, meetings, debates and visits that will delve into its medical-psychiatric, psychoanalytical and social aspects and, above all, its literary, poetic, philosophical, artistic and technological implications. Since the time of Aristotle, in fact, it has been said that genius and madness have much in common, or even that they are confused.After all, what is the creative process, if not the fruit of an absolutely personal deviation from the canons of thought, from the habits of interpretation of reality, from the paradigms of action?What is certain is that, in this edition too, Parolario will remain faithful to its mission: to promote books and reading, to disseminate information and opinions, to tell stories, to provide food for thought, all in the name of the pleasure of meeting and entertaining with intelligence.
