‘Not all our books will perish,’ writes the elderly Emperor Hadrian in a long, passionate and melancholic letter to his adopted grandson, Marcus Aurelius. After Antoninus Pius, the sceptre of command will pass to him. Hadrian advises him ‘The founding of libraries was like constructing more public granaries, amassing reserves against a spiritual winter which by certain signs, in spite of myself, I see ahead.’ The many, albeit controversial, connections with knowledge (including those aimed at governing power and exercising self-control over one’s own power), love and books bring to life the most intense pages of Marguerite Yourcenar’s ‘Memoirs of Hadrian’.  They suggest a steadfast commitment to keeping words, stories, testimonies and memories alive.

The written word  and good books help us to understand the difficult times we are going through, offering us explanations, consolation and companionship. Or, why not? A hint of a way out. In an era of ever-increasing digitalisation and the controversial success of AI, it is important to look beyond the headlines about the strategies of Big Tech and focus on the world of well-written printed pages,  in the world of books, that is.

Over 160,000 people attended Pordenonelegge from 16 to 20 September for the ‘Festival of Books and Freedom’, which opened with a lecture from Salman Rushdie and concluded with an address from the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella. The festival featured around 450 events, which were attended by nearly 700 figures from the worlds of culture, business, poetry, and literature. International guests included writers who have been persecuted in Afghanistan, China, Morocco, Iran, Russia, Turkey and Algeria, and have been forced into silence or exile. Yet here they were listened to by a large audience in the new Dissensio Arena.  Italian writers also demonstrated their ability to narrate and interpret our complex contemporary world.

The event’s symbol is the dandelion, a wild plant that grows even in cracks in concrete, much like words of freedom. The aim is ‘to bear witness to the fact that there can be no freedom of the book without freedom of thought, and no true democracy without the possibility of dissent’, as Michelangelo Agrusti, president of the Pordenonelegge Foundation and Confindustria dell’Alto Adriatico, maintains. The support of businesses and the Chamber of Commerce has been fundamental ever since the first edition 27 years ago. And as President Mattarella said,  ‘In democracies, it is the pluralism of opinion that prevents power, including digital power, from becoming entrenched in a truth that it seeks to impose. The right to express opinions acts as a bulwark against arbitrariness and curbs the temptation towards illiberal democracy that is re-emerging globally’. In short, ‘groupthink is a tool of oppression’, and books are an effective antidote.

Pordenonelegge is one of many festivals, book fairs, debates and events organised in Italy. It is certainly one of the most prestigious and popular, alongside the Mantua Literature Festival, ‘Il libro possibile’ in Polignano a Mare, the Festival della Mente in Sarzana and the Giffoni Film Festival. Nonetheless, the Italian festival landscape boasts over 2,722 such events (Il Sole 24 Ore, 20 September). This is a sign of vitality and a growing desire for knowledge, free, open and civilised debate, involving several million people, including young people, in both major cities and provincial towns. This echoes Jürgen Habermas‘ idea of a well-informed, ‘discursive’ public sphere, capable of informed and critical public discourse, which we are slowly but surely losing all trace of.

We must therefore reconstruct ‘the path of words’. We should follow Emperor Hadrian’s advice about libraries, such as the Civic Library currently under construction in Turin’s Valentino district. This 20,000-square-metre building is designed to house 600,000 documents and books, all of which will be easily accessible thanks to a sophisticated high-tech system. Or, on a smaller scale, such as school libraries, those in factories and hospitals, or neighbourhood bookshops, organised by the City of Milan and entrusted, through a competitive tender process, to independent booksellers, to breathe new cultural life into several of the city’s neighbourhoods. This is a strategic choice for the future of books, given that Istat confirms (Il Sole 24 Ore, 20 July) that the most frequent library users are young people under the age of 24 (55.1% of those surveyed visit more than ten times a month: a space for cultural enrichment, but also for socialising and creativity).

We go to university to read books on paper and educate ourselves, rather than trying to do so via digital devices. According to research by the AIE (Association of Publishers),  88% of lecturers consider books to be ‘crucial’ for education and better learning (Il Sole 24 Ore, 20 September).

It’s not just about receiving a more in-depth, high-quality education (which impacts civic awareness, social cohesion, critical and creative thinking, and economic productivity). It is also about improving the quality of individual lives.

‘Reading is good for you’, writes Enrico Franceschini in La Repubblica (20 September), citing a study by the University of Cambridge which ‘demonstrates the positive effect of books on physical and mental health’: a lower risk of cognitive decline and senile dementia, increased grey matter, improved interpersonal skills, and an enhanced sense of general well-being.  An effect that is amplified by sharing what we read and the books themselves. ‘It is never too late to start reading’, concludes the Cambridge study, publicised by The Times and the BBC.

As Pordenonelegge shows us, the dandelion, which can survive even among stones, is the perfect symbol of this.

(photo Getty Images)