the publication
twelve o’clock, October 15, 2021 – 12:55 pm
Written by Renato Papale with illustrations by Paco Desiato, a journey through the city and history of Naples accompanied by Parthenope, or ‘Munaciello and Virgilio. And most of the texts in dialect
from Anna Volpicelli
Raphael Jones is an American archaeologist who on a journey, first oneiric and then physical, from San Francisco arrives in Naples. Here, after meeting Parthenope and witnessing the founding myth of Naples, he is captured by O ‘Munaciello with whom he quickly and adventurously retraces thirty centuries of history and urban development, to then finally meet in Posillipo the Magus Virgil, the one who with his wisdom and knowledge will reveal to him the true nature of the city. This is the story of the new book Raphael Jones in Search of Hidden Harmony (The Spark Press publisher), written by Renato Papale with illustrations by Paco Desiato. The book will be presented on October 16 within the Comicon Extra programming at The Spark Press headquarters in Piazza Bovio 33 in two events: at 11 am to 4:20 pm with a treasure hunt for children.
Engineer and writer
They come from a family of architects – tells us Papale, engineer by profession and writer by passion – and when I was a boy my father took me for long walks around Naples where he showed me and illustrated the architectural beauties of the city. It is precisely these long walking itineraries that, after many years, have inspired the creation of this book. A comic aimed at children aged 8 and over, correlated by a digital version (ardann.org), which provides a sort of in-depth analysis of the various characters that are told in the book, including Virgil, Parthenope, O’Munaciello and many others . The intention is to stimulate future adults to get to know the city through the search for the unison that is denied and hidden in the urban fabric, but which must be rediscovered and brought back to the fore.
shadow carousel
The Neapolitan comic by Raphael Jones
The duality
Naples has all its contradictions – says Papal – for every quality there is always its opposite. And this duality and complexity in the book is well represented in an allegorical way by the character of the siren (Parthenope), in which different natures live in a perfect way. A sort of melodic coherence that in Naples, over time, has waned a bit. But not lost, just hidden. The concept of harmony deliberately recalls Raffaele La Capria’s essay “The Lost Harmony”, in which the author at the end of the 1980s told of Naples as a place where distinct and different cultural strains that once were in union live but who today meet daily without ever recognizing each other. Actually not so. It is not true that it no longer exists, it must only be sought, Papale emphasizes.
Empathy with the city
The task of the boys, therefore, with the support of Raphael Jones, is to retrace the stages of the city, cross and immerse themselves in its alleys with the eyes of amazement, feel that welcoming and sparkling energy again, establish a visceral empathy with everything, in order to rediscover that harmony, which today, at times, has been forgotten and has left room for division and mistrust, La mistridenza makes sad, says Papale, quoting a famous phrase by Tot. The author, who has returned to Naples for some years , after having lived in various Italian cities, including Pisa, and traveled the world for work, especially to San Francisco, where he worked on a geothermal engineering project, with this book he wants to provide readers with a renewed awareness of the beauties of Naples, transmit to citizens the strength of their identity, of being Neapolitan.
The exhibition
Not a question of citizen pride – explains Papale – but a means to regain awareness of whether to start again. Here creativity, innovation, diversity, openness, plurality, imagination and interculture are closely related, omnipresent and represent the ingredients to make Naples a leading city in the world, as it deserves to be. During the presentation of the book, an exhibition will also be set up with the illustrations created by Desiato. In 2016 – says Desiato, who teaches at the Italian school of Comix – I published a book on Partenope, Mamm’acqua, set in Naples that talked about the value of public water. A political book that I wanted to turn into an epic tale. Renato found the publication and contacted me about the project. After a long chat in which the two discovered many common interests, including walking around the city, they put their hand to the book, turning it into a sort of comic.
It Qr code
Each character shown on the card has a QR code next to it. says Desiato – who, once scanned, takes them back to the website where they can learn more about each character represented. They can play together with them – explains Desiato while walking through the Petraio – Through these figures the youngest, who are our future, can discover by becoming the true history of Naples that is often forgotten. The volume aims to be the first of a series of publications, in which, riding a little bit the image of the Indiana Jones sequel, in each episode an adventure opens in search of the treasure, in this case of harmony, hidden in Naples . A harmony that is revealed at the end of the reading by Virgil, who paraphrasing a well-known Neapolitan proverb says Raf, chesta Citt nun perdente, annascnne.
15 October 2021 | 12:55
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