Franco Moretti's 'Black Flag' Explores Tragedy and Civil War

Literary critic Franco Moretti has published a new book titled 'Bandiera nera. Forma tragica e guerra civile' (Black Flag: Tragic Form and Civil War) with Einaudi in 2026. The book examines the relationship between tragic form and civil war, drawing on examples from Shakespeare and other literary works. The title references the practice at the Globe Theatre in Shakespeare's time, where a black flag was raised to signal a tragedy, a white flag for a comedy, and a red flag for a history play. Moretti's work is discussed in an article by Giacomo Petrarca and Anita Romanello, published on doppiozero.com on August 14, 2026. The article opens with a reference to Franco Battiato's 1981 song 'Sul ponte sventola bandiera bianca' and its allusion to the Doors' 'The End' as used in Francis Ford Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' (1979). Moretti's book appears to explore how civil war, an internal conflict among 'similar' people, has been represented in tragic literature, with Shakespeare as a central figure. The publication is part of Einaudi's catalog and contributes to contemporary literary criticism.