The vanishing intellectual and artist: a crisis of collective direction

Domenico Ioppolo argues that intellectuals and artists have lost their role as societal guides, a function they held for centuries. He traces the decline from the 1970s debates on the intellectual's role, referencing figures like Alberto Asor Rosa, Eluard, Sartre, Picasso, Guttuso, Adorno, Foucault, Vittorini, Togliatti, Moravia, Morante, Grotowski, Ronconi, Olivetti, Feltrinelli, Fortini, and Pasolini. Today, these figures are eclipsed by a technological narrative that deems them obsolete. The dominant condition is atomization, leading to cognitive bewilderment and an inability to read reality. Society is described as 'hikikomorized,' with cohesion reduced to ephemeral brands, influencers, and viral events. The article cites a Campus study on youth mythology where 1,200 interviewees produced over 580 distinct references, indicating no hegemonic models. Ioppolo links the decline to the rise of personal parties in Italy, starting with the Berlusconi era, which ended the collective intellectual. He calls for a new synthesis between humanism and technology, reintegrating intellectuals and artists as symbolic mediators. The piece ends with a reference to Pope Francis and a call to reimagine shared horizons.