SACRAMENT OF TESTIMONY: AGAMBEN AND BIBLICAL LANGUAGE IN PRIMO LEVI'S SE QUESTO E UN UOMO

The article presents a previously untried link between Primo Levi's Se questo e un uomo and Giorgio Agamben's Il sacramento del linguaggio, which does not have explicit references to Levi, yet contains intriguing ideas that seem to resonate powerfully with his text. In particular, I argue that some of the concepts developed by Agamben may offer new keys to develop our understanding of the biblical language employed by Levi, with a specific focus on the opening poem and on the image of Babel in Se questo e un uomo. In considering the juridico-religious functioning of the oath in relation to truth and language, a comparative analysis of Se questo e un uomo with the language of the Bible, in particular Deuteronomy, is pursued in order to consider Levi's book as that primary sacrament of language, by virtue of which it is possible to recognize the poem Shema as a sacrament of testimony.