"Shamela o del dialogo parodistico"

The paper offers a study of Henry Fielding’s epistolary satire Shamela – published anonymously in 1741 as a reply to Richardson’s Pamela ‒ by considering its dialogical dimension from different points of view. In the first place, the analysis focuses on the intertextual “dialogue” between Fielding’s hypertext and Richardson’s hypotext by highlighting the transformations performed and their ideological and metanarrative functions. What is at stake here is a thorough “deconstruction” of the source text which is also reflected by the conversations inserted within the letters, which reveal a systematic linguistic, stylistic and formal reversal of Richardson’s premises. Fielding’s intention is that of revealing and stigmatizing the hypocrisy and falsity of contemporary society, which permeate its political, social and cultural levels and are reflected by writing, language and dialogue, the latter considered as a privileged space of both exchange and prevarication, unveiling and dissimulation.