Se segui la natura non sarai mai povero. Se segui le opinioni umane non sarai mai ricco. Riflessioni in chiave ecocritica sul senso della sostenibilità nell’opera “Nedorosl’” di D.I. Fonvizin

This essay aims to explore some themes present in Fonvizin’s The Minor (Nedorosl’) from an ecocritical perspective. Although the author does not seem to focus on the impact of human beings on nature, he suggests how nature can help humans in pursuing a sustainable behaviour, in particular from the perspective of their social role. In The Minor Fonvizin attacks the unnatural cruelty of the social system in Russia, in particular the oppression due to the existence of the serfdom, and analyses the role of language in the communication between humans.