SUMMARY
In looking at the debate about the ‘end of postmodernism’ and ‘new realism’ it is noticeable that the label of ‘realism’ has been applied to writers who are actually closer to postmodern narrative techniques. This applies among others to the novel Un giorno perfetto (2005) of the bestselling Italian author Melania Mazzucco, featuring a complex intertextual-intermedial bricolage. Focusing in particular on its narrative which is deeply marked by typical cinematographic modes, this essay contends that, as more than a social fresco, the novel’s depiction of contemporary Italy explores the conflict between appearance and substance as a key experience of the subject vis à vis the common mediatized reality. As constantly recurring themes, cinema and photography serve the purpose of emblematically embodying the illusory character of this reality.