How did Italo Calvino use fantasy and science fiction in his fiction?

Italo Calvino, a pivotal figure in 20th-century Italian literature, utilized fantasy and science fiction as sophisticated tools for allegory and philosophical inquiry.

In the 1950s, Calvino shifted from Neorealism toward fantastic tales that explored the tension between reality and imagination. His acclaimed trilogy—The Cloven Viscount, The Baron in the Trees, and The Nonexistent Knight—employed whimsical and mock-epic structures to examine human nature and social existence.12

Later, Calvino turned to moralizing science fiction, most notably in Cosmicomics and t zero. These works used stream-of-consciousness narratives to treat the evolution of the universe, allowing him to analyze complex themes like chance, coincidence, and change. Throughout his career, Calvino remained a detached, rationalist observer who used these innovative, non-realistic frameworks to rigorously examine the nature of the world and the limitations of literature itself.12