Abstract
<jats:p> Casanova’s <jats:italic>Confutazione</jats:italic> is a response to Amelot de la Houssaie’s <jats:italic>Histoire du gouvernement de Venise</jats:italic> and represents his first significant writing experiment. While his analysis of Venice’s form of government and constitutional history appears to be the primary theme, Voltaire, Casanova’s beloved and hated idol, soon emerges as the work’s true protagonist. The Confutazione reveals a stratification in the writing that brings together four essential elements of his compositional activity: poetry, epistolary correspondence, autobiographical narrative, and philosophical writing. </jats:p>