Plural representations of happiness in contemporary literature: between the dramatic and the humorous

In contemporary narrative texts, in several genres and discursive literary forms (from novel to short story, from essay to chronicle and poetry), several authors build diverse representations of Happiness in today’s world, with some transversal particularities: first, they show awareness of a heritage of classical thought and literature, starting from Greek Antiquity—there is a fruitful and inescapable intertextual memory; second, these aesthetic representations do not hide the existential and even dramatic dimension of the search for happiness by every human being; third, surprisingly or not, a tendency is also manifested to face this serious topic with humour, in a playful attitude that is no less reflective, which allows the topic to be equated with amusing and surprising looks, typical of a post-modern culture and literature. In a panoramic view, these literary narratives and representations bring out an ambiguous and even paradoxical vision of human happiness, mirroring the diversity of human worldviews and expectations, ethical options and religious beliefs.