The thesis sets out to examme the domestic realist fiction and non-fiction writings Gournalism, essays,conduct books) by three women writers of the late nineteenth century whose work depicts middle-class adolescent girls and young women whose lives revolve around the domestic sphere, home and family. The writers, Maria Antonietta Torriani, whose pen name was La Marchesa Colombi, Anna Radius Zuccari, who wrote with the pseudonym Neera, and Matilde Serao, were well known in their day, and often highly regarded by contemporary critics and writers. The aim of critical studies thus far has been primarily that of re-introducing forgotten female authors into the Italian literary 'canon': literary scholars have limited themselves either to examining these authors and their works individually, or to focusing on the writers' journalistic production. Through an analysis of a selection of their work, I argue that while Neera and Serao in particular positioned themselves as ideologically opposed to the ideals put forward by the emancipationists, . theirs and La Marchesa Colombi's fiction and non-fiction writings are shot through with contradictory evidence of their views of women's 'proper' role in the new Italy. Drawing on a range of theoretical frameworks (recent critical work on women writers, new historicism, theories of gender, sociology, critical studies of genre, and psychoanalysis), I argue that fiction in particular offered women writers a legitimate means of addressing and engaging with the burning social and political issues of the day regarding the role of women. The thesis is the first study to consider these writers and their works together, and to provide evidence of the writers' albeit possibly covert and unconscious engagement with debates on the role ofwomen in the new Italy.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:502526 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Mitchell, Katharine Hannah |
| Publisher | University of Warwick |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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