The Tigress in the Snow: Motherhood and Literature in Twentieth-Century Italy PDF
Preview The Tigress in the Snow: Motherhood and Literature in Twentieth-Century Italy
THE TIGRESS IN THE SNOW Motherhood and Literature in Twentieth-Century Italy This page intentionally left blank The Tigress in the Snow Motherhood and Literature in Twentieth-Century Italy Laura Benedetti UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS Toronto Buffalo London © University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2007 Toronto Buffalo London Printed in Canada ISBN 978-0-8020-9744-6 Printed on acid-free paper Toronto Italian Studies Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Benedetti, Laura, 1962– The tigress in the snow : motherhood and literature in 20th-century Italy / Laura Benedetti. (Toronto Italian studies) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8020-9744-6 1. Italian literature – 20th century – History and criticism. 2. Motherhood in literature. 3. Mothers in literature. 4. Social change in literature. 5. Motherhood – Italy – History – 20th century. I. Title. II. Series. PQ4088.B385 2007 850.99352520904 C2007-903509-4 Publication of this book was made possible by the Georgetown University Graduate School Competitive Grant-in-Aid Award. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario ArtsCouncil. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP). To Martina: ... Gaudentque tuentes Dardanidae, veterumque agnoscunt ora parentum. (Virgil, Aeneid V, 575–6) This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction 3 1 Mothers at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century 12 The New Mother 12 From Mother to Daughter: Annie Vivanti’s The Devourers 23 The Mother as Artist: Luigi Pirandello’s Suo marito 25 A Revolution Named Sibilla 28 Self-Sacrifice and Marian Imagery 32 The Invisible Working Woman 39 2 Resilience and Resistance: The Fascist Years 43 From Benevolence to Dominance 43 Literature and the Escape from History 45 Mothers without a Name and the Search for Women’s Identity 47 Mothers at War 52 ‘Like War Is to Men’ 58 Future as a Revised Version of the Past 60 No Turning Back 67 3 Questioning Motherhood 74 Slow Changes 74 The Tigress in the Snow 78 ‘Una Maternità Sociale’: The Upheaval of the 1970s 84 Too Close, Too Far: Motherhood as a Dialogue with the Self 89 viii Contents 4 Struggling with the Mother 94 Through the Daughters’ Voices 94 The Mother and the City 102 Daughter and Mother 110 5 Mothers without Children 114 From Flesh to Phantom 114 The Symbolic Order of the Mother 116 A World of Mothers 119 Notes 123 Works Cited 149 Index 161 Acknowledgments The writing of this book has accompanied me for a long time and through different times. My heartfelt gratitude and respect go to those who have believed in it, and in me. Patrizia Bettella, Claude Cazalé Bérard, Carol Dover, Franco Fido, Pietro Frassica, Tommasina Gabriele, Mary Gaylord, Albert Mancini, Enrico Musacchio, Daria Perocco, Cosetta Seno Reed, Roberto Severino, and Diego Zancani offered suggestions, encouragement, and support in various ways and at different stages. My thoughts go to the late Bob Dombroski, who with his distinctive generosity read parts of the manuscript and was the first to think it would make a fitting addition to the catalogue of the University of Tor- onto Press. Following his suggestion, I came to know the competent thoughtfulness of my editor, Ron Schoeffel, the insightful judgment of the anonymous readers, and the unerring attention of my copyeditor, Barbara Czarnecki. They all assisted me in bringing this book to light. Georgetown University provided a summer research fellowship and, more important, a congenial environment to write and grow. Domenico De Sole and Sara Hager proved tireless in their support of the humani- ties, while students in my ‘Bella Ciao!’ classes helped me to elaborate my thoughts on motherhood and writing. Thanks to the Georgetown Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, I was able to discuss my ideas and refine my style with Emily Langer, a bright young scholar of exceptional promise. The final revisions were facilitated by Michael Brown’s sharp eyes. The responsibility for any mistakes and omissions is, of course, entirely mine. Finally, although it has been said before, a special thanks to Brad Mar- shall, without whom I would have finished this book much earlier.
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