Gender, Narrative, and Dissonance in the Modern Italian Novel
© 2014
Combining close textual readings with a broad theoretical perspective, Gender, Narrative, and Dissonance in the Modern Italian Novel is a study of the ways in which gender shapes the principal characters and narratives of seven important Italian novels of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Alessandro Manzoni’s I promessi sposi (1827) to Elsa Morante’s Aracoeli (1982).
Silvia Valisa’s innovative approach focuses on the tensions between the characters and the gender ideologies that surround them, and the ways in which this dissonance exposes the ideological and epistemological structures of the modern novel. A provocative account of the intersection between gender, narrative, and epistemology that draws on the work of Georg Lukács, Barbara Spackman, and Teresa de Lauretis, this volume offers an intriguing new approach to investigating the nature of fiction.
Product Details
- Series: Toronto Italian Studies
- World Rights
- Page Count: 248 pages
- Dimensions: 6.3in x 1.0in x 9.4in
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Reviews
‘This is a thought-provoking book… Faculties and graduate students focusing on post-feminist theory and the burgeoning field of affect studies will undoubtedly find food for thought.’
Andrea Sartori
Annali d'Italianistica Vol 33:2015‘A rich and ambitious study… Valisa’s book offers a brilliant reading of the modern Italian novel, and it would be fascinating to see a similar approach applied in a comparatist frame.’
Ann Hallamore Caesar
Journal of Modern Italian Studies vol 21:01:2015
“Gender, Narrative, and Dissonance in the Modern Italian Novel is a study of the dynamic ways in which gender shapes the principal characters and narratives of several important Italian novels of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Manzoni’s I promessi sposi to Morante’s Aracoeli. Silvia Valisa shows an impressive ability to embrace a range of novels that span over 150 years and to include male and female authors and characters in her discussions of gender and genre.”
Tommasina Gabriele, Department of Italian Studies, Wheaton College
“Valisa’s elucidation of the relationships between character, gender, ideology, and epistemology represents an original and significant contribution to contemporary scholarship on the modern Italian novel.”
Allison A. Cooper, Department of Romance Languages, Bowdoin College -
Author Information
Silvia Valisa is an assistant professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics at Florida State University. -
Table of contents
Introduction
1. “A Somewhat Unusual Nun”: Writing Gender in I promessi sposi
2. The Epistemology of the Young Woman: Analysis and Revelation in Three Fin-de-siècle Novels
3. The Mule and the Ghost: Gender, Realism, and the Fantastic in Verga and Marchesa Colombi
4. Intellectual Experiments: The Philosopher and the Housewife
5. A Poetics of Rejection: Elsa Morante and the Gender of the Real
Conclusion
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Subjects and Courses
