Politics of the visible
Subtitle: writing women, culture, and fascism
By: Robin Pickering-Iazzi.
Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: Minneapolis
Language: eng
Number of pages: 287
Subjects: Italian literature -- Women authors -- History and criticism.; Italian literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism.; Women and literature -- Italy -- History -- 20th century.; Women -- Italy -- Social conditions.; Fascism and culture -- Italy.; Fascism and women -- Italy.; Women in literature.
Description: In fascist Italy between the wars, a woman was generally an exemplary wife and mother or else. The "or else," mostly forgotten or overlooked in accounts of femininity under fascism, is what concerns Robin Pickering-Iazzi. Reading works by women of the period, Pickering-Iazzi shows how they refuted stereotypes that were imposed on them by the fascist regime and continue to be accepted and perpetuated into our day.

The writers Pickering-Iazzi considers comprise both the popular and the critically acclaimed. She situates their work - short stories, romance novels, autobiographies, neorealist novels, poetry, and avant-garde writings - not only within the context of fascist discourse but also within that of intellectuals and artists who did not keep to the fascist line.

In each case, Pickering-Iazzi examines specific issues of gender and genre - notions of women and the nation, rural life, the metropolis, technology, consumer culture, and modern forms of femininity and masculinity.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-281) and index.