Title: Politics of the visible
First published: 1997
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.
Subjects: Italian literature, History and criticism, Fascism and women, Fascism and culture, Women, Women authors, Women and literature, Social conditions, History, Women in literature, Schriftstellerin, Frauenliteratur, Fascisme, Vrouwelijke auteurs, Italienisch, Faschismus, Letterkunde, Italiaans, Italian literature, women authors, Italian literature, history and criticism, Fascism, italy, Women, italy
Places: Italy
Time periods: 20th century
LC classification: PQ4055.W6 P53 1997