A History of Women's Writing in Italy

A History of Women's Writing in Italy offers a comprehensive historical account of writing by women in Italy. Covering writing from the Middle Ages to the present day, it moves away from narrow definitions of literature, and brings to the reader's attention other forms of expression such as letter writing, religious and devotional writing, scholarly and philosophical essays, travel writing, and journalism. Contributors point to the considerable practical, social and ideological difficulties faced by women in writing and presenting their work to a wider reading public, but also highlight the resourcefulness and determination of women through the centuries in making their voices heard. Extensive guides to further reading and a detailed guide to more than two hundred writers form an integral part of the volume. The international team of contributors have produced a striking work of scholarship and research, which will be invaluable for students and scholars alike.

List of contributors; Acknowledgements; Introduction Letizia Panizza; Part I. The Renaissance, Counter-Reformation and Seventeenth Century: 1. Letter writing, 1350–1650 Maria Luisa Doglio; 2. The fifteenth century: i. Humanism Letizia Panizza, ii. Vernacular poetry and mystery plays Judith Bryce; 3. Lyric poetry Giovanna Rabitti; 4. Fiction, 1560–1650 Virginia Cox; 5. Polemical prose writing 1500–1650 Letizia Panizza; 6. Religious and devotional writing, 1400–1500 Gabriella Zarri; Part II. The Enlightenment and Restoration: 7. Eighteenth-century literature Luisa Ricaldone; 8. Travel writing Ricciarda Ricorda; 9. Journalism, 1750–1850 Verina Jones; 10. Literary critics and scholars, 1700–1850 Adriana Chemello; Part III. The Risorgimento and Modern Italy, 1850–2000: 11. Journalists and essayists, 1850–1915 Silvana Patriarca; 12. The novel, 1870–1920 Lucienne Kroha; 13. The popular novel, 1850–1920 Anna Laura Lepschy; 14. Futurism and fascism, 1914–45 Lucia Re; 15. The novel, 1945–65 Ann Hallamore Caesar; 16. The novel, 1965–2000 Adalgisa Giorgio; 17. Poetry, 1870–2000 Catherine O'Brien; 18 Theatre and cinema, 1945–2000 Aine O'Healy; 19. Aesthetics and critical theory Sharon Wood; Abbreviations; Bibliography.

This 2001 volume offers a comprehensive account of writing by women in Italy. Covering writing from the Middle Ages to the present day, it moves away from narrow definitions of literature, and brings to light other forms of expression such as letter writing, religious and devotional writing, travel writing, and journalism.

Letizia Panizza is senior lecturer in Italian at Royal Holloway College, University of London. She is a contributor to The Cambridge History of Italian Literature (1996) on Italian humanists and on the fifteenth century. In Women's Studies she has published a critical edition of Arcangela Tarabotti's Che le donne siano della spezie degli uomini (Women are no less rational than men) (1994). She is also the translator and editor of Tarabotti's Paternal Tyranny (2000), and the editor of Women in Italian Renaissance Culture and Society (1999). She is currently Visiting Professor at the University of Rome, La Sapienza.
Sharon Wood is reader in Italian at Strathclyde University. She has specialised in the study of modern and contemporary narrative, with particualr reference to women's writing. She is the author of Woman as Object: Language and Gender In the Work of Alberto Moravia (1990) and Italian Women's Writing 1860–1994 (1995). In 1993 she published a critical anthology of short stories called Italian Women Writers.