Space and Sexuation in the Fin de Siècle Italian Female Narrative

Abstract

In “Space and Sexuation in the Fin de Siècle Italian Female Narrative,” Anna Marchioni Cucchiella investigates how novels by Silvia Ballestra, Rossana Campo, Licia Giaquinto, and Isabella Santacroce define female subjectivity against the backdrop of the family and within the sociocultural context of major European cities. Cucchiella focuses on such issues as the male-female relationship, the mother-daughter and father-daughter relationships, and violence against women. Through these, she determines how the authors deconstruct gender stereotypes and construct textual spaces for the development of their female protagonist’s sexual identities. The physical descriptions of the various European cities not only provide a frame for the narration but serve as instruments to represent issues of female identity and gender at the end of the twentieth century.