The Italian body politic has a long history of being " feminized " : Italy has long been imagined... more The Italian body politic has a long history of being " feminized " : Italy has long been imagined through the metaphor of the nation as a woman both within and beyond national borders. The documentary Girlfriend in a coma is a recent example of this strategy: the film is based on the metaphor of Italy as a woman who has been beaten into a coma by a crass and criminal ruling class. In the film, Bill Emmott, who narrates, presents himself as Italy's disillusioned lover, who wishes to rescue her from the dramatic situation she is in. Implicitly, by arguing that Italy is a woman, Emmott stresses Italy's fragility and dependence on stronger cultures to save it. An apparent contradiction structures the film: on the one hand 'gender inequality' is one of the themes that the film foregrounds amongst the problems that Italy has to solve to get out of its 'coma', on the other, the films relies on a series of problematic cultural associations with woman as state of victimhood in order to make its case. The article will argue that the gendered metaphor in the film is instrumental in creating a cultural, social and economic programme, the goal of which is for Italy to move on from the economic crisis. Ultimately, by interrogating closely the apparent contradiction outlined above, it seeks to unpick the concept of 'gender equality' in this particular phase of capitalist progress and cast some light on what is intended exactly when the question of gender equality is invoked in contemporary debates on Italy's political and economic decline.
This article considers the construction of the literary fame of Roberto Saviano, author of the 20... more This article considers the construction of the literary fame of Roberto Saviano, author of the 2006 Italian bestseller Gomorra, in the British book marketplace. In order to understand the political import of Saviano’s translated author-brand, this analysis utilizes the tools of narrative theory to look at what narratives were created around the authorial personality and what other public narratives and meta-narratives are mobilized to introduce the author to his new reading public. The analysis centres on Saviano’s reputation as “Italy’s Salman Rushdie” and it demonstrates that the political import of the narratives that underpin the author brand in translation is linked with a set of post-9/11 public narratives.
This interdisciplinary panel seeks to explore tensions and possible alliances between queer and f... more This interdisciplinary panel seeks to explore tensions and possible alliances between queer and feminist research methodologies and political strategies. Whilst work that refers back to “Women Studies” scholarship still privileges women as its research focus, queer scholars have radically critiqued the very idea of stable and monolithic gender identity and moved on to look at a variety of constructions of gender and sexuality that constitute contemporary cultural products. On the other hand, queer theory has been criticized by feminist and Marxist scholars for too readily dismissing questions of structural inequality, whilst feminist studies are still able to provide scholars with tools to interrogate sexism as well at its intersection with other systemic oppressions such as racism. What are challenges in seeking to marry feminist and queer approaches? Can the two approaches be brought into dialogue with one another? Moreover, how can the two approaches be re-written to fit specific cultural contexts? This panel offers an opportunity for scholars looking at cultural and artistic products from different periods and contexts to come together and discuss the tensions between queer and feminist approaches that have emerged in their own work.
The Italian body politic has a long history of being " feminized " : Italy has long been imagined... more The Italian body politic has a long history of being " feminized " : Italy has long been imagined through the metaphor of the nation as a woman both within and beyond national borders. The documentary Girlfriend in a coma is a recent example of this strategy: the film is based on the metaphor of Italy as a woman who has been beaten into a coma by a crass and criminal ruling class. In the film, Bill Emmott, who narrates, presents himself as Italy's disillusioned lover, who wishes to rescue her from the dramatic situation she is in. Implicitly, by arguing that Italy is a woman, Emmott stresses Italy's fragility and dependence on stronger cultures to save it. An apparent contradiction structures the film: on the one hand 'gender inequality' is one of the themes that the film foregrounds amongst the problems that Italy has to solve to get out of its 'coma', on the other, the films relies on a series of problematic cultural associations with woman as state of victimhood in order to make its case. The article will argue that the gendered metaphor in the film is instrumental in creating a cultural, social and economic programme, the goal of which is for Italy to move on from the economic crisis. Ultimately, by interrogating closely the apparent contradiction outlined above, it seeks to unpick the concept of 'gender equality' in this particular phase of capitalist progress and cast some light on what is intended exactly when the question of gender equality is invoked in contemporary debates on Italy's political and economic decline.
This article considers the construction of the literary fame of Roberto Saviano, author of the 20... more This article considers the construction of the literary fame of Roberto Saviano, author of the 2006 Italian bestseller Gomorra, in the British book marketplace. In order to understand the political import of Saviano’s translated author-brand, this analysis utilizes the tools of narrative theory to look at what narratives were created around the authorial personality and what other public narratives and meta-narratives are mobilized to introduce the author to his new reading public. The analysis centres on Saviano’s reputation as “Italy’s Salman Rushdie” and it demonstrates that the political import of the narratives that underpin the author brand in translation is linked with a set of post-9/11 public narratives.
This interdisciplinary panel seeks to explore tensions and possible alliances between queer and f... more This interdisciplinary panel seeks to explore tensions and possible alliances between queer and feminist research methodologies and political strategies. Whilst work that refers back to “Women Studies” scholarship still privileges women as its research focus, queer scholars have radically critiqued the very idea of stable and monolithic gender identity and moved on to look at a variety of constructions of gender and sexuality that constitute contemporary cultural products. On the other hand, queer theory has been criticized by feminist and Marxist scholars for too readily dismissing questions of structural inequality, whilst feminist studies are still able to provide scholars with tools to interrogate sexism as well at its intersection with other systemic oppressions such as racism. What are challenges in seeking to marry feminist and queer approaches? Can the two approaches be brought into dialogue with one another? Moreover, how can the two approaches be re-written to fit specific cultural contexts? This panel offers an opportunity for scholars looking at cultural and artistic products from different periods and contexts to come together and discuss the tensions between queer and feminist approaches that have emerged in their own work.
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Whilst work that refers back to “Women Studies” scholarship still privileges women as its research focus, queer scholars have radically critiqued the very idea of stable and monolithic gender identity and moved on to look at a variety of constructions of gender and sexuality that constitute contemporary cultural products. On the other hand, queer theory has been criticized by feminist and Marxist scholars for too readily dismissing questions of structural inequality, whilst feminist studies are still able to provide scholars with tools to interrogate sexism as well at its intersection with other systemic oppressions such as racism.
What are challenges in seeking to marry feminist and queer approaches? Can the two approaches be brought into dialogue with one another? Moreover, how can the two approaches be re-written to fit specific cultural contexts?
This panel offers an opportunity for scholars looking at cultural and artistic products from different periods and contexts to come together and discuss the tensions between queer and feminist approaches that have emerged in their own work.
Whilst work that refers back to “Women Studies” scholarship still privileges women as its research focus, queer scholars have radically critiqued the very idea of stable and monolithic gender identity and moved on to look at a variety of constructions of gender and sexuality that constitute contemporary cultural products. On the other hand, queer theory has been criticized by feminist and Marxist scholars for too readily dismissing questions of structural inequality, whilst feminist studies are still able to provide scholars with tools to interrogate sexism as well at its intersection with other systemic oppressions such as racism.
What are challenges in seeking to marry feminist and queer approaches? Can the two approaches be brought into dialogue with one another? Moreover, how can the two approaches be re-written to fit specific cultural contexts?
This panel offers an opportunity for scholars looking at cultural and artistic products from different periods and contexts to come together and discuss the tensions between queer and feminist approaches that have emerged in their own work.