The Feminist Encyclopedia of Italian Literature [Hardcover]

Rinaldina Russell (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0313294356 | ISBN-13: 978-0313294358 | Publication Date: July 30, 1997

Over the last 20 years, there has been an increasing interest in feminist views of the Italian literary tradition. While feminist theory and methodology have been accepted by the academic community in the U.S., the situation is very different in Italy, where such work has been done largely outside the academy. Among nonspecialists, knowledge of feminist approaches to Italian literature, and even of the existence of Italian women writers, remains scant. This reference work, the first of its kind on Italian literature, is a companion volume for all who wish to investigate Italian literary culture and writings, both by women and by men, in light of feminist theory. This volume covers eight centuries of Italian literature, from the Middle Ages to the present. Included are entries for major canonical male authors, such as Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, as well as for female writers such as Lucrezia Marinella and Gianna Manzini. These entries discuss how the authors have shaped the image of women in Italian literature and how feminist criticism has responded to their works. Entries are also provided for various schools and movements, such as deconstruction, Marxism, and new historicism; for genres and forms, such as the epic, devotional works, and misogynistic literature; for figures and types, such as the enchantress, the witch, and the shepherdess; and for numerous other topics. Each entry is written by an expert contributor, summarizes the relationship of the topic to feminist thought, and includes a brief bibliography. The volume closes with a selected general bibliography of major studies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Feminist Encyclopedia of Italian Literature will be a useful addition to collections on feminism and/or Italian culture at all levels. It nicely complements Italian Women Writers by the same editor and publisher, published in 1994.”–Feminist Collections

“[I]t focuses on aspects that are usually ignored.”–The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies

About the Author

RINALDINA RUSSELL is Professor of European Languages and Literatures at Queens College.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (July 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313294356
• ISBN-13: 978-0313294358
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,929,077 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Sourcebook, April 22, 2008

By 

Lynn Hoffman, author:The Short Course in Beer (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Feminist Encyclopedia of Italian Literature (Hardcover)

For a forum on Italian homecooking, I spent some time looking at sources that had a distinctly female point of view. While I found this book to be not terribly useful for my panel, I thought it was one of the best and most accessible sources. The encyclopedic format forces some choices on the compiler and I was surprised to see Natalia Ginzburg deprived of her own entry.
None the less, there are excellent summaries of the feminist critique of literature from the largely non-academic Italian feminist community. I lingered over this volume and browsed it with relish when my 'real' research was done.


Lynn Hoffman, author of New Short Course in Wine,The and the female-centric bang BANG: A Novel