1. Girlhood Constructed: Portrayals of Childhood in Italian Renaissance Biographies

Sienna Hopkins September 4, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Themed Section

by Sienna Hopkins

This article explores the divergent representations of girlhood in female commemorative biographies from the early 16th century and the spiritually exemplary biographies of secular women in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. While the commemorative biographies of Battista Sforza, Bianca Maria Sforza and Irene di Spilimbergo follow the traditional tropes of childhood representation for the genre, they nonetheless embody a fuller representation and acceptance of girlhood than that of the later,

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2. The Oratorio Femminile: Young Women’s Socialization and Growth in Post-War Italy

Daniela Cavallaro September 4, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Themed Section

by Daniela Cavallaro

The few academic studies which look at the development and goals of the Catholic youth centres known as oratori tend to privilege the oratorio maschile over its all-girl counterpart. This article aims to bring to light the experience of the oratorio femminile as an important moment of socialization and growth for girls, teenagers and young women in the post-World War II years. It first provides a brief introduction regarding the origins and development of the oratory in Italy.

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3. Scrivere dalla parte delle bambine: infanzia e adolescenza femminile nella narrativa di Alice Ceresa

Viola Ardeni September 3, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Themed Section

by Viola Ardeni

L’articolo propone un’analisi dell’espressione e rappresentazione dell’infanzia femminile nei due romanzi della scrittrice italo-svizzera Alice Ceresa (1923-2003), La figlia prodiga del 1967 e Bambine del 1990, alle quali Ceresa dà un’originale impronta sperimentale oltre che femminista. Si mostra che l’attenzione all’infanzia femminile sia indicativa non solo di una costante contenutistica delle opere ceresiane, ma costituisca anche una scelta ideologica: una bambina in crescita è, per Ceresa,

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4. Rita Pavone’s Musicarelli: Rethinking Genre and (Young) Women’s Representation

Stephanie Hotz September 3, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Themed Section

by Stephanie Hotz

This essay examines Rita Pavone’s star image and musical films of the 1960s, including a close analysis of two of her most famous musicarelli, Rita la zanzara (Rita the Mosquito, 1966) and its sequel Non stuzzicate la zanzara (Don’t Sting the Mosquito, 1967). While studies on the postwar “woman’s film” have focused primarily on melodramas,

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5. Non è la Rai, or: On the Becoming-Girl of Late Capitalism

Elisa Cuter September 4, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Themed Section

by Elisa Cuter

This paper focuses on Non è la Rai, a TV show aired on Silvio Berlusconi’s broadcasting channels between 1991 and 1994. Through the analysis of the program a connection emerges between three macro-phenomena: postmodern aesthetics; Berlusconism (as a specific and national embodiment of larger concepts like capitalism and neoliberalism) and the fundamental role of “girlhood” in the first two. In particular, it proves that the neoliberal strategy could not have been effective without an unprecedented increase in the importance of the symbolic category of girlhood in Italian society,

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6. ‘Come fossi una bambola?’ Girlhood Studies and Memory in Italy

Danielle Hipkins September 4, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Invited Perspectives

by Danielle Hipkins

This brief, reflective piece considers the function and nature of the memory of girlhood culture, and how that signifies in relation to narratives of the self, in the context of broader discursive constructions of girlhood.

Cover picture: Barbie – The Icon Exhibition at Complesso del Vittoriano, May 2016. Courtesy of Danielle Hipkins.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15781/f7x8-7g97

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7. Girls and the Media: Girlhood Studies Agenda and Prospects in Italy

Romana Andò September 3, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Invited Perspectives

by Romana Andò

Within the Italian context, girlhood studies can hardly be considered a specific field: adolescence and gender construction in Italy have historically been investigated by sociology and psychology, although, in recent years, media studies have also focused on youth media consumption as a cultural process in the broader sense, investigating the relevance of the media in the identity-building process. Actually, the lack of a definition of girlhood studies as such did not prevent Italian research from providing theoretical contributions and significant research on girlhood,

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8. Le adolescenti che per caso ho raccontato nel mio Cinema

Anne-Riita Ciccone September 3, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Invited Perspectives, Videos

by Anne-Riita Ciccone

The filmmaker explains her interest in adolescence and discusses the topic and genesis of the
short Victims. She provides details on her feature I’M and on its young leading actress.

Click to watch the trailer.

The short Victims is available online on the Rai.it website. In Italian. Web. Accessed 27 July 2017.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15781/rghr-7f50

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9. In un cerchio perfetto

Laura Samani September 4, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Invited Perspectives, Videos

by Laura Samani

In this essay, Laura Samani addresses the rich symbolism of the theme of adolescence as it appears in her short film La santa che dorme. She describes adolescence as an internal war waged between the desire to grow up and the fear of leaving behind the securities of childhood. Samani analyzes her own adolescent experiences under the watchful eyes of the Church and adults, and the double natured friendship/rivalries as they resonate in the short film.

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10. The Importance of Being Ernesto: Queerness and Multidirectional Desire in Umberto Saba’s Unfinished Novel

Paolo Frascà September 3, 2017 Issue: G/S/I 4 (2017) Category: Open Contributions

by Paolo Frascà

This article explores Umberto Saba’s (1983-1957) only and unfinished novel, Ernesto (1975), from the perspective of sexuality and Queer studies, while also paying attention to the novel’s language and its autobiographical underpinnings. By examining aspects of the work that render it an important testimony of queer desire, this essay aims to shine a light on Ernesto as an important Italian literary text and on the text’s ability to reveal significant and timeless aspects of the human condition,

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