"Chi sono io?" Narrazione storica e soggettività nella "Camicia bruciata" di Anna Banti

Widely published and read in her day, the novelistic production of twentieth-century writer Anna Banti, a pseudonym for Lucia Lopresti (1895-1985), has today been largely forgotten by the public as well as by the literary establishment. In my thesis I address this lacuna in the Italian literary canon by showing how Anna Banti contributed to the creation of a female literary tradition as well as to the renewal of Italian literature from stylistic and thematic points of view. My study examines Banti’s contribution from a dual perspective: as a promoter of female individuality and independence in contrast to the existent paternal order, and as an innovator of the Italian novel, in particular, the historical Italian novel. I have chosen to concentrate my analysis on the historical novel La camicia bruciata, published in 1973. In the Introduction I provide a historical and cultural overview of Italian society from the end of the nineteen-century through most of the twentieth century. I pay particular attention to women’s status in society, and to attitudes of the establishment towards women and women writers. In Chapter One I discuss Banti’s personal experience as a woman writer, examining the style and approach that characterized her narrative production. In Chapter Two I examine how Banti stresses the subject of sexual differences in her novels and prose, and how she creates strong female characters who are able to pursue their artistic careers. I also analyze her personal view of maternity, which she sees as an obstacle to women’s artistic expectations. I show how Banti can be considered a modern feminist, even if she has always refused such a label. In Chapter Three I examine the structure of the historical novel La camicia bruciata: I discuss the main characters and the themes of marriage and motherhood. In Chapter Four I examine the difference between the fictional story created by Anna Banti and the historical facts narrated in The House of Medici by Sir Christopher Hibbert and The Last Medici by Harold Acton. The purpose of this analysis is to show how Banti’s personal experience leads her to rearrange historical data so as to give shape and form to her narrative and characters.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaAbstract in English, text in Italianby Lucy Delog