A 'New' Woman in Verga and Pirandello
From Page to Stage

Enza De Francisci

Italian Perspectives 40

Legenda

30 September 2018  •  200pp

ISBN: 978-1-781887-83-7 (hardback)  •  RRP £80, $110, €95

ISBN: 978-1-781887-84-4 (paperback, 13 December 2021)  •  RRP £10.99, $14.99, €13.49

ISBN: 978-1-781887-85-1 (JSTOR ebook)

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This book investigates the transposition of short stories to drama in the works of two leading Sicilian authors, Giovanni Verga (1840-1922) and Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936), focussing specifically on their representation of women. De Francisci argues that, once the female characters are transposed into the dramatic genre, they gain a voice of their own and thus become ‘new’ women whose antecedents can be traced to Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1879). In uncovering the voices of the ‘new’ women, the book draws attention to the early actresses, namely Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) and Marta Abba (1900-1988), who were instrumental in transforming the female characters from their fictional existence on the page to their physical enactment on the stage, and were key influences on Verga and Pirandello respectively. By revealing the evolution of the female voice in the two authors’ works and the added enrichment of this voice as a result of its transposition to the dramatic genre, the book offers new insights into why the narrative genre is so well suited to Verga’s preoccupations, why the theatrical form is more effective in articulating Pirandello’s umorismo, and what Pirandello’s adaptations reveal about the way in which he comes to negotiate the transition from Realism (or verismo) to Modernism.

Enza De Francisci is Lecturer in Translation Studies at the University of Glasgow.

Reviews:

  • ‘Effectively demonstrates that the two Sicilian writers, conventionally thought of as patriarchal figures, have, in their dramatic works, an affinity with the emerging ‘new woman’.’ — Mary Ann Frese Witt, Modern Language Review 115.2, 2020, 470-71 (full text online)

Contents:

ix-ix
Acknowledgements
E.D.F.
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x-x
List of Translations and Abbreviations
Enza De Francisci
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1-7
Introduction: A New Voice
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8-33
Chapter 1 From Page To Stage
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34-52
Chapter 2 Women Centre Stage
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53-89
Chapter 3 the Sicilian Voice
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90-119
Chapter 4 the Silent Voice
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120-158
Chapter 5 the Sexual Voice
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159-165
Conclusion: Visibility and Voice
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166-181
Bibliography
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182-190
Index
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Bibliography entry:

Francisci, Enza De, A 'New' Woman in Verga and Pirandello: From Page to Stage, Italian Perspectives, 40 (Legenda, 2018)

First footnote reference: 35 Enza De Francisci, A 'New' Woman in Verga and Pirandello: From Page to Stage, Italian Perspectives, 40 (Legenda, 2018), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Francisci, p. 47.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

Bibliography entry:

Francisci, Enza De. 2018. A 'New' Woman in Verga and Pirandello: From Page to Stage, Italian Perspectives, 40 (Legenda)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Francisci 2018: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Francisci 2018: 21.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)


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