Italian Women at War

Sisters in Arms from the Unification to the Twentieth Century

Edited by Susan Amatangelo - Contributions by Stefania Benini; Norma Bouchard; Benedetta Gennaro; Lucia Re; Fiona M. Stewart; Giovanna Summerfield and Daria Valentini

Italian Women at War: Sisters in Arms from Unification to the Twentieth Century offers diverse perspectives on Italian women’s participation in war and conflict throughout Italy’s modern history, contributing to the ongoing scholarly conversation on this topic. Part one of the book focuses on heroines who fought for Italy’s Unification and on the anti-heroines, or brigantesse, who opposed such a momentous change. Part two considers exceptional individuals, such as Eva Kühn Amendola, who combatted both with her body and her pen, as well as collective female efforts during the world wars, whether military or civilian. In part three, where the context is twentieth-century society, the focus shifts to those women engaged in less conventional conflicts who resorted to different forms of revolt, including active non-violence. All of the women presented across these chapters engage in combat to protest a particular state of affairs and effect change, yet their weapons range from the literal, like Peppa La Cannoniera’s cannon, to the metaphorical, like Letizia Battaglia’s camera. Several of the essays in this volume discuss fictional heroines who appear in works of literature and film, though all are based on actual women and reference real historical contexts. Italian Women at War furthers the efforts begun decades ago to recognize Italian women combatants, especially in light of the recent anniversary of the Unification in 2011 and global discussions regarding the role of women in the military. Its aim is not to glorify violence and war, but to celebrate the active role of Italian women in the evolution of their nation and to demystify the idea of the woman warrior, who has always been viewed either as an extraordinary, almost mythical creature or as an affront to the traditional feminine identity.

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 206 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-61147-953-9 • Hardback • August 2016 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-61147-955-3 • Paperback • April 2019 • $50.99 • (£39.00)

978-1-61147-954-6 • eBook • August 2016 • $48.00 • (£37.00)

Series: The Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Series in Italian Studies

Subjects: History / Europe / Italy, History / Women, History / Modern / 20th Century

Italian Women at War

Sisters in Arms from the Unification to the Twentieth Century

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Italian Women at War: Sisters in Arms from Unification to the Twentieth Century offers diverse perspectives on Italian women’s participation in war and conflict throughout Italy’s modern history, contributing to the ongoing scholarly conversation on this topic. Part one of the book focuses on heroines who fought for Italy’s Unification and on the anti-heroines, or brigantesse, who opposed such a momentous change. Part two considers exceptional individuals, such as Eva Kühn Amendola, who combatted both with her body and her pen, as well as collective female efforts during the world wars, whether military or civilian. In part three, where the context is twentieth-century society, the focus shifts to those women engaged in less conventional conflicts who resorted to different forms of revolt, including active non-violence. All of the women presented across these chapters engage in combat to protest a particular state of affairs and effect change, yet their weapons range from the literal, like Peppa La Cannoniera’s cannon, to the metaphorical, like Letizia Battaglia’s camera. Several of the essays in this volume discuss fictional heroines who appear in works of literature and film, though all are based on actual women and reference real historical contexts. Italian Women at War furthers the efforts begun decades ago to recognize Italian women combatants, especially in light of the recent anniversary of the Unification in 2011 and global discussions regarding the role of women in the military. Its aim is not to glorify violence and war, but to celebrate the active role of Italian women in the evolution of their nation and to demystify the idea of the woman warrior, who has always been viewed either as an extraordinary, almost mythical creature or as an affront to the traditional feminine identity.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 206 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-61147-953-9 • Hardback • August 2016 • $117.00 • (£90.00)

978-1-61147-955-3 • Paperback • April 2019 • $50.99 • (£39.00)

978-1-61147-954-6 • eBook • August 2016 • $48.00 • (£37.00)

Series: The Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Series in Italian Studies

Subjects: History / Europe / Italy, History / Women, History / Modern / 20th Century

Author

Susan Amatangelo is associate professor of Italian at the College of the Holy Cross.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Italy’s Sisters in Arms
Susan Amatangelo

Part I: The Unification of Italy
1One in a Mille: Countess Martini Della Torre
Benedetta Gennaro
2Peppa La Cannoniera: Citizenship in Action
Giovanna Summerfield
3“Sono briganta, io, non donna di brigante”: The Female Brigand’s Search for Identity
Susan Amatangelo

Part II: The Two World Wars
4Women at War: Eva Kühn Amendola (Magamal) – Interventionist, Futurist, Fascist
Lucia Re
5“We will build a better world together”:Female Partisans’ Memories of Their Resistance to Fascism (1943-1945)
Fiona M. Stewart
6Where Women Meet Resistance: Fenoglio’s War Narratives
Daria Valentini

Part III: State Terrorism and the Mafia
7A Sister Without Arms: The Myth of Antigone in Liliana Cavani’s The Cannibals
Stefania Benini
8Fighting Cosa Nostra with the Camera’s Eye: Letizia Battaglia’s Evolving Icons of “Traumatic Realism”
Norma Bouchard

About the Editor and Contributors
Index

Reviews

If it is not surprising that the readership of a thematically based collection of essays will be, primarily, upper-division undergraduates and specialists, it is noteworthy to find one with such a broad-based appeal. Students of Italian studies, whether concerned with history, literature, the cinema, or photography, will find something of interest in this book. The essays, whose temporal focus is exclusively from the Risorgimento through the 20th century, are structured around women’s participation in warfare and how society imagined, welcomed, or acknowledged their contributions. This includes discussions of actual women such as the brigantessa (female brigands) in post-unification Sicily and those partigiani struggling against the Nazi and Salò regimes, as well as literary representations of female fighters as found in novels such as Grazia Deledda’s Marianna Sirca (1915), or in films such as Liliana Cavanni’s The Cannibals (1969). The essay on the life of Eva Kühn Amendola—who was at the crossroads of interventionism, futurism, and Fascism—is especially fascinating.... Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.
— Choice Reviews