Tigress in the Snow

'Laura Benedetti has written a well-documented and informative study illuminating the importance of motherhood in understanding the 'difference' in Italian women's writings as well as the 'difference' in Italian feminist theory. She presents a broad and comprehensive picture of the complex interaction between different generations of women writers, their male counterparts, and changes in Italian culture throughout the twentieth century. The Tigress in the Snow delivers insightful literary analyses that will be of great use to students and scholars.' -- Carol Lazzaro-Weis, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Missouri-Columbia 'The Tigress in the Snow provides a complete overview of Italian women writers in the twentieth century, as well as individual treatments of particular writers, their major works, and their literary characteristics. It is the first study to deal exclusively with the subject of motherhood and Italian literature, and it does so with a clear understanding of the cultural background out of which the writers dealt with conceived their works. Laura Benedetti's writing is extremely engaging and vivid, and reading her work is not only informative but a real pleasure.' -- Pietro Frassica, Department of French and Italian, Princeton University 'The Tigress in the Snow provides a complete overview of Italian women writers in the twentieth century, as well as individual treatments of particular writers, their major works, and their literary characteristics. It is the first study to deal exclusively with the subject of motherhood and Italian literature, and it does so with a clear understanding of the cultural background out of which the writers dealt with conceived their works. Laura Benedetti's writing is extremely engaging and vivid, and reading her work is not only informative but a real pleasure.' -- Pietro Frassica, Department of French and Italian, Princeton University

The Tigress in the Snow explores how literature reacted to, influenced, and shaped the evolving notion of motherhood in twentieth-century Italy.

The Tigress in the Snow explores how literature reacted to, influenced, and shaped the evolving notion of motherhood in twentieth-century Italy.

From the late-nineteenth century rhetorical celebration of the mother as Madonna, to the Fascist regime's demographic campaign and feminist revisions of the maternal role, Laura Benedetti shows how the mother's social status was a site of constant negotiation in Italy during the last century and how this negotiation came to be represented in literature. To illustrate her theme, she stresses both similarities and differences among four generations of women writers, as well as their complex interaction with their male counterparts, and their reactions to changes in Italian society.

The Tigress in the Snow highlights literature's role in the formation of cultural discourses right up to the dawn of the twenty-first century. An intriguing look at the changing nature of motherhood in a country that has always valued the maternal institution, this volume goes further to show how literature investigates, shapes, and envisions social models for the present and future.