HUMOURSEX Humor practices in late nineteenth-century women writers

In the second half of the nineteenth century, when women in Italy constituted the only 'unredeemed province', it happens that some writers engaged in journalism, whether social or worldly, in emancipatory claims and in the Mozzonian feminist movement mature the subversive idea of looking at the familiar script of courtship, married life, and adultery through the lens of irony. This gives rise to stories with a high degree of humor, which overturn the scenes of the romantic theater of the time, sending Madame Bovary to the attic and inaugurating figures of women capable of mocking false myths and taboos, and then entering the game: but this time with rules written by them.

Thus, the pen of Matilde Serao brings to life Checchina who, trapped in an unhappy marriage and determined to grant her favors to nothing less than a marquis, will manage to overcome all practical difficulties to achieve her goal. All except one. And if Lady Valentina responds sharply to those who would have her prey to a purely carnal love, Francesca of Annie Vivanti tries to shape her image according to that ideal of bourgeois perfection destined to ignite the passions of her - possible? - Teutonic lover. With a tragicomic outcome.

A showcase of women and writers brought together by the unique and irreverent sensitivity of the curator Maria Vittoria Vittori who with this collection manages to erase almost two centuries of sighs, crinolines, and languid glances. Burying them with a laugh.

Publisher: 8tto Edizioni

Publication: late March 2024

Language: Italian

Pages: 201