"Marianna Sirca is a 30-year-old woman of inherited wealth who lives in Nuoro, Sardinia. Because of her strong will and sense of independence, Marianna is the family "black sheep" - refusing to be married off to a distant relative in a social arrangement of convenience. Instead Marianna becomes involved with Simone Sole, a younger man who was a servant in the Sirca household in his youth and who is now an outlaw - wanted for banditry. Against the will of her entire family, the lovers plan to marry, but at Marianna's insistence only after Simone "gets right with the law." The novel traces the story of these two emarginated lovers through various twists and turns, ending with a typical Deleddan flourish that leaves the reader with a real awareness of Sardinian, social mores, values, attitudes, and tradition."--BOOK JACKET.
'The struggles of both Marianna and Simone with their own consciences, with their nearest and dearest and with what they feel is most likely to make them happy are what this book is about and Deledda tells her story very well. We can sympathise with Marianna and Simone while recognising, even if not agreeing with the opposing view, even if this is set well over a hundred years ago in a society with different mores from ours.' John Alvey in The Modern Novel 'Richly imagined and uncompromising in its powerful descriptions, Marianna Sirca is an engrossing novel that vividly evokes a time and place far removed from the modern world. It left me curious to read more of Deledda’s extensive body of work.' Aneesa Abbas Higgins in The Riveter
Women's writing in Italy from Unification to the present day, examining the lives and works of women writers within the context of Italian history, culture and politics. The changing face of Italian social and political life since Unification has greatly affected the position of women in Italy. This work explores the relation between the changing role of women over this period, then struggle for social and political emancipation and equality, and the search by women writers to a personal and authentic literary voice.
Marianna Sirca è un romanzo scritto da Grazia Deledda e pubblicato per la prima volta a puntate nel 1915 sulle pagine de La Lettura, mensile del Corriere della Sera. È il primo dei romanzi di quella che si può considerare una vera e propria trilogia che comprende L'incendio dell'oliveto e si conclude con La madre. I protagonisti principali sono Marianna Sirca, una giovane di origini modeste, arricchitasi dopo aver ereditato il patrimonio di un suo zio prete a cui faceva la serva, e il bandito Simone Sole.
Throughout Deledda's novels, truncated maturity functions as a psychological undertow sucking down its sufferers and their loved ones to the depths of fictive drama."--BOOK JACKET.
This volume explores how Sardinians and Sardinia have been portrayed in Italian cinema from the beginning of the 20th century until now, starting from the examination of Sardinian tropes in a wide range of texts – travel writing, fictional sources, essays and academic works. The purpose is to shed light on the cultural construction of the Sardinian character and to reveal the ideology that is behind this process. Hence the volume challenges topics such as the dynamics between verbal and visual imagery, and the intertwining between discourse, images and audience. It addresses the following questions: how was the Sardinian character translated from texts into films? Which strategies were developed to define Sardinian images on screen? For whom were these images intended? Which ideology lies behind the images? Focusing on cultural images within film and literature, this volume is of interest to those working in imagology, comparative, cultural and Italian studies.
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.
