Maintenant ou jamais: la verve des romancieres contemporaines italiennes

Abstract

The social and political movement “Se non ora quando” (If Not Now, When?), using the title of a famous work by Primo Levi, recently united thousands of men and women who denounced a sad reality: Italy “is not a country for women”. Is it just a coincidence? In parallel and like a descant, in the last decade, Italian women novelists have clearly restored a creative second wind to contemporary literature. Let it be new-born literary talents or confirmed ones, the fictions by M. Agus, M. Mazzantini, M. Mazzuco or S. Avallone echo, with their singular voices, the “powerfulness” of Italian women. With very different styles, demands and tonalities, their words murmur together to form the corphaeus’ voice that disturbs, deplores, denounces and laments the condition of today’s homo italicus. We suggest that we set out upon a quest for this abundant literary production, while organizing our reflexion around that which could be a common denominator: “the urgency to say”.