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Why Do I Write?
No full textDacia Maraini is one of the finest Italian woman writers alive today. She’s won, among others, both Campiello and Strega prizes, which are the most prestigious Italian literature awards. From February 28th to March 5th 2013, Dacia Maraini, one of Italy’s best known modern authors, served as the University’s Distinguished International Visiting Scholar. During her time at the University, she gave two lectures, visited several classes, and was the key-note speaker in the celebration of International Women’s Day. Additionally, she was involved in the premiere presentation of the English translation of her play Per Giulia (For Giulia).
Why Do I Write?
I started to write – Dacia Maraini says – very early, because I come from a family of writers. My grandmother wrote, my father also (although he wrote about wines, not fiction), then also my grandfather, on my mother’s side. So, let’s say that writing for me is a family tradition, a job that has been passed on from father to son. I started to write when I was 14. Then I wrote for my school newspaper and when I was 17 I published my own magazine. At the age of 18 I started writing my first book and I published my first novel when I was 24. Since then I have never stopped writing.” For a writer, each book is a journey that sometimes involves difficult stops along the way, which helps the writer to discover a new world as well as him/herself. Dacia Maraini explains her writing process, saying: “Sometimes, there are moments in which you have the impression of failing, of not being able to say what you want, because you are navigating in the dark. It feels like you are traveling in difficult waters, where you might encounter a rock, an iceberg, and you can sink, surrounded by fog. So, the journey of writing is not always an easy one. At the same time I have an instinct, which pushes me to go on and travel. It is a habit of such intensity and of immense pleasure and it is a fundamental part of my life. I could not live without it.
Women Writers from Convent to Brothel
No full textDacia Maraini is one of the finest Italian woman writers alive today. She’s won, among others, both Campiello and Strega prizes, which are the most prestigious Italian literature awards. From February 28th to March 5th 2013, Dacia Maraini, one of Italy’s best known modern authors, served as the University’s Distinguished International Visiting Scholar. During her time at the University, she gave two lectures, visited several classes, and was the key-note speaker in the celebration of International Women’s Day. Additionally, she was involved in the premiere presentation of the English translation of her play Per Giulia (For Giulia).
Women Writers from Convent to Brothel
In Medieval and Early Modern Europe, writing was considered almost biologically incompatible with the bodies of women. How could a girl who had to prepare herself to give birth and raise children have a mind free to focus on ideas and study? It was thought that the one true function of a woman was maternity and therefore anything that detracted from the care of the procreative body was considered a disturbance and a useless impediment to the sanctity of the family. An education that was too refined, culturally complex, and developed like that required by a professional writer was considered inappropriate for both girl and mother.
The only women who had available to them the peace and time for study were those who dedicated their lives to God. In fact, in the late Middle Ages convents were full of women thinkers and writers, even illustrious ones. On the other hand, it also happened that some women of the people—in order to open a salon and invite the most famous intellectuals of their day—were devoted to studying and cultivating themselves. These were the courtesans (“le cortigiane”), who having to court writers and thinkers in search of amusement, endeavored to educate themselves enough to be able to hold conversations at all levels of discourse. They needed to have grace and wit, but also instruction, intelligence, and wisdom: things that were not expected of a housewife and mother
Prefazione
No full textVado spesso nelle scuole e incontro ragazzi di tutte le età. So che questi sono gli anni importanti per la formazione di un individuo, mi piace discutere con loro di idee e progetti culturali. Si pensa alla scuola come a una realtà omogenea e invece ci sono tantissime differenze fra scuola e scuola. Quando gli insegnanti sono appassionati e danno il buon esempio nella pratica della lettura e nella curiosità verso il mondo delle idee, i ragazzi rispondono benissimo. Quando invece i docenti son..
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