From novels to figures, themes and strategies of a political practice part II: sexual difference: An occasion for being

Niccolai, Silvia

2024-01-01

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Abstract

The present paper is the last of a series of three papers, constituting a whole project of translation and commentary composed of translated extracts from the “Catalogo n. 2 – Le madri di tutte noi”, published by the Milan Women’s Bookstore in 1982. The idea for the project was conceived by Silvia Niccolai and Angela Condello, who selected the extracts and provide the written commentaries on the original texts. The Yellow Catalogue, in which we find collective discussions, pages of personal diaries and, overall, the enterprise of a group of women debating over their literary symbolic mothers (who to read? And why?), is an interesting example of political use of literature. After forty decades from its publication, it still proposes inspiring and fresh suggestions for feminist political action and critique, while representing an interesting occasion for researching the philosophical roots of Feminism. In particular, the debate on the literary “mothers,” i.e., on the female authors that can contribute to the formation of a feminine symbolic, shows the kind of concerns of difference feminism in Italy (especially during the Seventies). The text offers, in other words, the opportunity to enter a world that nowadays – with the new, varied streams of feminism and the battles over the neutralization of sexual identity – is less frequent, and nevertheless we find it important in order to understand the social, political and cultural power of feminism. The projects is composed like follows: Paper No1, In search of a feminine symbolic, by Angela Condello, already published on Law& Literature and Paper No2, From Novels to the Figures, themes and strategies for a political practice. Paper No 2 is structured in two parts. Part One, entitled “Interest in Reality”. For every woman’s autobiography, by Silvia Niccolai, is already published on Law&Literature; Part Two is the present paper: coauthored by Angela Condello and Silvia Niccolai, it addresses issues of sexual difference, identity and ambiguity, and the theories behind the idea of body and life at the core of the Catalogue.