Feminism, Violence, and Representation in Modern Italy

Giovanna Parmigiani

Description

Can the way a word is used give legitimacy to a political movement? Feminism, Violence, and Representation in Modern Italy traces the use of the word "femminicidio" (or "femicide") as a tool to mobilize Italian feminists, particularly the Union of Women in Italy (UDI). Based on nearly two years of fieldwork among feminist activists, Giovanna Parmigiani takes a broad look at the many ways in which violence inflects the lives of women in Italy. From unchallenged gendered grammar rules to the representation of women as victims, Parmigiani examines the devaluing of women's contribution to their communities through the words and experiences of the women she interviews. She describes the first uses of the word "femminicidio" as a political term used by and within feminist circles and traces its spread to ultimate legitimization and national relevance. The word redefined women as a political subject by building an imagined community of potentially violated women. In doing so, it challenged Italians to consider the status of women in Italian society, and to make this status a matter of public debate. It also problematized the connection between women and tropes of women as objects of suffering and victimhood. Parmigiani considers this exchange within the context of Italian Catholic heritage, a precarious economy, and long-held notions of honor and shame. Parmigiani provides a careful and searing consideration of the ways in which representations of violence and the politics of this representation are shaping the future of women in Italy and beyond.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. Locating Violence in Salento and Beyond

2. Women before Women: Italian Feminists and the Struggle for Visibility

3. The Creation(s) of Femminicidio

4. Being Witnesses, Not Victims: On the Affective Politics of Representation

5. Producing Witnesses: The Perlocutionary Effects of the Politics of Representation

6. Fare come se (Doing-as-if) and Artistic Engagements: Ethics, Aesthetics, and the Politics of Becoming

Conclusions

Quoted References

Index

Sujets

• Women's Studies
• Gender Studies
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• General officer
• Anthropology
• General
• Social
• Culture

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 12 septembre 2019
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253043399
• Langue: English

Extrait

NEW ANTHROPOLOGIES OF EUROPE
Michael Herzfeld, Melissa L. Caldwell, and Deborah Reed-Danahay, editors

This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2019 by Giovanna Parmigiani
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-253-04337-5 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-253-04338-2 (paperback)
ISBN 978-0-253-04340-5 (ebook)
1 2 3 4 5 24 23 22 21 20 19
This book is dedicated to my father,
Enrico Parmigiani, my mother, Maria Grazia Nicora, and
my grandmother, Aldina Maiorini, who only witnessed
the very early stages of this research:
you are missed immensely .
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Locating Violence in Salento and Beyond
2 Women before Women: Italian Feminists and the Struggle for Visibility
3 The Creation(s) of Femminicidio
4 Being Witnesses, Not Victims: On the Affective Politics of Representation
5 Producing Witnesses: The Perlocutionary Effects of the Politics of Representation
6 Fare-come-se (Doing-as-if) and Artistic Engagements: Ethics, Aesthetics, and the Politics of Becoming
Conclusion
Selected Bibliography
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I N EMBARKING ON MY OWN REPRESENTATIONAL CHALLENGE BY writing this book, I feel deeply grateful. This research would not have been possible without the help of many persons who, in different ways, supported, challenged, provoked, encouraged, and cared for me and this creative enterprise.
I want to thank all the women who generously shared their lives and stories with me: first, the Macare-my beloved sisters and teachers-and the women of Unione delle Donne in Italia (Union of Women in Italy, or UDI). I thank you for your trust, for the many memorable moments spent together, for the warmth and generosity that you showed me since we met in 2011. I cherish your presence in my life and the many life lessons I learned by spending time with you. I hope that I do justice, in this book, to the beauty, complexity, passion, and political drive that animate your lives and that make you the exceptional human beings you are.
A special thanks to Pina Nuzzo, whose insights and political vision are always as elegant and lucid as her art. The ways in which your two passions-art and politics-intertwine in your life and political activism is always a source of inspiration for me. I am deeply grateful for your trust and for the intellectual and emotional labor you put into trying to find the right language for me to understand your artistic and political visions.
I thank DNA Donna, Laboratorio Donnae, Io Sono Bellissima, Cooperativa San Francesco, Flauto Magico, Femministe Nove, Evaluna, Donne Insieme, Agedo, LeA, UDI Modena, UDI Pesaro, Spazio Donna, Laboratorio Zarcar, Libreria Idrusa, Annacinzia Villani, Comune di Soleto, Comune di Sogliano Cavour, Comune di Presicce, Criamu, Panico Tamburi a Cornice, SoniBoni, Mascarimir , Scuola di Counseling Espero, Le Costantine, Canali Creativi, and Giovanni from ANSA.
I am also particularly grateful to Enza, Loredana, Melania, Milena, Mac, Maria Antonietta, Marisa, Lidia, Lorenza, Claudia, Sabrina, Nadia, Lisa, Erica, Lara, Miriam, Maria Grazia, Francesca, Monica, Ilaria, Ingrid, Judith, Viola, Simonetta, Antonella, Cristina, Valentina, Rossella, Debora, Lori, Monica, Stefania, Caterina, Roberta, Federica, Letizia, Annalisa, Rita, Annarita, Rina, Caterina, Roberta, Brigitte, Ada, Silvia, Lucia, Giulia, Vania, Annarita, Saveria, Anna Maria, Roberta, Roberta, Moira, Leila, Oriana, Vita, Tina, Helen, Marina, Lucia, Mariarosaria, Beatrice, Sabina, Nicoletta, Cristina, Francesca, Giuliana, Emanuela, Pilar, Ross, Raffaela, Ingrid, Ilaria, Anna Maria, Marianna, Maria Ada, and Elide. Thank you for your help, support, and friendship.
My gratitude goes also to Eunice, Steve, Eric, Jasmine, the Villas, the Belcastros, the Baroccis, Carolina, Salvatore, Rosamarina, Virginie, Claudio M., Elena, Fabio, Alina, Arjeta, Vincenzo, Rosa, Ulrike, Kelsi, Nonno Mario, the Galli family, the Monai family, the Zappa family, Annette, and Morgana.
A special thanks to Alessandra Bianco, whose help in obtaining the copyright of some of the images proved to be crucial, and to Pina Nuzzo, Enza Miceli, Maria Antonietta Nuzzo, and Lucia Sabato for their art, photos, and insights. I am grateful to Manuela Pellegrino, Nicoletta Nuzzo, Francesco Manni, Barbara Spinelli, Giovanni Pizza, Giovanna Zapperi, Alessandra Gribaldo, Loredana De Vitis, and Stefano Santachiara for sharing with me some of their research or materials.
I am especially grateful to the Anthropology Department at the University of Toronto and for the support of the Connaught Scholarship throughout my doctoral period.
A particular thanks to Andrea Muehlebach, Valentina Napolitano, Naisargi Dave, and Michael Lambek, whose stimulating and compelling insights were of key importance in my personal and academic growth: thank you for helping me think through my material and articulate my arguments with greater clarity. Thanks also to Natalia Krencil, for the invaluable help and support she provided in navigating the university bureaucracy. Thanks to Ivan Kalmar, Rita Astuti, Maurice Bloch, Fenella Cannell, Ugo Fabietti, and Aurora Donzelli for having supported me during the early stages of my postgraduate studies.
I am deeply grateful to Michal Herzfeld, whose engagement with my work was crucial: thank you for pushing me to elaborate further my arguments and writing style and to make my book, and my scholarship, a better one. Many thanks to Jennika Baines, Kate Schramm, and Indiana University Press for the support, encouragement, and dedication throughout the publication process. My gratitude also goes to the anonymous reviewers whose insights, suggestions, and passionate encouragement really made a difference in the final version of this book and in my authorship.
Aspects of this research appeared in the journal Modern Italy : I thank the editorial board and the anonymous reviewers for the insightful comments and suggestions.
I want to thank all the persons who, in different ways and occasions, have engaged with part of the text or arguments of the book: your insights, comments, challenges, and critical feedback have been of great importance to me and to this project. Thanks to Salvatore Giusto, Veronica Buffon, Letha Victor, Annalisa Butticci, Maria Efthymiou, Veena Das, Michael Jackson, Charles Stewart, Stavroula Pypirou, Giovanni Pizza, Flavia Laviosa, Deborah A. Thompson, Lisa M. Stevenson, Gino di Mitri, John Kloppenborg, Marco Rizzi, Francis Cody, Megan Raschig, Laura McTighe, Emily Ng, Elisa Lanari, Aditi Surie von Czechowski, Sabina Perrino, Sabina Izzo, Gregory Kohler, Andrea Leone-Pizzighella, Zachary Androus, Alexandra Cotofana, Laurian Bowles, Manuela Pellegrino, Mariela Nu ez-Janes, Beth Uzwiak, Jessica Santos, Barbara Di Gennaro, Mauro Belcastro, Juliann Vitullo, Tania Rispoli, and the audiences of my papers.
A special thanks to both the Science, Religion, and Culture Program and the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School-in particular to Ahmed Ragab and Charles Stang. The welcoming culture and the intellectual richness of these environments are, for me, an invaluable source of personal and scholarly growth.
Without my family, this research, this book, and, in many ways, my own well-being throughout the time frame covered by this manuscript would not have been possible.
A million thanks to my Salentine family and the nonni for the immense generosity, support, affection, hospitality, and patience you showed me in countless ways since we met. I feel deeply fortunate to have you in my life.
I am immensely grateful to my husband Giovanni and to my son Beniamino: without your practical and emotional support I could not have accomplished this. Giovanni: thank you for discussing with me, over and over again, the different lines of arguments of this book with great patience and insights. Thank you for navigating my emotional and practical journeys with centratura and flexibility: once again, this helped me immensely, especially during the difficult periods of my grief. Thank you, Beniamino, for bringing such a joy to my life: your sensitivity, intelligence, and good spirits make such a positive difference! I feel very proud to be your mom and want to thank you for having been so understanding, flexible, and generous, at your very young age, with me and my need to be away from home for extended periods of time. Home is where you two are.

INTRODUCTION
S EVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FOUR: THIS IS THE NUMBER of femicides ( femminicidi , in Italian. Singular: femminicidio ) that occurred in Italy between 2012 and 2017, as claimed by the Italian Ministry of Interior, which is an average of one woman killed (almost) every other day. 1
Femminicidio, according to the Italian encyclopedia Treccani , refers to the-direct or indirect, physical or moral-killing of women and of their social roles. 2 In Italian feminist circles, like the ones I joined for this research, femminicidio is indissolubly connected with pat