A DIFFERENT SHADE OF PINK: LITERARY THRESHOLDS AND CULTURAL INTERSECTIONS IN ITALIAN CHICK LIT By Federica Balducci A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Italian Victoria University of Wellington (2011) ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the Italian production of chick lit, a particular segment of contemporary women’s popular fiction developed in the mid 1990s in Anglophone countries. A worldwide phenomenon born out of Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary (1996) and the HBO TV show Sex and the City (1998), chick lit novels portray the professional, emotional and sentimental anxieties of white, middle-class, heterosexual and financially independent women in a witty and humorous tone. The arrival of chick lit and its successful translation into Italian in the late 1990s has prompted many local writers to engage with the genre, but the growing body of chick lit written in Italian and its place in the cultural and literary landscape have yet to be assessed. This thesis explores recurring themes, narrative strategies and stylistic features deployed in Italian chick lit novels not only against their Anglo-American models, but also in relation to Western popular media culture and the Italian tradition of romanzo rosa, its cultures and practices as well as its legacy. It shows the presence of distinct intertextual patterns in dealing with key generic features, such as the identification with the female protagonist and her journey toward self-empowerment, the relationship with consumerism and popular media culture, and the humorous style. This thesis also assesses the nature of chick lit as both a literary genre and a sociocultural phenomenon across countries and languages through theoretical perspectives of cultural studies and feminist theories on women’s popular culture and Western popular postfeminism. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Writing a thesis is like running a marathon. Not only it is a matter of physical endurance, but it is also an intellectual challenge, and my heartfelt thankfulness goes to the people who have supported me in completing this demanding task. My supervisor Dr Claudia Bernardi has provided invaluable guidance through the dark alleyways of the writing process, helping me to grow as a scholar as much as a person. Working under Dr Bernardi’s supervision has been a great pleasure, and without her advice and commitment this thesis would not have been possible. I am also very grateful to my second supervisor Dr Sally Hill for her insightful feedback and for her assistance, particularly in the final stages of the submission. Dr Hill’s enthusiasm and dedication have contributed a great deal to the successful completion of my work. This thesis is also dedicated to the people who, over the past years, have helped me in many different ways: my extended family in Bologna, Italy; the staff and fellow postgraduate students at Victoria University of Wellington; and of course Yuri, who is always by my side (often against all odds). Finally, the dogs at Wellington SPCA have provided solace and comic relief when I needed them the most, teaching me how to live in the moment and making this long journey all the more worthwhile. 3 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 Chick lit: themes, features and critical assessment..................................... 22 1.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 22 1.2 Chick lit and postfeminist popular culture ............................................ 22 1.3 Popular fiction genres and intertextuality as a cultural practice ............. 27 1.4 Chick lit in the marketplace: from Bridget Jones (1996) to Red Dress Ink (2001) ....................................................................... 31 1.5 Chick lit’s main features ....................................................................... 35 1.5.1 Romance and sexuality .............................................................. 37 1.5.2 Friendship .................................................................................. 40 1.5.3 The urban context: locations and professions ............................. 43 1.5.4 Fashion and consumerism .......................................................... 46 1.6 Writing style and humour ..................................................................... 50 1.7 Paratextual elements ............................................................................. 54 1.8 Chick lit on the literary stage ................................................................ 58 1.9 Conclusion ........................................................................................... 64 CHAPTER 2 Chick lit for the Italian marketplace? Toward a local production ............ 66 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 66 2.2 Italian popular romance: romanzo rosa and its evolution ...................... 67 2.3 Chick lit between globalization and local adaptations ........................... 83 2.4 The making of Italian chick lit: Un anno di Gloria (2001), Valentina compra tutto (2002) and Qualcosa bolle in città (2004) ....................................................................................... 90 2.4.1 Un anno di Gloria..................................................................... 90 4 2.4.2 Valentina compra tutto ........................................................... 103 2.4.3 Qualcosa bolle in città ............................................................ 112 2.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 120 CHAPTER 3 Consolidating the genre: Federica Bosco’s ‘trilogia di Monica’ .............. 123 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 123 3.2 Newton Compton, Anagramma and the Italian marketplace................ 125 3.3 Anagramma’s paratext: marketing Italian chick lit .............................. 127 3.4 Federica Bosco: the ‘queen’ of Italian chick lit ................................... 134 3.5 The ‘trilogia di Monica’: Mi piaci da morire (2005), L’amore non fa per me (2007) and L’amore mi perseguita (2008) .......................................................................... 136 3.6 Growing up, growing out: in search for an individual voice ................ 138 3.7 Popular culture and quality fiction: intertextual references and literary icons in the ‘trilogia di Monica’ ....................................... 149 3.8 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 160 CHAPTER 4 Realism and popular postfeminism in Italian chick lit novels ................. 162 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 162 4.2 Professional women between flexibility and precariato ...................... 164 4.3 Voglio un mondo rosa shokking (2007): Italian chick lit and popular postfeminism ......................................................................... 168 4.4 A ‘shokking’ choice: the ambiguous realism of Voglio un mondo rosa shokking .......................................................................... 174 4.5 Love on a shoestring: unemployment and flexibility in Glam cheap (2007) ............................................................................. 182 4.6 Mogli Mantenute, Mariti Licenziati and Uomini Extralarge: negotiating female and male identities in the marketplace................... 187 4.7 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 195 5 CHAPTER 5 Romance, humour and intertextuality: Stefania Bertola’s romantic comedies ..................................................................................... 199 5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 199 5.2 Bertola’s romantic comedy: female storytelling and narrative modes ........................................................................... 202 5.3 Comedy, humour and intertextuality in Bertola’s fiction ..................... 211 5.4 Parody and self-reflexivity ................................................................. 228 5.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................... 236 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................... 238 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................... 245 6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Book cover of Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding ........................ 93 Figure 2: Book cover of Il diario di Bridget Jones by Helen Fielding ................... 93 Figure 3: Book cover of Un anno di Gloria by Alessandra Casella ....................... 93 Figure 4: Book cover of I love shopping by Sophie Kinsella ...............................107 Figure 5: Book cover of Valentina compra tutto by Carlotta Magnanini ..............107 Figure 6: Anagramma promotional picture in Newton Compton’s catalogue, 2009 ....................................................................................131 Figure 7: Anagramma promotional picture in Newton Compton’s catalogue, 2010 ....................................................................................133