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Women's Writing and the "Anxiety of Authorship" in Ninetee"nth-Century Italy: Bruno Sperani and Others

by Joanne Balletti..Thomas

Department of Italian McGiII University, Montreal

October 1996

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts

© Joanne Balletti-Thomas, 1996 National Ubrary Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 of canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1 A 0N4 canada Canada

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0-612-29525-7

Canad~ ABSTRACT

As women's literature emerged in late nineteenth-century Italy, female authors encountered many obstacles. Foremost among them was the near-total absence of Italian female Iiterary raie mode/s. Female writers often expressed ambivalence towards the writing of other women, which was considered inferior to male writing. However, their reverence for male writers revealed how conflictive their identities as writers were, and it was an impediment ta the establishment of a serious women's literary tradition. In addition to

such personal conflicts J these writers also faced the challenge of gaining acceptance by the male-dominated /iterary community and by their readers. These two groups expected that women's writing conform to a moral code which did not apply ta men's writing. This thesis is an analysis of the specifie problems that female novelist Bruno

Sperani and others faced as they strove ta establish themselves in Italian literature. Il

RÉSUMÉ

Lors de l'apparition de la littérature féminine en Ital