Eighteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the icon of the Italian black Madonna, known as Mamma Schiavona, and her relation with folklore, culture, and myth through the lenses of feminist theory. Mamma Schiavona is one of the three names by which people from Campania Region (Italy) call the Madonna of Montevergine, a very large painting on pinewood located inside a Benedictine monastery and situated on the top of the Partenio Mountain. The myth and worship of the black Madonna of Montevergine have been changing in recent years. The image of Mamma Schiavona constantly intertwines with Italian culture and folklore and, at the same time, blurs gender and religious boundaries. In this regard, this article will explore various elements analyzing the historical, social, and political differences between the old-fashioned Neapolitan femminielli and the modern growing LGBQT community in the way they worship Mamma Schiavona, as well as the attraction of a new wave of pilgrims, the “radical-chic pilgrims.” In sum, the black Madonna of Montevergine becomes an androgynous figure which, during the once-a-year festival of the “Juta,” challenges the patriarchal gender binaries and generates a new gender vortex imbedded in culture and folklore towards a (re)appropriation of the original self.