Abstract
After the Italian Unification in 1861, the centralising forces aimed at creating a sense of national belonging went hand in hand with a growing interest towards local traditions. The power struggle between central and marginal dimensions are evident in the practices surrounding the collection of folklore in the post-Unification period. The emergence of this new field of research, in which comparative, philological and anthropological approaches were converging, celebrated the unity of the Italian nation while simultaneously emphasising its diverse regional and linguistic composition. The fragmented nature of the new-born Italian state engendered a multiplicity of centripetal contributions to the field of folklore studies, which were fueled by a complex mosaic of deeply grounded regional perspectives. Such drives, albeit emerging throughout the Italian peninsula, were particularly prolific in Southern Italy and in the Italian islands. This paper is primarily concerned with the recognition of women’s contribution to folklore studies, with an emphasis on collectors and traditions bearers from peripheral contexts in Sicily and Sardinia. These female folklorists challenged the prejudices of the time, which precluded women from public exposure; some of them managed to impose themselves on the folkloric scene, despite orbiting around a world dominated chiefly by male scholars. By focusing on the preservation of popular traditions in the two Mediterranean islands from a gender perspective, this study aims to highlight women’s pioneering role in the perpetuation of local folkloric narratives, which were charged with a strong cultural and political resonance at this historical juncture.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Women’s Studies, Folklore Studies, Italian Studies, Mediterranean Studies, Nineteenth-Century Studies
