Broken Time, Fragmented Space: A Cultural Map of Postwar Italy

Torriglia, Anna Maria

ISBN 10: 1487587228 / ISBN 13: 9781487587222

Published by University of Toronto Press, 2002

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 33410045-n

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Broken Time, Fragmented Space: A Cultural Map of Postwar Italy
• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1487587228
• ISBN 13: 9781487587222
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Broken Time, Fragmented Space: A Cultural Map for Post-war Italy examines how the artists and intellectuals of post-war Italy dealt with the 'shameful' heritage of their fascist upbringing and education by trying to craft a new cultural identity for themselves and the country. The continuities between the culture of the fascist and post-fascist periods were, however, far greater than what intellectuals were ready to admit, creating an uncomfortable, sometimes schizophrenic relation to time, as a painful urge to erase the past.

Drawing on a variety of critical approaches, Torriglia investigates the efforts to reconstruct a personal as well as a collective self by analyzing both canonical and lesser-known cinematic and literary texts. Organized around four main themes - the use of language, the interaction between personal and public spheres, the perceptual categories of history and memory, and the reconstruction of the female identity - the study also includes historical introductions and sociological commentary that provides an extensive and captivating picture of the cultural production in 1950s Italy, a period that has not yet been extensively studied.

About the Author

Anna Maria Torriglia teaches at the University of California in Padua.