Naslov
Importance of women clothing in Matilde Serao's texts

Autori
Mihaljević Nikica

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u zbornicima skupova, cjeloviti rad (in extenso), znanstveni

Skup
Lit Cri '12

Mjesto i datum
Istanbul, Turska, 02.05.2012. - 04.05.2012

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
clothing; late 19th century Italian literature; late 19 th century society

Sažetak
Clothing is a characteristic exclusively human, but nowadays it exceeds its original function of only warming and protecting human body ; moreover, it tends to have social and cultural function. The choice of clothing in literature is more than just the expression of the personal taste. Thus, when female characters in the Italian novelist Matilde Serao's literary works choose to wear black, they express their self-punishment for something they have done or intend to do and which is in contrast to the 19th century social decorum. Furthermore, they distinguish from other female characters wearing white, since these female characters are to be married and do not oppose to the social customs. The white color in clothing represents a woman openness to man, her devotion to him, and her respecting the prescribed social behavior. The female character's taking care of what she wears in Serao's novels confirms her interest in relating to a man as well as to the society in general. Moreover, the fact that the women pay attention to wearing particular clothes in certain situations reveals their conforming to the rules in the society as well as to the requests of everyday life. Also, frequently the clothing is personified (for example, the belt of the lover symbolizes the lovers' embrace). However, the clothes are the inextricable part of the nature of Serao's characters, they are the essential part of their being and of their soul, since they represent one of the ways through which a female character converses with the world around her, which, on the other side, monitors and judges every her act in the society. The female characters of Serao's novels in the second half of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century are divided between the space inside of the house, where they fulfill themselves as housewives, and the space oustide of the house, where they feel that they have to realize their ambitions. This scission that the female characters feel can not be expressed freely in that period, so the clothing represents one of the ways, and often the only one, to express their volition. Therefore, the aim of this article is, starting from the assumption that the clothing uncovers not only the temperament of female characters but also the women habits in the Italian society of the late 19th century, to analyse the clothing and the accessories in Matilde Serao's novels. The authoress pays particular attention to these narrative elements, while, at the same time, they have been mostly neglected by the literary critics. Also, the analysis aims to re-read this part of the late 19th century Italian literature in order to research the changes of the female condition in the Italian society of that period and to understand them from today's point of view so that more information about female characters in Italian literature and female condition in general can be collected.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Filologija

POVEZANOST RADA