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A new dawn on the past: rethinking the ‘years of lead’ through a female-centred cinematic narrative

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2017

Susanna Scarparo
Susanna Scarparo*
Affiliation:
School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Australia
*
*Email: susanna.scarparo@monash.edu
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Abstract

Through a discussion of Susanna Nichiarelli’s La scoperta dell’alba (The Discovery of Dawn, 2012), the article contends that historical films that do not centre their narratives around the homosocial and heterosexual male-quest, even if employing a conventional cinematic style, allow us to rethink national histories, trauma and contested memories, as they shift the focus to female subjectivities that are often marginalised in Italian historical films. Specifically, the discussion of Nichiarelli’s La scoperta dell’alba focuses on the complex role of victims in interpreting the legacy of the anni di piombo and on the processes through which the interplay between mourning and melancholia fosters the emotional agency that is necessary for dealing constructively with the experience of loss.

Italian summary

Attraverso l’analisi del film La scoperta dell’alba (2012) di Susanna Nichiarelli, questo articolo sostiene che i film che narrano del passato che non si focalizzano su racconti centrati sulla ricerca maschile del se, con impronta omosociale e eterosessuale, qualora utilizzino stili cinematografici convenzionali, ci permettono di ripensare storie nazionali, trauma e memorie contestate, in quanto spostano l’attenzione verso le soggettivitá femminili che sono spesso marginalizzate nei film italiani. In particolare, la discussione del film di Nichiarelli si concentra sulla complessitá del ruolo delle vittime nell’interpretare l’ereditá degli anni di piombo, e sui processi attraverso i quali l’interazione tra lutto e melancolia favoriscono la partecipazione emotiva necessaria per affrontare in modo costruttivo l’esperienza di perdita.

Keywords

Nichiarelliwomen’s cinemaanni di piombo (‘years of lead’)terrorism, Italian historical filmfemale-centric narratives
Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Italy , Volume 22 , Special Issue 2: History and Memory in Italian Cinema , May 2017 , pp. 183 - 196
Copyright
© 2017 Association for the Study of Modern Italy 

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