Gender and the Italian Stage: From the Renaissance to the Present Day - Hardcover

Günsberg, Maggie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521590280 ISBN 13: 9780521590280

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1997

Synopsis

Maggie Günsberg explores the intersection between gender portrayal and other social categories of class, age and the family in the Italian theatre from the Renaissance to the present day. She examines the developing relationship between patriarchal strategies and the formal properties of the dramatic genre such as plot, comedy and realism. She also considers conventions specific to drama in performance, including images of both femininity and masculinity. An interdisciplinary approach, drawing on semiotics, psychoanalysis, philosophy, theories of spectatorship and dramatic theory from a feminist perspective, informs Günsberg's critique of landmarks in Italian theatrical history, including work by Machiavelli, Ariosto, Goldoni, D'Annunzio and Pirandello. The book concludes with a chapter on the plays of Franca Rame, assessing the impact of this important figure on contemporary Italian theatre.

About this title

Review

'While an eclectic approach draws on semiotics and psychoanalysis as well as philosophy and performance theory, Gunsberg remains alert to regional variation and to socio-economic shifts.' New Theatre Quarterly Book Reviews

Book Description

Maggie Günsberg explores gender portrayal on the Italian stage, and its shifting relationship with other social categories of class, age and the family over the past five centuries. An interdisciplinary approach informs her critique of many of the landmarks of Italian theatre, from Machiavelli to Franca Rame.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521590280
• ISBN 13: 9780521590280
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288