Dacia Maraini | |
|---|---|
 Maraini in 2012 | |
| Born | Dacia Maraini (1936-11-13)November 13, 1936 (age 88) Fiesole,Florence, Italy |
| Occupation |
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| Education | Istituto Statale della Ss. Annunziata, Florence |
| Period | 1961–present |
| Literary movement | |
| Notable works | La vacanza (The Vacation) L'età del malessere (The Age of Malaise) Donna in guerra (Woman at War) Buio |
| Notable awards | Formentor Prize 1962L'età del malessere Premio Fregene 1999Buio |
| Partner | Alberto Moravia (1962–1983) |
| Relatives |
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Dacia Maraini (Italian pronunciation:[ˈdaːtʃamaraˈiːni]; born November 13, 1936) is an Italian writer. Maraini's work focuses on women's issues, and she has written numerous plays and novels. She has won awards for her work, including theFormentor Prize forL'età del malessere (1963); the Fregene Prize forIsolina (1985); thePremio Campiello and Book of the Year Award forLa lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa (1990); and thePremio Strega forBuio (1999). In 2013, Irish Braschi's biographical documentaryI Was Born Travelling told the story of her life, focusing in particular on her imprisonment in a concentration camp in Japan duringWorld War II and the journeys she made around the world with her partnerAlberto Moravia and close friendsPier Paolo Pasolini andMaria Callas.[1]
Maraini was born inFiesole, Tuscany. She is the daughter of Sicilian PrincessTopazia Alliata di Salaparuta, an artist and art dealer, and ofFosco Maraini, aFlorentineethnologist and mountaineer of mixedTicinese, English and Polish background who wrote in particular onTibet and Japan. When she was a child, her family moved to Japan in 1938 to escapeFascism. They were interned in a Japaneseconcentration camp inNagoya from 1943 to 1946 for refusing to recognize Mussolini'sRepublic of Salò, allied with theEmpire of Japan. After the war, the family returned to Italy and lived inSicily with her mother's family in the town ofBagheria,province of Palermo.
Not long after, her parents separated and her father moved toRome where, some years later, at the age of eighteen, Maraini joined him. Maraini's work focuses on women's issues, and she has written numerous plays and novels. She was educated atIstituto Statale della Ss. Annunziata, a prestigious and privileged boarding school inFlorence. Much of Maraini's writing was affected by her parents and the roles they played in her life. Maraini grew up with an adventurous father and a mother who was always burdened and, in addition to this, read books in which only men would go on quests and journeys. She states that she "became upset by the fact that no great journey could be taken by a woman..."[2]
She marriedLucio Pozzi, aMilanese painter, but they separated after four years. She then becameAlberto Moravia's companion, living with him from 1962 until 1983.
In 1966, Maraini, Moravia andEnzo Siciliano founded thedel Porcospino ("Porcupine") theatrical company which had as its mission the production of new Italian plays. They included her ownLa famiglia normale, Moravia'sL'intervista, Siciliano'sTazza, and works byCarlo Emilio Gadda,Goffredo Parise,J. Rodolfo Wilcock and Tornabuoni. In 1971 he signed theOpen letter to L'Espresso on the Pinelli case against the police officerLuigi Calabresi. In 1973, she helped to found theTeatro della Maddalena which was run by women only.
Maraini directedL'amore coniugale from 1969 to 1973, her only feature film. In 1976 Maraini directed the filmsMio padre amore mio ("My father my love"),Aborto: parlano le donne ("Abortion: women speak out"),Le ragazze di Capoverde ("The young women of Capoverde") andRitratti di donne africane ("Portraits of African Women"), a three part series.[3]
Maraini's writing in film includes the screenplay forL'età del malessere (1968), the screenplay forKill the Fatted Calf and Roast It (1970), a script collaboration forArabian Nights (1974), the documentaryAborto: Parlano le donne (1976), the screenplay for the TV Movie documentaryAbrami in Africa (1976), the TV series documentaryRitratti di donne africane (1977), the screenplay forThe Story of Piera (1983), and the screenplay forLa bocca (1990).[4]
Maraini has begun acting, recently appearing inIo sono nata viaggiando (2013) and narratingCaro Paolo (2013). She also appeared as herself inThe Many Women of Fassbinder (1997),Midnight Journal (1990),Sophia: Ieri, oggi, domani (2007),Kulturzeit (2012), andTutte le storie di Piera (2013).[4]
Maraini is a prolific and well-known writer who continues to produce works today. Her most recent novel,Sguardo a Oriente, was published in May 2022.
In an interview with author Monica Seger, Dacia Maraini stated that, despite her attachment to Italy and its culture, she does not feel like a cultural ambassador. Very often, she tries to analyze her country critically, since being able to view the world through critical eyes is one of an intellectual's prime duties. Her criticism is based on the expectations she has of her country; the more intellectuals try to be critical of their country, the more they want to see it function well. As an intellectual, Maraini tries "to illuminate, to persuade other people of what could be changed in a country that has possibility, a great country, a country of great people that have done great things"[5] because she wants "to persuade Italians that [they] can do better".[5]
Furthermore, the interview focuses on Maraini's meaning of being a writer and a critic. For instance, her book,La Seduzione dell'altrove, is very significant because it outlines her feelings towards her work. According to her, writing and travelling are both forms of illness and therapy. They are an illness because they are stressful and tiring but a therapy because they give her an opportunity to "look from afar and perhaps see things better".[5]
When discussing the importance of the relationship between her books and plays with the public, according to Maraini, the relationship with the public is more important in the theatre because, differently from books, plays deal with the collective and social aspects. While a novel is a more personal relationship with a single reader, plays focus on the live public that can be participating or not. Also, differently, it is easier to feel whether the public is participating or not compared to a book.[5]
Bagheria (1993) is Maraini's only autobiographical work to date.[6] Maraini's works have a general pattern to which they abide; a series of short stories and novels that reflect her "prefeminist stage" are characterized by a sense of alienation, total disorientation, and the need for self-assentation through sexuality.[7] Maraini's "transitional stage," best characterized by her novel,A memoria, demonstrates a tone shifting from inaction to an active search for innovative expression.[7] Maraini's subsequent and more progressive novels, such as Donna in guerra (Woman at War), in which her female characters break free of traditional gender roles and explore their sexuality and social activism, reflect Maraini's involvement in the feminist movement during the late sixties and early seventies.[7]
Many reoccurring themes evident in Maraini's work are: personal freedom for women,[8] exposing the use and abuse of power and its effects on women,[9] women breaking free of traditional gender roles to explore their sexuality and social activism,[10] the silencing of women in society and their appearance in the fashion-system,[11] the seclusion and isolation of women as a result of women seeking their independence and freedom,[2] motherhood as a form of confinement for women, and thus abortion as their only option,[12] violence against and rape of women, women breaking free from being seen as sex objects,[13] and characters' experience with homosexuality, pedophilia, and group sex.[14]
Although Maraini states she is a feminist only in the fact that she is always on the side of women, much of Maraini's work has been classified as feminist.[15] The nature of Maraini's work evolves in line with women's changing position in Italian society[7] and exposes the use and abuse of power and its effects on women.[16] Maraini's progressive works helped change the general impression that women should solely fulfil domestic roles.[7]
Dacia Maraini underwent "a process of evolution in ideology"[17] divided into two forms; one that outlines the individual's close relationships with reality and the other based on motivation to further the cause of women's rights. According to writers such as Pallotta, a series of short stories and novels reflected Maraini's prefeminist stage. The literary works includeLa vacanza (The Vacation, 1962),L'età del malessere (1963). Her pre-feminist stage is characterized by a sense of alienation, total disorientation and the need for self-assentation through sexuality. Pallotta states "social and psychological disorientation [is] rooted in a passive consciousness that refuses to come to terms with reality".[17] The transitional stage is characterized by the need to search for new modes of literary expression. These stages led to a feminist viewpoint that reflects a feminist awareness. Feminist novels includeA memoria andDonna in Guerra. These novels are very significant and are a representation of the Italian Feminist Movement of 1968. The importance of these two works is the research of the protagonists' "total unity." This total unity can be considered part of the constituent stage of her literary expression of feminism.
Maraini has garnered many awards for her work, including the International Formentor Prize (1963) forL'età del malessere;[18] the Premio Fregene (1985), forIsolina;[18] the Premio Campiello (1990) for "La lunga vita di Marianna Ucria";[18] and the Agrigento, Brancanti Zafferana, & Citta di Salerno (1997)[19] and the Premio Strega (1999) forBuio. She also won the Premio Napoli & Sibilla Aleramo prize (1994) for "Voci";[19] the Premio Mediterraneo and the Premio Citta di Penne for "Viaggiando con passo di volpe"; the Sitges International Prize in Spain;[20] and the Premio Candcni, the Italian Premio Riccione; and she was both a finalist for theMan Booker International Prize and a nominee for theNobel Prize in Literature (2012).
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