Autobiographical Cultures in Post-War Italy : Life-Writing, Communism and Feminism

"After the Second World War, two contrasting political movements became increasingly active in Italy - the communist and feminist movements. In this book, Walter Baroni uses autobiographical life-writing from both movements key protagonists to shed new light on the history of these movements and more broadly the similarities and differences between political activists in post-war Italy."-- Provided by publisher Introduction --1. Institutional communist autobiographies, 1944-1956: administrative identification and narrative identity. 1.1. Communist autobiographies: origins ; 1.2. The Italian way to autobiographical control: elements of context ; 1.3. The communist autobiography: plot and story -- 2. Eminist self-enuniciation: between silence and infinite speech. 2.1. The paradox of emancipation and its autobiographical strategies ; 2.2. Paranoia: the infinite discourse ; 2.3. Schizophrenia and catatonia: poetry, dreams and discursive hesitations -- 3. The remains of two traditions: institutional monument and impossible mourning. 3.1. After the end: the collapse of communism and the self-narrative ; 3.2. Late feminist autobiographies: the journey towards legitimacy and normality ; 3.3. Echoes of the origins: the autobiographies of Giorgio Napolitano and Laura Lepetit -- Giorgio Napolitano: The man who made himself an institution -- Laura Lepetit: feminism as distraction