Italian and Italian American Studies

Transcription

1 Italian and Italian American Studies Series Editor Stanislao G. Pugliese Hofstra University Hempstead, New York, USA

2 Aims of the Series This series brings the latest scholarship in Italian and Italian American history, literature, cinema, and cultural studies to a large audience of specialists, general readers, and students. Featuring works on modern Italy (Renaissance to the present) and Italian American culture and society by established scholars as well as new voices, it has been a longstanding force in shaping the evolving fields of Italian and Italian American Studies by re-emphasizing their connection to one another.

3 Simonetta Milli Konewko Neorealism and the New Italy Compassion in the Development of Italian Identity

4 Simonetta Milli Konewko University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Italian and Italian American Studies ISBN ISBN (ebook) DOI / Library of Congress Control Number: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover image: INTERFOTO / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. New York

5 Ai miei genitori e modelli di vita, Omero Milli e Lilia Busti Milli

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7 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Through writing this book, I understood the significance of my experience in two different countries, Italy and the USA. There are individuals in both places without whom this work would not have been written and to whom I am significantly grateful. I received different forms of support at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee as this book took shape. I am especially thankful to Robin Pickering-Iazzi for her insightful investigation of the argument and priceless recommendations and to Gwynne Kennedy for her knowledgeable guidance and assistance. This work would not have been conceivable without their participation. I thank Michelle Bolduc, Peter Paik, Caroline Seymour- Jorn, and Jenny Peshut for their treasured support during this progress, and all the members of the Department of French, Italian, and Comparative Literature for their inspiration. I want to extend my appreciation to Jeffrey Merrick, former Associate Dean of Letters and Science, and Steve Atkinson for their valuable support for this study. A University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee Graduate School Research Committee Award (2011) funded the research at the Cinecittà Archive and Biblioteca Nazionale in Rome. I am thankful to Giorgio Alberti, Alastair Hamilton, Kristie Hamilton, and Kathleen Woodward, who sparked my interest in literature, history, and theories of compassion. I am deeply grateful to Daniela Guardamagna, Marina Perez De Mendiola, and Lawrence Baldassaro, who sustained my effort from the beginning. I am also grateful to Daria Valentini, Carol Lazzaro-Weis, and Stefania Lucamante for supporting my research and for providing invaluable guidance through their own work. I owe my debt of gratitude to Elizabeth Cuneo, who inspired me to follow this adventure vii

8 viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and offered unceasing reinforcement, and to Gerald Feldman for providing clarity and unending good humor. I am appreciative of Henry Konewko for disclosing his shrewd viewpoint on the war and generously providing caring assistance. I am thankful to Ann Konewko, Erika Ozog, and the members of the Ozog and Savoretti families for their encouragement. I am strongly obliged to my parents, Omero Milli and Lilia Busti Milli, who experienced and explained to me the terror of war and the meaning of emotional accountability and attention for others. Their moral honesty profoundly influenced my opinions and my existence. I thank them for their unwavering faith in my capabilities. Special thanks also to my sister, Nadia Milli, who shared her curiosity and knowledge of Italian history and offered much support. I am immensely in debt to my husband, Mark Konewko, for his generous sustenance, endless suggestions, and endurance to cope with my work, and to my sons, Sebastian and Leonardo, for their excitement, ideas, and cheerful inspiration. Their trust in me has changed difficulties into possibilities. I am appreciative of Palgrave Macmillan for providing the great series Italian and Italian American Studies comprising this work and of its expert editor, Stanislao Pugliese. I thank Brigitte Shull, Head of Editorial and Author Services, Ryan Jenkins, Commissioning Editor, and Paloma Yannakakis, Editorial Assistant, for their professional help during the different stages of this progression. Some sections of this book have been published in different forms. Chapter 10 was published in Rivista di Studi Italiani, 29(1), 2011, as Functions of Compassion in Natalia Ginzburg s Representation of Traditional Family and Extended Communities. Chapter 11 appeared in A. Fàvaro (Ed.) Alberto Moravia e la ciociara. Letteratura. Storia. Cinema. as La ciociara: la funzione della compassione come critica sociale, Part of Chap. 12 was published in Forum Italicum 29(1), 2011, as L Agnese va a morire and Meanings of Compassion in the Female Partisans Struggle Against German Nazis and Italian Fascists. Another part of Chap. 12 appeared in Journal of Literature and Art Studies, 2(7), 2012, as Rossellini s Compassions as Social Evaluation. Chapter 14 was translated into Ukrainian and published in Holocaust and Modernity, Studies in Ukraine and the World 1 (9), 2011, as Bиживaння в Aушвiцi тa узи cпiвчуття у тaбopax ( Survival in Auschwitz and Compassionate Bonds in the Camps ). Chapter 15 was published in Rivista di Studi Italiani, 31(1), 2013, as Smoke over Birkenau and Models of Female Compassion.

9 CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 Part I Neorealism: What Is and Is Not 9 2 The Italian Roots of Neorealism 13 Cinematographic Origins 13 Literary Origins 17 3 Neorealism and Films 23 Melodrama and Genuine Authenticity 25 On-Location Shooting: War-Damaged Urban Centers 28 Nonprofessional Actors and Intergenerational Sets of Characters 32 4 Neorealism and Literature 37 Local Identities 38 Female Voices in the Postwar Period 41 5 Emotions in Neorealism 47 Cinema and Emotions 48 Literature and Emotions 51 ix

10 x CONTENTS Part II Compassion: What Is and Is Not 55 6 The Nature of Compassion 57 7 Compassion and Pity, Sympathy, and Empathy 65 8 Occurrences of Compassion 71 9 Rethinking Compassion in Light of Neorealism 77 The Three Beliefs of Aristotle and Nussbaum 77 Knowledge and Emotion The Discourse of Compassion During Fascism 87 Mussolini 89 Carlo Bernari 97 Conclusions 108 Part III Charting Landscapes of Compassion During World War II Compassion in Ginzburg s Depictions of Family Relationships 117 Ginzburg s Compassion Within the Family 119 Ginzburg s Compassion Outside the Family 127 Conclusions Moravia s Representation of Compassion 133 Compassion and Social Conditions 137 Compassion and Concept of Nationality 139 Compassion in the Countryside and City 141 Compassion and Atrocity 145 Compassion and Gender Differences 149 Conclusions 153

11 CONTENTS xi 13 Women, Compassion, and the Resistance Movement in L Agnese va a morire 159 Agnese as the Subject of Compassion 164 Agnese as the Object of Compassion 168 Conclusions Compassion and the Construction of Women s Identity in Rome, Open City 179 Pina s Compassion 181 Laura s and Marina s Compassion 192 Conclusions 195 Part IV Compassion and the Holocaust Compassion in Survival in Auschwitz 205 Deceptive Compassion 207 Compassion 211 Conclusions Compassion in Smoke over Birkenau 225 Gustine, Lili, Maria, and Bruna s Compassion 228 Conclusions 239 Bibliography 243 Index 263