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La Balena: A Weird Fiction Representation of Women’s Asylums and Emigration in Fascist Italy
Blasi, Aiden McGwire
Blasi, Aiden McGwire
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Abstract
This project is primarily composed of a historical fiction piece. It follows an unnamed woman as she attempts to escape fascist Italy by stowing away aboard an ocean liner to America, where a man from her village is waiting for his betrothed. As the story unfolds, she is tormented by the first mate of the ship who takes an interest in her, fascist blackshirts, and hallucinations and delusions stemming from her past traumatic experience of being committed to an asylum in Italy. The story is followed by an afterword which provides an analysis of the historical background of the piece, including the women's asylums used by the Italian regime to enforce a program of patriarchy and eugenics, as well as a discussion of its literary influence, namely the "weird fiction" of H.P. Lovecraft and how its generic conventions can be applied to anti-fascist literature.
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2021-01-01