Bompiani, Schneider e le altre: voci di donne, pseudonimi e scherzi d’autore nel laboratorio del «Semplice» (1995-1997)

Abstract

The following article analises women writers’ contributions published on «Il Semplice» between 1995 and 1997. First, I look at the styles and the recurrent topics of the short stories, then I consider them within the wider context of mainstream literature by Italian women writers in the Nineties, especially writers who were representative of a postfeminist aesthetics. In the second part, the article looks in depth at the “pseudonyms’ issue”, by investigating possible reasons behind the choice of several male authors to publish under a female name. This research is based on original letters exchanged between the journal board and Daniele Benati; thanks to these documents it has been possible to reconstruct comments and thoughts behind the editing of some of the journal’s publications. In the conclusion, I discuss how the editorial board addressed gender-related issues, rejecting any kind of political and social engagement as it had been known during the Sixties and Seventies.

Keywords

• contemporary italian literature
• italian short stories
• nineties
• women writers
• gender studies