This website is realized as part of the research project Virginia Woolf and Italian Readers which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 838658..
Virginia Woolf and Italian Readersinvestigates the reception of Woolf in Italy. It studies how and by whom her work was translated, published, reviewed and studied in Italy, with a specific focus on the reading public.
Some of the questions the project seeks to answer are:
- By what means the way she was introduced and described in articles and reviews has shaped her image for Italian readers?
- What critical studies have been written on Woolf by Italian scholars and to what extent does national culture affect the study and teaching of Woolf?
- Which cultural, editorial and social factors did contribute to make a cultural icon of her in Italy?
Since the first mention of her name in Italian newspapers in 1926, Virginia Woolf has acted as a catalyst for the debates on ‘new novel’, experimental form, psychological writing and on women’s role in society. From the first translations of Woolf’s novels during Fascism up to her influence on contemporary artists and writers, this project identifies the key stages of Woolf’s Italian reception in relation to the political, cultural and institutional factors that influenced publishers and translators over the years and it evaluates the processes of popularization and canonization that shaped Woolf’s standing in Italy.
Here is a short video where I introduce my project:
