Ursula Fanning, University College Dublin – Gender in Pirandello: Objects, Subjects, Abjects

This paper will explore those representations of gender in Pirandello in which his female characters function as objects of representation, while their male counterparts attain subject positions; here I am particularly interested in Pirandello’s configuration of the maternal abject as well as of the paternal. It then moves to those areas where Pirandello challenges our expectations, especially in his gendering of creativity.

Ursula Fanning is Associate Professor and Head of Italian Studies at the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics in University College Dublin. She is a member of the Boards of Doctoral Studies for Italian and for Comparative Romance Literatures at the Istituto Orientale, Naples, as well as of the editorial board of the Women and Gender in Italy book series, published by Classiques Garnier.