"Introduction”: Comparative Approaches to Elena Ferrante: Traumas, Bodies, Languages

Abstract

The introduction to this Special Issue lays out the rationale for analysing Elena Ferrante’s novels through a comparative perspective, in relation to works by Anglophone, French, and Italian authors. The editors first situate Ferrante’s writing within world literature, underlining the extensive intertextual network contained within and generated by her novels. Next, drawing on trauma studies, the introduction proposes trauma as a multidisciplinary interpretive lens for approaching Ferrante’s cultural production as a compelling site of traumatic expression. The introduction concludes by outlining the articles in the Special Issue with their specific theoretical and comparative frameworks, stressing their contributions to the larger conversations about world literature, women’s writing, and the global burgeoning of female literary genealogies.

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Publication Title

Romance Studies

Department

Comparative Literature

Additional Department

French and Italian

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/02639904.2024.2311517

Notes

Special issue.

Keywords

Elena Ferrante, Trauma narratives, Female subjectivity, World literature

Language

English

Format

text

Link to Full Text

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