Abstract n°2 Sherazade

TABLE OF CONTENTS NEWS FROM THE WEB

Gender Research in Literature
The Orlando Project
NEWS Conference Public Statement from all the teachers of the Liceo Scientifico “Boggio Lera”
HISTORY OF FEMMINISM IN ITALY
Research and Bibliography Rossana Rossandra
POETRY A WINDOW ON THE OUTSIDE WORLD
News and notes from other sources of information that we have found interesting: Nusbaum
POETRY AND HISTORY NOTES ON HISTORY
Personal notes on her teaching experience
Quotations and notes taken from a book written by Edmondo De Amicis on the teacher’s role at the beginning of the 20th century.

EDITORIAL On this issue we provide some brief notes and an essential bibliography on history of femminism in Italy. Our aim is to begin a reasoned research i n this specific field with an historical approach. In fact we believe that an historical analysis of Femminism, - just as an historical analys of the unions, political parties etc.- could be a useful contribution for today’s ongoing debate referring to the current disoriented and disorienting phase of the Italian left and of those who are willing to reevaluate values and categories. As Rossana Rossandra wrote in an article some ten years ago and was virtually ignored, unfortunately: “For those who are strangers membership, I believe, has been closed since 1914. Women should be told and even if they don’t want to, they must burn the skin off their hands, demolish their brain if need be, but they must give answers to all the questions. All the questions must be answered. There isn’t a closed garden where they can take refuge: over that same garden every half hour, high up in the sky, some satellite or other will fly over to take a photograph of the brand name tag of the blouse they are wearing”. (The translation is written by L. R. Capuana, the original can be found in: Rossana Rossandra Anche per me – Donna, persona, memoria dal 1973 al 1986, Saggi Feltrinelli, 1986. This issue of Sherazade has provide for those who are interested more quotations in Italian taken from this book which we invite you to read.) We have set aside a special area in our site for other sources and collection of various news therefore we invite all who are interested to forward us other possible approaches to research on this field, to send us reviews, further bibliography, news from other researching centers. History and Literature, History and Poetry: We think that the relationship present among these different fields of knowledge can be useful for a didactic approach in gender history. That is why we propose our reader some poetry that can help outline a different outlook apt to reconstruct an historical analysis of femminism from within. The poems that we publi sh are taken from: Le lettere del mio nome, Grazia Livi, La Tartaruga, 1992. Through selected excerpts taken from the book written by Edmond De Amicis, La maestrina degli operai we try to reconstruct some aspects of the young female teachers’ role at the beginning of the 20th century. It is our belief that our memory and our history must be thought over and cherished to do so it may be very useful to tell our experience and that of other women, just as telling the story of our life and that of others, moreover we also like to tell stories and to read them. We are referring to the political value of memory and of the word that is why in this issue we speak of a book written by Maria Attanasio, Di Concetta e le sue donne, Sellerio, 1999. From the “global” to the “local” village: surfing in the web we found the Orlando project from the University of Alberta, Canada to which we dedicate a long and detailed summary. Since we live and work in Catania we publish a st atement written by the teachers of the liceo scientifico Boggio Lera on the new laws regarding the Italian school. We also include reviews of some books and films we have found interesting.

Sherazade: e-mail: sherazade@girodivite.it