'Erotic literature is the exploration of the boundaries between the
obscene and the erotic', says the editor in her essay introducing
this unusual and exciting collection of erotica. The authors
challenge the stereotypical image of Italian women as
sex-goddesses, instead finding their own erotically feminist
voices. The 14 pieces shout quality, enhanced by a sympathetic
translator who has managed to keep the essence of something
particularly Italian, without losing the universal. The climate of
contemporary erotic writing in Italy is shown in erotic vignettes,
short stories and even philosophical debate and carries an almost
mystical, haunting character, one which is uniquely feminine. You
feel you are being allowed a glimpse into the souls of these women,
yet the stories have a stark and refreshing frankness. The sexual
language is sparse and does not stoop to ludicrous euphemisms, but
has that rare effect of being erotic and explicit without ever
being pornographic. There is a lyrical dreamlike writing, and also
pieces with an experimental modern edge. 'Sensuality is not
programmable, it has a cat's temper...'says Dacia Mariani in her
short piece, 'The Zipper', and there is a diverse range of
approaches to the subject. Themes range from adolescent awakenings
to a lesbian encounter, 'Mermaids, and other Sea Creatures'. Mood
and sense of place are carefully set, not as a vehicle for sexual
scenes, but as the prime essential psychological territory where
sex is explored and revealed. Beautifully crafted, those stories
are like gems where the erotic seamlessly infuses that narrative.
The mood of each piece lingers in the memory long after it has been
read. It is an art to create unique and memorable writing like
this, with sex and sensuality as the focus.This book is a literary
classic in the making, to be savoured for its depth and subtlety.
(Kirkus UK)
"Eroticism, it seems to me, is something hidden, something that
doesn't come out, doesn't let itself be discovered. In those places
where it announces itself, where it is put on view and put on sale,
it is not to be found . . . so as to appear later, even slyly, in a
place where no one expected to seek it, ambiguous and crafty,
furtive and fitting."--from "The Zipper" by Dacia Maraini
For centuries, the stereotypical image of the voluptuous Italian
woman has served as an object of desire for Western man: from the
paintings of Venetian courtesans who modeled for the erotically
charged canvases of Titian, Veronese, and Tintoretto, to
nineteenth-century reports of the beautiful dancer Marie Taglioni,
to the twentieth-century cinematic images of Sophia Loren and
Dominique Sanda.
Now Italian women have turned the tables. In this volume, acclaimed
novelist Maria Rosa Cutrufelli brings together fourteen short
erotic stories by contemporary Italian women writers.
Well-established voices are juxtaposed with new ones; traditional
forms provide a contrast with the experimental. In Sandra
Petrignani's dialogue "Body," a women and a former lover engage in
a heady debate about desire and indifference; Margherita Giacobino
delivers a tale of lesbian desire, a theme uncommon in Italian
literature; Dacia Maraini writes on the literature of eroticism
penned by women writers that ingeniously manages to be erotic in
its own right; and Rossana Campo offers a hip-rattling tri-logue on
love voiced by three super-cool adolescents. In her introductory
essay on the nature of desire and seduction, Cutrufelli draws in
writers such as Jean Baudrillard, Angela Carter, and Georges
Bataille. Available for thefirst time in English, "In the Forbidden
City" constitutes a breakthrough volume in literary erotica that is
both profound and engaging.
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