Women & the Mafia in Italian Cinema
Women & the Mafia in Italian Cinema
Veronica Vegna
University of Chicago
Tuesday, March 16th | 12:45 - 2:00
What role do women play within Sicilian mafia and how has this role been represented in Italian films in recent years? Like a two-headed Janus and notwithstanding the rigid patriarchal structure that allows only male affiliation to this criminal organization, women (particularly in their role of mothers) contribute to the existence and continuity of the mafia but can also become a threat to it. Drawing on sociological studies on women and organized crime, this lecture discusses filmic representations of the complex and conflicting relationship of women with Sicilian mafia.
Veronica Vegna is the author of Donne, mafia e cinema: una prospettiva interdisciplinare (Longo Editore, 2017), a critical study of gender roles and the representation of the mafia in contemporary Italian cinema. She is Senior Instructional Professor, Director of the Italian Language Program, and Coordinator of the Languages Across the Curriculum Program at the University of Chicago.
This event is free and open to the public.
Please contact Professor Cosetta Seno for Zoom link (cosetta.seno@colorado.edu)