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Still Figures: Photography, Modernity And Gender In Neera’S Fotografie Matrimoniali, Silvia Valisa

Silvia Valisa

This essay discusses author Neera's early novel "Fotografie matrimoniali" (1883) in light of its ambiguous engagement with modernity. I argue that modernity takes on different meanings and ideological connotations in the text, in particular in its discussion of gender, while participating in a nationalist rhetoric that simultaneously gives room to and ‘frames’ its female subjects. I thus investigate how the representation of gender roles is impacted by the changes brought forward by modernity, and discuss whether Neera’s formal (photographic) choice succeeds in opening a different narrative and ideological space.