Enrica Zaninotto

Foreign Literatures and Languages - 39° ciclo (October 1, 2023 - September 30, 2026)

Doctorate research program

Neo-Victorian metafictions of affiction: Feminist discourses on female disability in Margaret Atwood and Alasdair Gray

My project investigates depictions of female "afflicttion" in Neo-Victorian fiction (1980-2010s) embracing a Femininst Disability Studies perspective, whose critical theorisation coincides with the just-mentioned timescale of reference. In its interdisciplinarity, it rests on the following prerequisites: Literary Disability Studies' proliferation within English Studies and more so in Victorian novels, the conceptualization of Neo-Victorian engagements as both mirrors for 19th century concerns and as renegotiations on the historical past. In such a metafictional framework, the project takes into account a feminist-driven perspective and potential activistic outcomes resulting from female non-ablebodiedness’ imaging and sexuality.
At the center of my research and in selecting Poor Things (1992) and Alias Grace (1996) as primary texts lies a congruous conceptualisation of Neo-Victorian fiction marked by historical consciousness, holding great socio-historical critical potentiality that can provide wisdom in relation to both 19th century and contemporary concerns. 
In the name of the feminist motto "personal is political", the project takes on an inside-out research approach.

 

PhD Tutors

Tutor: Prof.ssa Chiara Battisti. Co-tutor: Prof.ssa Sidia Fiorato