The Mothers of Us All: Extracts, with Comments, from the “Yellow Catalogue” Published by the Milan Women’s Bookstore – Paper No. 2: From Novels to the Figures, Themes and Strategies for a Political Practice

Abstract

The present paper is the second of three, constituting a whole project of translation and commentary composed of translated extracts from the “Catalogo n. 2 – Le madri di tutte noi,” published by the Milan Women’s Bookstore in 1982. The idea for the project was conceived by Silvia Niccolai and Angela Condello, who selected the extracts and provide the written commentaries on the original texts. The Yellow Catalogue, in which we find collective discussions, pages of personal diaries and, overall, the enterprise of a group of women debating over their literary symbolic mothers (who to read? And why?), is an interesting example of political use of literature. After forty decades from its publication, it still proposes inspiring and fresh suggestions for feminist political action and critique, while representing an interesting occasion for researching the philosophical roots of Feminism. The projects is composed like follows: Paper No1, In search of a feminine symbolic, by Angela Condello, already published on Law & Litterature and Paper No2, From Novels to the Figures, themes and strategies for a political practice. Paper No 2 is structured in two parts. Part One is the article here presented (Part One. “Interest in Reality.” For every woman’s autobiography) written by Silvia Niccolai; Part Two is the article Sexual difference: an occasion for being, coauthored by Angela Condello and Silvia Niccolai, which will be published in a forthcoming issue of this Journal.