DWF
donnawomanfemme
Roma, Editrice coop. UTOPIA, 1986-

Genealogies of the present, 2001, n. 1

FORTINI Laura, Editorial note, pp. 2-4

Since the end of 1999 DWF has been involved in a complex but potentially fruitful process of change; the editorial board has asked to take place in the reflection some women, whose contribution to the political and theoretical developments of Italian feminism was deemed especially significant. This issue, edited by Federica Giardini, Tonia De Vita, Rita Corsi is a first result of the process; it addresses the question of the relationships between different generations of feminists, trying to focus upon its lights and shadows - adopting the "literary " strategy of fictional pseudonymous letters.

GIARDINI Federica - DE VITA Tonia - CORSI Rita, Introduction, pp. 4-7

Starting from a growing difficulty in the relationships between "women who came before" and the younger ones, the editors introduce this somehow peculiar issue. The problem at stake is not a generational one, but rather the possibility of producing new political forms. The crisis in these relationships is not a personal matter, but a more general one, concerning the changes in reality, in politics, and also a kind of resistance of the women that enacted the feminist event in the Seventies to see that time is passing by. How can one find a distance while preserving the admiration and the debt towards these women? In other words, how can younger feminists revolt against what they feel is no more powerful without enacting a matricide? The way chosen is an experimental one: thirteen "women coming after" - after the great feminist season of the Sixties and Seventies - write a imaginary letter, not signed with the real name of the authors, to a young friend about the relationship with an older woman, about the problems and their possible solutions.

Stones or feathers: words between us, pp. 8-12

"This relationship needs to change, new words, this could be a farewell or a challenge, and I want to take charge of this". Apparently nothing has changed, the younger and the older women still keep organising things together, but in order to make this possible ambitions are getting lower and lower. The older women, the ones who taught us such ambitions, seem to avoid conflicts. Where does this weakness come from?

IRENE, Rhythm! The music is changing, pp. 13-16

You say: we dance in couples, but you are dancing to a new rhythm, maybe it is not the same for both of you". There are a number of different types of dancers, each one showing problem and pleasures of the pas-à-deux. But asynchrony is growing and dancing together seems impossible. What has to be done? Space, time and rhythm: the words nthe younger women use, must come from the rhythms of our most personal experiences.

ROSA, Misunderstood genealogies, pp. 17-20

"The myth of Deter and Core (…) I had a sort of faith in the relationships among women (…) But sometimes it seems that the older ones are not able to avoid the patriarchal representation of genealogy". There is a difference between the possible genealogies of today and the ones that were created at the beginning of the feminist wave of the Sixties and Seventies. Their symbolic mothers were often alive only in the books they had written, with the real ones the struggle had often been terrible; today on the contrary genealogy is in presence.

MONICA, Taking leave from the Party, pp. 21-25

"We can speak about women's freedom only if we understand where and how women are situated today with respect of history". The 20th century represents the end of politics as the space between the self and the other. Can women reinvent a new political project? Two issues are at stake, the generational problem and the communication of an historical memory. But this possibility is threatened by the lack of recognition by older women that have chosen to act according to the most classical logic of institutional power.

NOMADE GUARDONA, Roman holidays, pp. 26-30

Please come, it's about women belonging to different generations … - No, I am bored, don't insist. I've already done my part, it's your turn". Authority, authoritative women and their terrible and delicious effects: how is it possible to accept her refusal to share new challenges and struggles with the younger? Thus begins a nomadic trip, in search of new situations, but they all seem an estranging repetition, until two new figurations emerge: a young woman whose authority asks for activity rather than passive admiration and the discovery that one can also be authoritative for even younger women.

Literary individualities, pp. 31-37

"Many are the theories, the individual biographies and the practices at stake in the debate about the forms of the transmission of originary feminism". Is there a common ground shared in the present? There are some privileged relationships, but this common ground doesn't express itself in words or recognition, but rather in shared working places, as university, were individual investigations get in touch through the common reference to the "originary knowledge's ".

SIUPO, The lion and the teacher, pp. 37-40

"An unpublished chapter of Le petit prince has been found (…) it is about a lion, not a fox, even though the situations look alike". The lions that had a teacher know better how to jump through the circle of fire, they have a voice inside guiding them. But being "orphan of a teacher" is quite difficult, though in an unexpected way. In fact the problem is: how can one become a teacher for younger women without having been taught to be one?

D., My loves, their order, pp. 41-43

"You are asking me about my relationships, their importance and the effects they have in my life. I'll answer with a sort of phenomenology of my essential relationships: which are the relationships necessary to me?". First, the one with which women's politics is shared beyond personal differences, it is an "unequal relation". Second, the teacher of philosophy for whom there is admiration and a feeling of inadequacy, that led nevertheless to personal action third, some relationships where experience blends cleverness, knowledge and love. Politics, philosophy and emotions are playing in each of these three forms of love.

Myfreda, pp. 44-48

"When Myfreda arrived to the nunnery they were all waiting for her. Many were older than she was and this, at first, made her feel uneasy. But a few days were enough to understand that age was not important". One day, in this happy circle of sorority, a woman arrived, she was different, she was asking for words. Myfreda loved cooking, what could she cook to satisfy such an exceptional woman? Despite several attempts, she did not succeed, until, one day, seeing another woman starting to cook in her turn, she took another decision …

ANGELA, Politics under the thorns of experience, pp. 48-51

"More than ever our office looks like a lively harbour. A small harbour ready for the launching of a ship". Working within and outside the academy is the challenge that permits to blend necessity, political passion, work, relationships and the modification of the context in which one lives. This reinvention is on the way, starting from a shared work.

F., The place of books, pp. 52-56

"I want to tell you about my books and their order (…) I thought that the order of things wasn't predetermined, it depended on each single point of view. Nonsense". In moving in a new house, placing the books on the shelves is a way to discover that their order tells a story, the story of a relationship with a woman and all her political engagement. This is the point in inheriting: a principle of order one can discover and deal with in every new situation and experience.

ILARIA, Quantums of consciousness, pp. 57-61

"It has been a relief to share a space with some young women, with whom one can talk intimately and yet freely". It is a discovery, in respect to the important but sometimes confusing confrontations with older women and their works. This discovery also had a good effect on the relation with the older woman in charge of the women's bookshop where the author of the letter works: less verticality, more mobility and freedom for both.

RILANCI

LATTARULO Simona, Two years after the war, pp. 62-66

The new column of our journal is devoted some questions raised by the DFW n. 47, 2000, the issue in collaboration with <Balena> on the war in Kosovo, discussed from a feminist perspective. Simona Lattuarulo reports the main questions raised in reaction to the Balena's political analysis, during a meeting organised by the group Koan and the Centro Mara Meoni (Siena, March 2001).

CAPUANI Monica, Interview with Pieke Biermann, pp. 67-78

Pieke Biermann, German writer, born in Hannover and presently based in Berlin, former prostitute and now acclaimed writer of a series of books, whose protagonist, Karin Lietze, is the head of a team of Criminal Police in Berlin. Pieke Biermann tells bout her life as a prostitute, the folgoration for Berlin 25 years ago and her personal memories of the falling of the Wall. And again, her work with a special team of policemen who deal with neonazi youngsters, the subject of her next novel.