by Carla Panico
This paper examines Goliarda Sapienza’s L’arte della gioia as a decolonial intervention in the “colonial representations” of Southern Italy, which often frame the Mezzogiorno as politically immobile and fatally resistant to self-organization. Defined as the AntiGattopardo, the novel challenges these stereotypes by reimagining Southern identity through the body, desire, and dissent. Its protagonist, Modesta, embodies a refusal of normative gender roles tied to Italian nationalism and engages in forms of militancy that unsettle both the national narrative and the boundaries of citizenship. Drawing on feminist concepts such as the “politics of desire” and the “desire for politics.” as well as intersectional readings of class, gender, and southernization, the analysis highlights how Sapienza situates political activism at the margins of the Nation. Particular attention is given to Modesta’s controversial relationship with Marxism and the Italian Communist Party, revealing how questions of gender and the South intersect in Italy’s postwar history.