Harrowitz Publishes Essay on Bassini’s Il romanzo di Ferrara
Nancy Harrowitz, Professor of Italian, has published a review essay of a new translation into English of Giorgio Bassani’s Il romanzo di Ferrara (The Novel of Ferrara).
Il romanzo di Ferrara collects Bassini’s six major works, including his best known piece, The Garden of the Finzi-Continis (made famous by the 1970 film of the same name). The new translation into English by Jamie McKendrick represents the first publication in English of these writings in a single volume.
Explaining Bassini’s importance as an author, Harrowitz writes:
Bassani deserves to be known … for his bold look at the Jewish community in Ferrara and their response to the racial laws of 1938 that deprived Italian Jews of their civil rights, for his blunt honesty about the role of Fascists in the persecution of Italian Jews, and for his exploration of Italian Jewish identity in relation to the Fascist patria, or fatherland.