Pamela ovvero la ‘Venere Bianca’: Il racconto dissidente di fausta cialente*

Abstract

The article examines the long story “Pamela, or the beautiful summer” by Fausta Cialente analysing the main protagonist, Pamela, an Italian Levantine living in Alexandria in Egypt. Using the concepts of ‘levantinism’ by Hochberg and ‘mimicry’ by Bhabha, I will show her intermediate position between the worlds of the colonizer world (the French) and the colonized (the Egyptians), interpreting the character of Pamela as a hybrid ‘white Venus’ (as opposed to the “Black Venus” of colonialist myth). I argue that for this reason, the story may be contrasted with the contemporary Italian Fascist literary production.

Keywords: Fausta Cialente – Pamela o la bella estate – colonialismo – levantinismo – venere bianca – fascismo – Alessadria d’Egitto