Stelle perdute. Una lettura socioculturale e mediologica della science fiction di Roberta Rambelli

Abstract

Starting from the mediology of literature (Ragone, 2019; Amendola & Tirino, 2019) and the sociology of narratives (Longo, 2012; Parini, 2017), this paper investigates the literary work of Roberta Rambelli (1928-1996) focusing on four points. First, the link between science fiction novel and social sciences, as Rambelli’s work shows a particular attention to dramaturgically develop some concepts of social sciences (Lippi, 2007). Second, the deep link between science fiction and mythology, as is evident in Il libro di Fars (1961), La pietra di Gaunar (1966), and Profilo in lineare B (1980). Third, the dystopic narration of Italian society: in Il Ministero della Felicità (1972) the author inserts dystopic lumps that challenge the idea of a limitless technological expansion guided by ideas of progress and development, leaving room for a more pessimistic vision of the relationship between science and society. Fourth, the gender question: by contextualising Rambelli’s literary work in the context of the cultural processes of the Italian publishing market in the 1960s and 1970s, the cogency of the gender issue is grasped, in reference to both the need to use male pseudonyms and the prejudice against a woman capable of climbing the hierarchies of the publishing industry.

Keywords: Science fiction and society, social sciences and literature, mediology of literature, mythology, media archaeology, Italian science fiction, Roberta Rambelli