Il cibo come critica sociale nella narrativa italiana del secondo dopoguerra

This thesis examines the symbolism of food in the Italian narrative during the economic miracle of the 1950s and 1960s. It explores how food and hunger in selected texts reflect historical, social, and anthropological changes during Italy's transition from an agricultural to an industrial nation. Through works of Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italo Calvino, Luciano Bianciardi, Luigi Meneghello and Fabrizia Ramondino the study analyses the representation of food, or lack thereof, to criticise the emerging consumer society, reflect on the concept of homeland and emotions such as nostalgia, and examines generational, gender and class differences. The thesis further explores the inventions of traditions, as well as the connection between myth and tradition in relation to food culture. The selected literature primarily consists of works where food appears to be less relevant on first reading. At last, the aim of this thesis is to work out the strong symbolic power of food, especially for this period and in these works, and to demonstrate to what extent "si può parlare del cibo o attraverso Il cibo" (Ghiazza, Silvana: Le diverse funzioni del cibo nel testo letterario, p. 10).