Judisk Kultur

Natalia Ginzburg Familjelexikon
Elisabeth Åsbrink i samtal med
Sandra Petrignani & Mario Fortunato
Måndag 26 april kl. 19:00 
OBS! På engelska.

I den självbiografiska klassikern Familjelexikon tecknar Natalia Ginzburg ett kärleksfullt och oförglömligt porträtt av sin italienska familj, genom en lika originell som humoristisk roman om språk och historieberättande. Fadern Giuseppe och modern Lidia – ständigt på kollisionskurs – fyller huset med vänner, böcker och politik, allt medan de fem barnen växer upp och Mussolinis skugga faller över landet.

Nyöversättning av Johanna Hedenberg, Albert Bonnier Förlag. Förord av Elisabeth Åsbrink.

Natalia Ginzburg (1916-1991) föddes i Palermo på Sicilien. Hon är författare till dussintals essäer, pjäser, noveller och romaner. Bland dem utmärker sig essäsamlingen De små dygderna och den självbiografiska romanen Familjelexikon, som 1963 tilldelades Stregapriset – Italiens mest prestigefyllda litteraturpris. Ginzburg var under hela sitt liv politiskt aktiv och satt som ledamot i det italienska parlamentet mellan 1983 och 1987.

Family Lexicon (Lessico famigliare), published in 1963, is a semi-biographical description of aspects of the daily life of Natalia Ginzburg’s family, dominated by her father, the renowned histologist, Guiseppe Levi. The book is both an ironic and affectionate chronicle of life in the period 1920-1950, portrayed in terms of habits, behavior and, above all, linguistic communications, from which the book takes its title. People and events are brought to life by what they do and what they say. In addition to family members, including her mother, father, brothers and sisters the book also describes many friends and acquaintances.

The novel won the prestigious Strega Prize in 1963.

Sandra Petrignani is an acclaimed Italian writer, the author of novels, collections of short stories and volumes of non-fiction, including a biography of Marguerite Duras and a biography of Natalia Ginzburg, La corsara. Ritratto di Natalia Ginzburg (Neri Pozza, 2018). In her biography, Petrignani draws on her extensive research as well as on the entirety of Ginzburg’s writing—her novels, novellas, short stories, and significant body of non-fiction. Petrignani reads and analyzes a vast number of literary and cultural texts, traveling to all the places and addresses where Ginzburg lived, and conversing with her relatives, friends, and acquaintances.

Link to Åke Malm's piece on Sandra Petrignani's La Corsara

Mario Fortunato is an author and translator and was a friend of Natalia Ginzburg. He worked as literary critic for the Italian weekly magazine L’Espresso, and works as a columnist for the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. He has been a member of the Italian Cinema Commission of the Ministry of Culture, and of the International Advisory Board of the Christopher Isherwood Foundation (Los Angeles), and of the Rockfeller Foundation (New York). He has been as well a founder of the Napoli Teatro Festival, and Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in London. He has also been Director of the Antonio Ratti Foundation, and columnist for The Guardian and Le Monde. He currently curates Evelyn Waugh’s complete works, and Virginia Woolf’s complete diaries.

Elisabeth Åsbrink is a prize-winning writer, translated into several languages.

In September 2020 her autobiographical family story Övergivenheten (Abandonment) was released to rave reviews. Her latest non-fiction book, Made in Sweden, deals with the Swedish culture and self-image. The non-fiction book, 1947 – When now begins, was published simultaneously in Sweden, Denmark and Norway in 2016 and received a prize from the Royal Swedish Academy. She won the August Prize for best non-fiction book 2011 for And in Vienna the trees still remain. She was the chair of Swedish PEN (2017-2018).

Elisabeth Åsbrink has participated in Judisk kultur i Sverige’s programs on various occasions, among them in conversations with Timothy Snyder, Philippe Sands and Simon Schama.

In cooperation with Albert Bonniers Förlag.
Thank You Italian Culture Institute Stockholm, Swedish Arts Council, City of Stockholm & Stockholm Region