The “Transvestites” of Lisetta Carmi: The Power of Images, The Inadequacy of Words
A talk for LGBT+ History Month Italia
Date: Monday, April 3
Time: 12 noon–1:30 pm
Location: Room 255 Geology Building, 114 Science Pl., Saskatoon
Free and open to the public
About this event
Presenters: Dr. Alessio Ponzio (PhD), University of Saskatchewan Department of History, and Federica Cavazzuti, Università di Torino Department of Historical Studies
How was the figure of the "transvestite" represented during the post-World War II period in Italy? And what difficulties do we face today in categorizing, explaining, and understanding people described as "transvestites" during that period? During the meeting we will try to answer these and other questions by looking at how the so-called "third sex" was presented in Italian magazines between the 1950s and 1970s; and by analyzing the visual language used by Lisetta Carmi in recounting the "transvestites" she photographed in Genoa in the late 1960s.