Dacia Maraini on eating ants

Lost diary entry

March 19, 2019

Italian novelist Dacia Maraini’s father would admonish her when they were living in the Japanese concentration camp: “Basta col mangiare le formiche!” Stop eating ants! 

It’s almost like the words fail upon contact. I understand them, I can picture it, but I can barely imagine the insanity behind both positions – eating the ants, and the father telling his famished daughter not to eat the ants. 

How do we humans create such places of cruelty for other humans?

End of diary entry

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The photo you see here was taken at the University of Connecticut when the Italian department there had the absolute thrill of hosting Maraini for a few days. I was teaching a course there on Italian women writers (also, I was walking on water. Also, I was married to Bono. You get the picture. I live for Italian women writers). 

One of the books I taught was Maraini's novel, La Lunga Vita di Marianna Ucria (in English, The Silent Duchess) and she sat in on my class. As in, the author of the book -- a possible Nobel contender -- was present while I presented a lesson in Italian about her masterpiece. It was both exhilarating and maddening! A lot of Chianti was had that night after my day of lessons wrapped up (oh, to be honest, not Chianti but probably a nice Primitivo or Aglianico, among the best of the Southern Italian wines but I digress).

What a relief when it was over because I was so nervous. But it was amazing – to meet someone who’s written a book like 'MARIANNA UCRIA' (among many other books); who lived her first few years of life in a Japanese concentration camp (her family went to Japan for her father's work but he refused to sign a loyalty oath to the Emperor and they were all interned); who was married to novelist Alberto Moravia; and who has fought to have women writers included in the canon, or even just taken into consideration.

One more thought: if you are looking to read a stunning historical novel, consider The Silent Duchess (if you don't read Italian). Maraini, who descends from Sicilian nobility, wrote it after discovering an ancient family portrait of an unusual ancestor (the inspiration for the character of Marianna Ucria). The story of this ancestor, a deaf woman, is nothing less than shocking. I can remember gripping the book, with my mouth agape, when the secret at the center of the book was revealed. Buona lettura!