Tag Archives: interview

Meta-Post: Nicola’s Interview and Professor Lombardi’s Lecture

Adaptation from the page to the big screen was an all encompassing theme for most of the posts this week. The keen attention to detail to ensure that the emotional expressiveness of the novels are preserved is an arduous task that requires an understanding of the in-numerous threads that hold Lila and Elena’s relationship together. As Ariana describes this admirable endeavor, “The amount of detail put into creating the scene is fascinating. It makes me want to re-watch and analyze the series.” Although I was unable to attend the series, the highlights of Professor Lombardi’s lecture also sparks my curiosity to rewatch the show with shrewd attention to its parallel symbolism to the show. 

On the other hand, other posts remained focused on the interview with Ferrante that gave a fascinating insight into her characters’ developments, their inability to escape the instability of the neighborhood and even the symbolism of some overlooked characters who, nevertheless, have spontaneous appearances throughout Elena and Lila’s lives. Subtle details such as Lila’s effortless ability to teach Elena a simpler way of learning Latin, as Jacqueline points out, and the use of Italian versus the Neapolitan dialect, as Paraskevi discusses, are notable because their importance may escape the readers upon first reading. Irini alludes to Ferrante’s words that particularly reflects the importance of the theme of writing: “Writing is an act of pride.” As she goes on to analyze this quote, she focuses on the advancement or lack thereof that the protagonists experience in different aspects of their lives in relation to the act of learning and engaging in active writing. Meanwhile, Julie’s post takes on the natural instability that attacks the lives of Elena and Lila. Julie points out, “And every time Elena resolves to break with Lila- and she’s done this 3-4 times so far- she can’t.” The truth of this statement ties together the other themes, reflecting the protagonists’ inability to escape one another and not just the neighborhood, itself. All these posts, although they discuss different points of the interview, have one thing in common: they highlight Ferrante’s un-accidental process of choosing details as she laid out the lives of our protagonists, knowing that there would be a precarious thread to hold it all together in a delicate yet elegant manner.

In Spite of Everything

I found the Ferrante interview with Nicola Lagioia to be quite compelling. On the topic of interdependence, Ferrante states, “I wanted them against the closed, fixed state of the environment, to be mobile, so that nothing could truly stabilize them and they themselves would pass through each other as if they were air – but without ever freeing themselves from the gravitational pull of their birthplace” (Frantumaglia, 367). I find this to be a perfect representation of the relationship the girls have with each other and with Naples. Once Elena physically leaves Naples, there will always be a force that always attracts her back mentally and sometimes physically.

Another quote from Ferrante’s interview that I like is “people move between good and bad almost without realizing it” (367). Lila, Lenu, as well as some of the other secondary characters certainly have their good moments and their imperfect moments where they display unfavorable qualities. I think that both Lila and Lenu are insecure in different ways when it comes to their relationship. The power and competition they possess over each other leads each of them to at times demonstrate harshness. I think both girls more often than not realize how they are acting towards each other because they do so to invoke a reaction.

Lastly, Ferrante states, “Writing is an act of pride” (379). This is visible through many of the characters who write like Elena, Nino, Donato, and Lila. Each of these characters at some point feels a sense of satisfaction based on their own literary achievements or abilities. Writing is especially significant for characters in the Neopolitan Novels because it enables them to assert their awareness of Italian. Elena advances in life, socially and economically, because of her expertise in writing Italian, which for a time being provides her with self-fulfillment.