Rosa Rosà


Rosa Rosà was a writer and author associated with the inter-war Italian Futurist movement. She is renowned for her first short novel, Una donna con tre anime.''

Biography

Early life

Rosa Rosà was born as in 1884 in Vienna as Baroness Edyth von Haynau to a conservative aristocratic Austrian family. Rosà was educated in Vienna and she quickly developed a passion for drawing. Against the desires of her family, Rosà enrolled in the Wiener Kunstschule für Frauen und Mädchen, where she studied art for two years. In 1907, Rosà met Ulrico Arnaldi, an Italian journalist for La Tribuna; the couple married in 1908, moved to Rome, and had four children by 1915.

Engagement with futurism

When her husband was enlisted in World War I, Rosà was introduced to Futurism by its leader, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, and soon began to engage with the movement. At this time, Edyth changed her name to "Rosa Rosà." She chose the name "Rosà" for its symbolic qualities; the name came from a town on the Austrian-Italian border, which at several points in its history was ruled by both countries. The town of Rosà's dual identity reflected that within the writer. Additionally, Rosà doubled the name to express this dual identity and to engage with Futurist ideas of movement, while simultaneously punning on the traditional female name, "Rose/Rosa."
During the war, Rosà began to write in Italian for the Futurist journal L'Italia Futurista, where she published a myriad of articles, black and white drawings, short poems, and poetry. These productions engaged with Futurist aesthetic and philosophical theories, and oftentimes critiqued their misogyny. As such, Rosa is acknowledged for her feminist contributions to the movement, especially in relation to her first novel, Una donna con tre anime.''

Life post-Futurism

In 1920, Rosà left the Futurist movement due to her objections to the group's growing Fascist inclinations. After leaving the group, Rosa continued to produce artworks, however she transitioned to painting, textile, and sculpture. Between 1919 and 1992, Rosà was exhibited in two Futurist exhibitions and had her own show at a Roman gallery. Rosa continued to produce writings and artworks until her death in 1978.

Quotes

  • “…women are about to conquer something new…the consciousness of a free and immortal ‘I’ which owes nothing to anybody or anything.” -Rosa Rosà
  • "Giorgina Rossi was young, but her youth was starting to collect dust...One could say that Nature wanted her to be average in every way...He turned around instinctively to stare at his neighbor ...It was difficult to say exactly what this change was...Her face glowed with a new light typical of those who live life with great intensity. A new vitality gave her body and movements grace and elasticity, conveying the fresh exuberance of her new personality...the suddenly revealed femininity."
  • "That strange soul invading her being with such overwhelming force, had traits and tendencies that could not have been further removed from the way Giorgina used to be. A feeling of insufferable boredom, monotony, and immobility drove her to crave even an unpleasant experience just so that there could at least be a change. A new lucidity and mental vivacity urged her brain to address problems and explore possibilities she had never imagined before."
  • "Every moral scruple had vanished from her soul. Her bourgeois consciousness has effectively shattered."
  • "'You're too human, you're too human. Purify yourself.'" -Giorgina Rossi to Umberto Rossi
  • "'All three are examples of how the life of woman will be in the future...In fact, we have a vision of a female life reaching out in a mystic leap towards a symbol of unreality...fragments of pulverized futures...Since this future is probably closer than we think, it will be necessary to prepare ourselves for a complete change in all the moral and legal codes that have regulated our Society thus far...so the world is well aware of its evolutionary destiny.'"

Artistic production

Writing

''L'Italia Futurista'' articles, stand-alone illustrations, and poems/short stories

Rosa was an active author in the Futurist journal, L'Italia Futurista. Most of her writings address the role of women in the Futurist context and explore Futurist ideas, such as the role of science in modernity. Rosa helped to establish a feminist branch of Futurism.
  • 1917: "Multitudine"
  • 1917: "Romanticismo sonnambulo"
  • 1917: Conflagrazione geometrica
  • 1917: "Ricevimento-thé, signore-nessun uomo"
  • 1917: "Le donne del posdomani"

Novels

  • 1918: Una donna con tre anime ''
  • 1919: ''Non c’è che te! Una donna con tre anime e altre novelle''

Artwork

Illustrations

  • 1917: Sam Dunn è morto, text by Bruno Corra
  • 1918: Notti Filtrate, text by Mario Carli
  • * Click this following link to view Rosa's illustrations in situ: https://monoskop.org/images/7/70/Notti_filtrate_1918.pdf
  • 1919: Madrigali e grotteschi, text by Bruno Corra
  • 1919: Le locomotive con le calze, text by Arnaldo Ginna

Exhibitions

Rosa produced abstract artworks, fabrics, and ceramics, in addition to her black and white illustrations.
  • 1919: Grande Esposizione Nazionale Futurista
  • 1921: Exhibition at the Lyceum
  • 1922: International Futurist Exhibition

Disclaimer

All of Rosà's known drawings were published in Futurist journals and novels. As such, very few if any of her artworks are on display in museums, however, some may be stored in Italian archives. Many of the novels she illustrated are still in print and as such, so are her illustrations.

Scholarly reception

English-speaking

Summary

Scholars such as Lucia Re, Ursula Fanning, and Sharon Wood mainly focus on Rosa's role as a feminist writer and theorist within the Futurist context. Furthermore, most of the scholarship on Rosa examines her responses to Marinetti's Come si seducono le donne, which were published both in L'Italia Futurista and her first short novel, Una donna con tre anime. The most-renowned and influential scholar on Rosa Rosà in both English-speaking and Italian-speaking scholarship is Lucia Re. Lucia Re is currently a professor of Italian and Gender Studies at UCLA. Re focuses on the intersection of contemporary literature, feminist theory, and futurism/avant-garde in the artistic outputs of women writers and artists.