Le protagoniste della letteratura italiana postcoloniale: quali eroine?

This article analyses a number of female protagonists from a selection of novels written by Italian postcolonial women writers: Mahlet from Gabriella Ghermandi's Regina di fiori e di perle (2007), Domenica Axad from Madre piccola (2007) by Ubah Cristina Ali Farah, Rhoda from the eponymous novel by Igiaba Scego (2004) and Zuhra from Oltre Babilonia (2008) also by Scego. A thematic exploration of these characters brings to light in particular the choices behind their embracing of Italian language and culture, the representation of their bodies wounded by manifestations of racism and sexism, and their plurilingualism as a form of rebellion against an unbending and monolithic idea of Italy. The aims of the article are twofold: to shed light on the collective imagination these characters embody and represent, and to verify their potential function as heroines within the texts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]