„Cytrusowe” powieści. Fenomen współczesnych włoskich sag rodzinnych

Abstract

This article will discuss an important phenomenon in Italian literature in recent years — the growing popularity of family sagas focusing on female characters and recounting their lives against the backdrop of historical, social and cultural changes taking place in Italy in the 20th century. This trend will be analysed in the context of four representative novels of the genre, which between 2021 and 2025 won the Premio Bancarella, an important award given to works of high literary value that are also very popular with readers. The spread of the convention of contemporary Italian family sagas will be placed in the context of the rich tradition of this genre in the history of Italian literature. The analysed novels will be characterised in terms of their themes in order to highlight the most significant motifs used by the authors to describe the condition of women from previous generations. In addition, the publishing strategies of Polish publishers will be discussed, which aim to associate the novels mentioned with common perceptions of Italy, allowing the works on this subject to be collectively referred to as “citrus” novels.