The Space of Sin and Salvation: The Topos of Mary Magdalene in Italian Prose and Poetry

The purpose of this paper is to consider the representations of Mary Magdalene in Italian literature. Using Juri Lotman’s analysis of the cultural connotations of space, we will examine the opposition between open/enclosed space and its associations with the sanc tity/sin and social acceptance/condemnation. Starting in the Counter-Reformation period, Magdalene is gorgeously represented in poetic and narrative works as both a sinner and a saint. By joining the bodily and spiritual, this representation becomes an ideal of femininity and Christian salvation. The following centuries witness a waning of interest in this figure but, starting in the twentieth century, we find renewed interest and various representations. The modern sensibility contextualizes the Magdalene in our time and society, representing her as a lover, a victim of violence, a mentally ill woman, an immigrate and prostitute, etc., her body serving as a space of either socially unaccepted behaviors or lifestyles.