Personality of the Month: Maddalena Fingerle
Personality of the Month: Maddalena Fingerle
Maddalena Fingerle, born in Bolzano in 1993, studied German and Italian and is a research assistant at the University of Munich. In 2021, she published her novel Lingua madre (published by Italo Svevo), which won the Italo Calvino Prize, the Comisso Prize for authors under 35, the Flaiano Prize for authors under 35, and other important awards. Further publications and stories appeared in 2022, and Pudore (published by Mondadori) was published in 2024.
What significance does the topic of “roots” have for you?
“You can also feel your roots outside of your place of birth, they can literally 'hang in the air'. I don't find my roots in Bolzano, but in places where I perceive sounds and voices that remind me of home. For example, when I hear the Roman dialect, I immediately think of my grandmother, or like now, when I live in the Bavarian countryside and listen to Radio 3. Bolzano is often perceived as a bilingual city, but it is not - at least not for the Italian-speaking population. There is no characteristic dialect that they speak.”
How do you think and feel, monolingual or multilingual?
“I'm interested in bilingualism from a linguistic point of view, meaning how a story can appear more credible in one language or another. The language influences the narrative style. When I write in German, for example, I notice that my ideas develop differently. However, I don't have the same options depending on the language: In translations by others, the German language seems much more authentic than when I speak or write German myself. The - not very honest - formula that we all have to be bilingual, and everything that comes with it, prompted me to write Lingua madre.”
Is there a place you love in Bolzano or something you miss?
“One place where I feel at home and where I always like to return is the La Nuova Cappelli bookshop in Piazza Vittoria. Bookshops are important everywhere, but even more so in Bolzano. They are a cultural meeting places where people come together.”