Entanglements:
Journal of Posthumanities
E-ISSN: 3107-488X

(Article)
Elsa Morante and the Posthuman Trauma in History (1974)
Authored By — Carolina Ravanelli

Abstract

This article offers a posthumanist reading of History (La Storia, 1974) by Elsa Morante, situating it within its socio-historical context and current debates on trauma, subjectivity and ethical interdependence. Rather than a traditional historical narrative, the novel emerges as a radical inquiry into the coherence and anthropocentrism of historical discourse. Focusing on Ida Ramundo, a half-jewish schoolteacher living in Rome during the Second World War, and her son Useppe, born from the rape by a German soldier, the novel foregrounds human vulnerability and the limits of narrative in addressing historical suffering. Drawing on posthumanist thinkers such as Braidotti, Agamben and Haraway, the article argues that Morante anticipates posthuman ethics by dissolving the notion of the sovereign subject. Useppe's short, fragile life critiques modernity's failure to protect the most vulnerable; the dog Bella further disrupts human-nonhuman hierarchies, embodying grief and agency, and reinforcing the novel's anti-speciesist ethos. Morante's stripped-down style, refusal of catharsis and inclusion of historical documents challenge the boundaries between fiction and testimony, aligning with Cathy Caruth's vision of trauma as an inaccessible form of historical knowledge. Ultimately, History emerges as a counter-narrative to triumphant historiography, advocating a moral of presence, care and shared precarity.

Keywords

Elsa Morante, History, posthumanism, trauma, subjectivity, interspecies

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