A chaotic assemblage of clothing and gestures: the fabrics of the novel “Troubling Love”, by Elena Ferrante

Abstract

The protagonist and narrator of the Italian author Elena Ferrante’s novel “Troubling Love”, Delia, strives to learn more about her mother’s final days before she drowned on a beach close to Minturno. The narrator searches her itinerary for clues in various pieces of clothing to do this. Therefore, this article provides a reading of how the garments are significant to the plot’s development, including Delia’s research, the elaboration of grieving, and the protagonist’s memory of her history. The works Roots of an indiciary paradigm by Carlo Ginzburg, Marx’s Coat by Peter Stallybrass, and Beyond the pleasure principle by Sigmund Freud stand out as important theoretical references.