Music and language as female spaces of creativity and self-expression in Sardinia: Maria Carta, Dolores Biosa and Franzisca Manca

In this article, we engage with women’s creativity in musical expression/oral tradition after the Second World War in Sardinia. We analyse three case studies that extend to the present, examining music and poetry, domains which are still today typically dominated by men. In each, we look at the ways in which women creatively navigate their gendered identities through musico-linguistic expressive practices and language reclamation. We take music and poetry as a central part of social praxis, and where praxis is deeply intertwined with gender norms, roles and social expectations. The women artists we focus on are cultural innovators who have chosen music and poetry as a forum for creative expression within a specific canon that, despite the many social changes introduced across Sardinia and Italy since World War Two, continues to be largely dominated by men. The performers we examine range from extremely well-known in Sardinia and abroad, to known in one micro-region of Sardinia. While they have been artistically influential, the scales at which we examine their influence differ greatly. Thus, simply through navigating and existing within these genres, the Sardinian artists examined here – Maria Carta, Dolores Biosa and Franzisca Manca – are expanding the definitions of what it means to be a Sardinian woman, artist, singer, politician and performer.