Dallo chignon ai capelli sciolti. Stereotipie delle bibliotecarie tra primo e secondo Novecento

Abstract

The essay focuses on the main stereotypes that have characterized the way of representing the figure of the librarian starting from classic American cinema. Hair gathered in a chignon, shirt buttoned at the neck, glasses, are elements that make the surly, solitary, shy and rude librarians easily recognizable who find their climax in the figure of Miss Anderson in Citizen Kane. In the second half of the twentieth century, however, a radical change took place in the stereotypical representation of this figure and the chignon was replaced by loose hair and the character of the harsh woman gave way to that of the sexy icon.