Interrupted Narratives and Intersectional Representations in Italian Postcolonial Literature

Beschreibung

“Interrupted Narratives and Intersectional Representations in Italian Postcolonial Literature is a tour-de-force from one of the leading scholars in the field. Romeo argues that rethinking the concepts of Italian identity and culture is necessary in order to highlight the transnational nature of cultural formations, and that adopting a postcolonial and decolonial approach to those concepts is an equally urgent task. Her deft, comprehensive overview of Italian postcolonial literature and accomplished thematic analysis of an astonishing number of texts make this book essential reading for students and scholars of Italian worldwide. It constitutes a significant contribution to the ongoing reconceptualization of Italian Studies and to the reshaping of cultural understandings of italianità.”

-Emma Bond, author of Writing Migration through the Body

Interrupted Narratives and Intersectional Representations in Italian Postcolonial Literature is a tribute to one of the most historically significant, culturally incisive, and artistically revitalizing literary and cultural phenomena that have developed in Italy in recent decades. With a new introduction, this expanded English translation of Riscrivere la nazione: La letteratura italiana postcoloniale (2018) exposes the colonial imaginaries that still permeate contemporary Italian culture and examines multiple counternarratives authored by postcolonial writers, artists, and intellectuals. Connecting diverse histories of migration that implicate Italy, including incoming migrations from many parts of the world, colonialism, and periodic waves of emigration, this volume also looks outward to a more diffuse postcolonial condition characterizing Europe at present. Adopting an intersectional perspective, this study analyzes literary and cinematic representations of gender, race, color, and space, thus arguing for a reconceptualization of Italian identity and contributing to a redefinition of national literature as well as to the decolonization of Italian society and culture. 

This book argues for the importance of adopting a postcolonial perspective in analysing contemporary Italian culture and literature. Originally published in Italian in 2018 as Riscrivere la nazione: La letteratura italiana postcoloniale, this new English translation brings to light the connections between the present, the colonial past and the great historical waves of international and intranational migration. By doing so, the book shows how a sense of Italian national identity emerged, at least in part, as the result of different migrations and why there is such a strong resistance in Italy to extending the privilege of italianità, or Italianness, to those who have arrived on Italian soil in recent years. Exploring over 100 texts written by migrant and second-generation writers, the book takes an intersectional approach to understanding gender and race in Italian identity. It connects these literary and cultural contexts to the Italian colonial past, while also looking outwards to a more diffuse postcolonial condition in Europe.

Autor*in

Caterina Romeo

Themen in »Interrupted Narratives and Intersectional Representations in Italian Postcolonial Literature«

Colonial legacy Migration Diaspora Italianness Italianita National identity Racism Intersectional Gender Second generation Contemporary literature Italian colonialism Italophone literature

Stimmen zu »Interrupted Narratives and Intersectional Representations in Italian Postcolonial Literature«

“This essay not only draws the most complete picture of Italian postcolonial literature in the last thirty years until nowadays: it forces the reader to embrace the political issues contained in this work opting for an intersectional and postcolonial perspective. It is impossible—and not even desirable—to remain politically neutral in front of this work that highlights the hidden part of the colonial past and its lasting effects in the present.” (Anna Eberle, Annali d'italianistica, Vol. 41, 2023)
()

“Interrupted Narratives and Intersectional Representations in Italian Postcolonial Literature is a tour-de-force from one of the leading scholars in the field. Romeo argues that rethinking the concepts of Italian identity and culture is necessary in order to highlight the transnational nature of cultural formations, and that adopting a postcolonial and decolonial approach to those concepts is an equally urgent task. Her deft, comprehensive overview of Italian postcolonial literature and accomplished thematic analysis of an astonishing number of texts make this book essential reading for students and scholars of Italian worldwide. It constitutes a significant contribution to the ongoing reconceptualization of Italian Studies and to the reshaping of cultural understandings of italianità.” (Emma Bond, author of Writing Migration through the Body)

“With Interrupted Narratives and Intersectional Representations in Italian Postcolonial Literature, Caterina Romeo paints a compelling and comprehensive picture of Italian postcolonial literature from its inception in the early 1990s through the most recent cultural production. Adopting an intersectional and transdiasporic methodology, Romeo lucidly highlights the political implications of these works as they uncover how notions of race, gender and sexuality developed during the colonial period are still present in contemporary Italy. With an ambitious archive and its use of the most current scholarship, the book effectively maps the field and forcefully argues for its relevance not only in Italy, but in relation to other regions in Europe, the Mediterranean, and North America.” (Clarissa Clò, Professor of Italian and European Studies, San Diego State University)

“This is an impressive study dedicated to migrant authors and their descendants who in the last thirty years have rewritten Italy with their work, sketched a culture in flux, presented a geography colored with new meanings, and filled a society with faces and talents that have struggled to enter into the publishing, film, television, or academic canon. Time and again, Romeo presents the reader with the same question (who can call themselves Italian and based on what criteria) in order to reveal the contradictions, the denials, and the excuses. Romeo transitions from one argument to another with dense and rich analysis, never losing sight of the real context and real life of the authors she so passionately describes.” (Rosetta Giuliani Caponetto, Fascist Hybridities. Racial Mixing and Diaspora Cultures under Mussolini)

Details

Link teilen