2018/19

The module aims to enhance your understanding of how mobility and immigration have shaped identities in Italy in recent decades. You will develop a detailed knowledge of Italy’s history as a former colonial power and explore the impact of postcoloniality on national cultures. These questions will be explored in relation to Italy’s identity as a destination country in global migratory flows through an analysis of four contemporary novels. The topics discussed will include the impact of displacement on subjectivity; the problematic notion of home; the memory of Italy’s colonial past; and motherhood and migration. The analysis of the texts will be informed by theories of personal, cultural, and national identity construction and students will develop an awareness of how terms such as transnationalism, postcolonialism, hybridity and multiculturalism can be applied to the Italian case.