Equivocal Subjects: Between Italy and Africa -- Constructions of Racial and National Identity in the Italian Cinema - Hardcover

Greene, Shelleen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1441190430 ISBN 13: 9781441190437

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2012

Synopsis

Equivocal Subjects puts forth an innovative reading of the Italian national cinema. Shelleen Greene argues that from the silent era to the present, the cinematic representation of the "mixed-race" or interracial subject has served as a means by which Italian racial and national identity have been negotiated and re-defined. She examines Italy's colonial legacy, histories of immigration and emigration, and contemporary politics of multiculturalism through its cultural production, providing new insights into its traditional film canon.

Analysing the depiction of African Italian mixed-race subjects from the historical epics of the Italian silent "golden" era to the contemporary period, this enlightening book engages the history of Italian nationalism and colonialism through theories of subject formation, ideologies of race, and postcolonial theory. Greene's approach also provides a novel interpretation of recent developments surrounding Italy's status as a major passage for immigrants seeking to enter the European Union. This book provides an original theoretical approach to the Italian cinema that speaks to the nation's current political and social climate.

About this title

About the Author:

Shelleen Greene is Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Design, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

Review:

“Equivocal Subjects offers many starting points of discussion to better understand Italian and mixed-Italian identifies and creates a global and exhaustive overview of their depiction in visual communication. Well-written, fluid and never boring, the book underscores the author's passion and her strong emotional involvement with mixed-race issues.” ―Stefano Ancilli, La Sapienza Universitá di Roma, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television

“Greene's text assumes that scholars of both Italian studies and film studies will accept the heuristics of reading Italian culture and its postcolonial inheritance through the lens and in the context of film, rather than exploring the possible problematics in such an approach. While some scholars may disagree with that assumption on the theoretical level, Greene's study nonetheless provides either school with valuable facts and analyses and is a solid groundwork for either discipline.” ―Marie Orton, Truman State University, Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1441190430
• ISBN 13: 9781441190437
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 328