Italians in South Africa : challenges in the representation of an Italian identity

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dc.contributor.advisorBuranello, Roberten_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMilanese, Alessiaen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-10-02T10:05:03Z
dc.date.available2014-10-02T10:05:03Z
dc.date.issued2002en_ZA
dc.descriptionBibliography: leaves 72-75.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThrough a selection of material written by Italians in South Africa, this study aims to discuss the difficulties and challenges faced by Italian emigrant writers in representing their identity. The study places itself in the context of other studies in the field of i/emigrant, minority and ethnic studies in as much as the body of work, similarly to i/emigrant texts written in other parts of the world, has been to date considered of marginal significance or has not been examined at all. This study instead considers the opportunities of analysis that texts such as these represent and offers motivations for the need to engage with them. To analyse these texts offers the possibility to observe the relative status of the reader/critic and also to be open to the process of identity creation which does not exist in a vacuum but rather through the exchange and relations held between people of different linguistic, socio-political, historical and cultural backgrounds. With specific regard to material written by Italians in South Africa, an area in which research has up to now been fairly limited, it is argued that the tendency is for writers to emphasise a nationalistic and patriotic definition of Italian identity. This is in part as a result of the pressure emigrants face when confronted by their new cultural, linguistic and geographic setting. The tendency towards patriotic and nationalistic sentiment has also been encouraged during specific moments of Italy's history, and that is, the years leading up to Italy's unification and declaration of its nationhood status (the Risorgimento) and during fascism. The texts analysed are a letter (dated 1833) of a settler to the Cape, one Rocco Catoggio; the war time diary (published in a literary and political Italian newspaper in 1901) by a certain Camillo Ricchiardi, a volunteer and Boer sympathiser during the South African War (1889 - 1902); newspaper articles published by Italian Prisoners of War in the Zonderwater Camp during the Second World War and the biography and chronology by Adolfo G. Bini on the history of Italians in South Africa.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMilanese, A. (2002). <i>Italians in South Africa : challenges in the representation of an Italian identity</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Languages and Literatures. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7953en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMilanese, Alessia. <i>"Italians in South Africa : challenges in the representation of an Italian identity."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Languages and Literatures, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7953en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMilanese, A. 2002. Italians in South Africa : challenges in the representation of an Italian identity. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Milanese, Alessia AB - Through a selection of material written by Italians in South Africa, this study aims to discuss the difficulties and challenges faced by Italian emigrant writers in representing their identity. The study places itself in the context of other studies in the field of i/emigrant, minority and ethnic studies in as much as the body of work, similarly to i/emigrant texts written in other parts of the world, has been to date considered of marginal significance or has not been examined at all. This study instead considers the opportunities of analysis that texts such as these represent and offers motivations for the need to engage with them. To analyse these texts offers the possibility to observe the relative status of the reader/critic and also to be open to the process of identity creation which does not exist in a vacuum but rather through the exchange and relations held between people of different linguistic, socio-political, historical and cultural backgrounds. With specific regard to material written by Italians in South Africa, an area in which research has up to now been fairly limited, it is argued that the tendency is for writers to emphasise a nationalistic and patriotic definition of Italian identity. This is in part as a result of the pressure emigrants face when confronted by their new cultural, linguistic and geographic setting. The tendency towards patriotic and nationalistic sentiment has also been encouraged during specific moments of Italy's history, and that is, the years leading up to Italy's unification and declaration of its nationhood status (the Risorgimento) and during fascism. The texts analysed are a letter (dated 1833) of a settler to the Cape, one Rocco Catoggio; the war time diary (published in a literary and political Italian newspaper in 1901) by a certain Camillo Ricchiardi, a volunteer and Boer sympathiser during the South African War (1889 - 1902); newspaper articles published by Italian Prisoners of War in the Zonderwater Camp during the Second World War and the biography and chronology by Adolfo G. Bini on the history of Italians in South Africa. DA - 2002 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2002 T1 - Italians in South Africa : challenges in the representation of an Italian identity TI - Italians in South Africa : challenges in the representation of an Italian identity UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7953 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/7953
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMilanese A. Italians in South Africa : challenges in the representation of an Italian identity. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,School of Languages and Literatures, 2002 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/7953en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSchool of Languages and Literaturesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherLiterary Studiesen_ZA
dc.titleItalians in South Africa : challenges in the representation of an Italian identityen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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