ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8918-2262

Keywords

Italy, Immigration, Postcolonial, Haunting, Terraferma, Ghali

Abstract

This thesis examines how two different cultural mediums produced by a prominent Italian director and a popular Italian musical artist engage with themes of immigration and diaspora and their impacts on Italian national identity. The works that I have selected represent a mix of well-known and emergent figures in Italian cultural life and its related discourses around immigration and identity from the last 20 years of Italian history. Focusing on director Emanuele Crialese’s film Terraferma (2011) and rapper and singer Ghali’s songs “Mamma” (2017) and “Bayna” (2022), I analyze how each work frames migration as a metaphorical haunting that engages with broader social and political discourses surrounding immigration in Italy. By performing a comparative case study of migrant hauntings across different medias, I investigate the role of popular cultural productions in shaping and reframing Italy's discourses on immigration, national identity, and inclusion. This thesis centers itself around migration studies, transnationalism, diasporic studies, and postcolonial studies to argue that both Crialese’s and Ghali’s works call for a reimagined sense of an Italian national identity that is more inclusive of and empathetic to diverse peoples.

Completion Date

2025

Semester

Spring

Committee Chair

Kane, Louise

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Humanities

Department

English

Identifier

DP0029310

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Campus Location

Orlando (Main) Campus

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