Italian Science Fiction: The Other in Literature and Film

Description

This book explores Italian science fiction from 1861, the year of Italy’s unification, to the present day, focusing on how this genre helped shape notions of Otherness and Normalness. In particular, Italian Science Fiction draws upon critical race studies, postcolonial theory, and feminist studies to explore how migration, colonialism, multiculturalism, and racism have been represented in genre film and literature. Topics include the role of science fiction in constructing a national identity; the representation and self-representation of “alien” immigrants in Italy; the creation of internal “Others,” such as southerners and Roma; the intersections of gender and race discrimination; and Italian science fiction’s transnational dialogue with foreign science fiction. This book reveals that though it is arguably a minor genre in Italy, science fiction offers an innovative interpretive angle for rethinking Italian history and imagining future change in Italian society. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvi Introduction (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 1-29 Explorations and the Creation of a National Identity (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 31-63 Futurism and Science Fiction (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 65-81 After the Apocalypse: Repression and Resistance (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 83-108 The Internal Other: Representing Roma (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 109-136 Aliens in a Country of Immigration: Intersectional Perspectives (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 137-162 Dystopic Worlds and the Fear of Multiculturalism (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 163-182 The Questione Settentrionale: Reconfiguring Separatism (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 183-204 Future Pasts: Revisiting the Colonial Legacy in Alternate History Novels (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 205-231 Afterword: A Genre Across Cultures (Simone Brioni, Daniele Comberiati)....Pages 233-244 Back Matter ....Pages 245-289