Global Italy: Media, Identity and the Future of the Nation-State Mark Hayward A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Communication Studies. Chapel Hill 2008 Approved by Lawrence Grossberg Michael Hardt Kara Keeling John Pickles Sarah Sharma Abstract: This dissertation explores transformations in the structure of the Italian media policy, paying particular attention to public broadcaster Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) and its operations outside of Italy since the end of the Second World War. Through an analysis of government documents and broadcast programming, I look at how the links between cultural production, state institutions, the rights of citizens, and the economy are reorganized in relation to discourses about Italians living outside of Italy. Part of the reorganization that has taken place over the past fifty years has involved a re-conception of what it means to be ‘Italian‘ both in terms of legal rights and ideas of belonging. It argues that these transformations, often attributed exclusively to processes of economic globalization, cannot be understood properly unless placed in the context of shifts in the meaning of Italian identity, the practice of citizenship, and media consumption. This project explores how this ensemble of changes relates to broader shifts in state-form globally and begins to evaluate how notions of identity and agency, in other words the ways in which people live and understand themselves in the ‘global’ era. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract................................................................................................................................................. ii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………...1 Italy and Italians abroad..................................................................................................................... 10 Cultural Industries and the State ........................................................................................................ 15 Chapter Summaries............................................................................................................................. 21 CHAPTER TWO…………………………………………………………………………………………..30 The Economic Miracle ........................................................................................................................ 33 Early Television In Italy...................................................................................................................... 36 Training Migrants: Italiani nel Mondo and Guida per gli emigrati ................................................... 48 Marcinelle ........................................................................................................................................... 54 CHAPTER THREE………………………………………………………………………………………..62 International Italian Broadcasting...................................................................................................... 64 The 'Dante' and the problem of reinvention........................................................................................ 75 Counting Italians abroad .................................................................................................................... 84 Nationalist Economy of Italian Migration .......................................................................................... 90 CHAPTER FOUR…………………………………………………………………………………………93 FUSIE and the International Press Subsidy........................................................................................ 94 FILEF and Italians abroad ................................................................................................................. 99 The Movimento Italiano Sociale and Italians Abroad ...................................................................... 107 Bruno Zoratto and the turn to the right............................................................................................. 116 ‘Culture of the Right’ ........................................................................................................................ 123 CHAPTER FIVE…………………………………………………………………………………………128 The Creation of RAI International .................................................................................................... 130 International Broadcasting, Language and Ethno-capitalism.......................................................... 137 Distribution and the Problem of the International Italian Market.................................................... 144 Tarak Ben Ammar and the Clash of Ethno-Capitalisms ................................................................... 152 CHAPTER SIX…………………………………………………………………………………………...162 Mega-Events and Return Information............................................................................................... 165 Il Caso Canadese .............................................................................................................................. 177 Cultural Diversity in Canadian Broadcasting .................................................................................. 184 iii Revising Multiculturalism ................................................................................................................. 190 June 5th, 2006.................................................................................................................................... 194 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………...197 APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………………………….208 Appendix A: RAI Telefilms about Migration, 1956 - 1965............................................................. 208 Appendix B: Migration Statistics, 1946 - 1970................................................................................ 211 WORKS CITED………………………………………………………………………………………….213 iv C’è tutta un’opera educativa da svolgere, una coscienza da creare: la coscienza dell’italiano nel mondo, affinché non solo il nostro popolo sappia che l’emigrazione è qualcosa di essenziale alla vita del nostro popolo, ma affinché chi parte sappia che egli ha una missione… There is an entire work of education to be carried out, a consciousness to create: the consciousness of the Italian abroad, not only until our people understand that emigration is something essential to the life of our people, but until those who leave know that they have a mission… -Mariano Rumor, Speech to the Third Congress of the Christian Democratic Party of Italy, 1949 v Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge that advice, help, resources and support of the following people who have played a significant role in the completion of this dissertation. My advisor, Lawrence Grossberg. Members of my committee, both past and present: Michael Hardt, Kara Keeling, D. Soyini Madison, John Pickles, Sarah Sharma and Will Straw. Members of my family: Phyllis Hayward, Steven Hayward, Katherine Carlstrom, and Michael Di Franco. Also, my grandparents Anna and Costanzo Di Franco. My colleagues and instructors at Carolina and elsewhere with whom I’ve discussed many sections of this project especially: Lisa Calvente, Richard Cante, Waddick Doyle, John Montesano, Michal Osterweil, Josh Smicker, Ira Wagman, Sindhu Zagoren. Also: Conversations with Aldo Di Felice (Telelatino), Claudio Bellinzona (Sitcom Spa.), Deborah Bergamini (RAI), Francesco Galano (Mediaset) have been tremendously helpful for understanding the nature of international Italian broadcasting. vi The various archives and collections I have used in my research: The mediateche at RAI’s headquarters in Rome, the Archivio Centrale di Stato in Rome, the Biblioteca Nazionale di Roma, the Biblioteca Nazionale di Firenze, and the libraries of the Italian Senate and Parliament. Financial support for this project has been provided by the University Program in Cultural Studies and the University Center for International Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Graduate School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also provided a dissertation completion fellowship which allowed me to finish writing everything up. vii Chapter One: Introduction On 9-10 April 2006, national elections were held in Italy. Being in Rome on election night, I walked from my apartment to Piazza del Popolo where Romano Prodi’s centre-left coalition had planned a massive victory celebration. Voting had closed a few hours earlier and, based on polls leading up to the election, the centre-left had felt confident enough about the outcome that they announced earlier in the day that the evening’s events would start at eight o’clock. The leaders of the coalition parties were scheduled to take the stage together sometime before midnight. In spite of early indications that Prodi’s “Democratic Union” coalition was heading towards certain victory, the piazza was almost empty and the stage dark upon my arrival at half past nine. Curious as to what was going on, I walked back towards my apartment, stopping along the way in the Piazza Sant’Apostoli where Prodi’s campaign headquarters were located. A crowd had gathered in front of the offices and was watching the