The Migrant's Corner: Representing Mediterranean Migrations in Contemporary French and Italian Culture
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Royal Holloway, University of London School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures Comparative Literature and Culture The Migrant’s Corner: Representing Mediterranean Migrations in Contemporary French and Italian Culture By Caterina Scarabicchi Supervisors: Dr Fabrizio De Donno Prof James Williams Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Royal Holloway, September 2018 2 Declaration of Authorship I, Caterina Scarabicchi, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: 19/09/2018 3 4 Abstract Since the early 1990s, international migration has become one of the most pressing issues concerning the relationship between Western countries and formerly colonized nations. As the European Union increasingly adopts an attitude of closure towards African and Middle Eastern migrants and asylum seekers, stories of transnational migration have progressively occupied the forefront of the socio-political debates in the public sphere. This thesis engages with the representation of contemporary Mediterranean journeys that have circulated in Italy and France across the media of literature, film and the spaces of museums and festivals since the 2000s. Despite the efforts to include the voices of the protagonists of these stories, the majority of the cultural production about present migration to the EU is authored by Europeans themselves. I argue that such production lies at the problematic junction between social commitment and advocacy for migrants on the one hand, and humanitarian and neo-colonial rhetoric on the other. Indeed, while Italian and French voices are playing a crucial role in defending the rights of migrants and refugees struggling to express their own political and public agency, these texts, films and spatial narratives simultaneously raise fundamental issues of ethics and authenticity which have largely remained ignored in previous analyses of this corpus. Addressing these complexities through an interdisciplinary and comparative approach, the thesis will shed light on the crucial challenge for European intellectuals and artists to include migrant voices and the Other's story in movements of cultural activism and mobilization. 5 6 Acknowledgements Undertaking a doctoral project has been a life-changing experience for me, in many ways. The first thank you goes to my two supervisors, Prof James Williams and Dr Fabrizio De Donno, who have constantly guided, encouraged and supported me throughout these four years with their expertise and professionality. I am deeply indebted to them for convincing me never to give up, and to follow my passion while learning the tools of a good researcher. Secondly, I would like to express my gratitude to the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Royal Holloway for granting me the Mary Slack Award in 2015 and for funding my fieldwork in Lampedusa and Paris, which was crucial for the development of my research. I am deeply grateful to Agnes, Mariangela and Celeste for involving me in the AHRC-funded project ‘Responding to Crisis’, an experience that nurtured my passion and engagement for migration and the arts between Keele, Naples and London. I would also like to thank all the many colleagues that, in the course of these years, have inspired me with their ideas and projects. This thesis is dedicated to all the friends in Calais, Lampedusa, London, Paris and Florence, and to our adventures together. To Gaia, Isabella, Caterina, Lisa, Francesco, Sascha and Michela, who have hosted me, comforted me and made me have fun in the midst of existential crises. To Maria Luisa, and our “shared” flat in Gloucester Green, forever a place of the mind. To Mohammed and Samir, and to that shared temporary space between France and the UK. To Nia, Shaffira, Trish and all the others, and our days in the car and in the warehouse. To the colleagues in the most disparate workplaces in Oxford, especially at the Oxford Botanic Garden, and to our cheerful banter in the green. To Guido and Charlène, to their love and hospitality in that magical house in Brixton. To all my marvellous, inspiring students in Florence, who in this past year have shown me a side of myself that I wasn’t sure existed. The greatest gratitude goes to my family, who helped me put things in perspective and supported me through difficult times. To Ariel and Puck for a year of patient, purring presence. But the final thank you goes to Aldo, who, rain or shine, has always been wonderfully there. 7 8 Table of Contents Page Abstract ..................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements .................................................................................. 7 Table of Contents...................................................................................... 9 List of Illustrations ................................................................................... 11 Introduction ............................................................................................. 14 Bridges and Walls: Representing the Migrant’s Story ........................19 Thesis Outline ...................................................................................... 30 Migrants, "We" and the Multiplying Borders of Fortress Europe ..... 40 Migrant Postcoloniality and Beyond ................................................... 57 Part I ........................................................................................................ 65 1. Border Burners: Mediterranean Migrations in French and Italian Literary Fiction of the 2000s .................................................................. 67 1.1 Authoring Migration Literature: Whose Voice? ............................ 70 1.2 Harraga Crossings: the Migrant as Resolute Hero in Eldorado .... 79 1.3 Border Dwelling: Ironic Migrations in Faire l’aventure ................. 93 1.4 The ‘innumerevoli’: Migrants as Nameless Victims in De Luca’s Solo andata ..................................................................................................104 1.5 Migration Literature as Ventriloquial Engagement ...................... 112 2. Visualising the Migrant’s Story: Representing Migration in Italian and French Cinema of the 2000s ................................................................. 120 2.1 Aesthetic Drifts: Crialese’s Terraferma ......................................... 132 2.2 Zombies and Magicians: the Figure of the Migrant in Terraferma and Éden à l’ouest ................................................................................ 142 2.3 Performing Cinematic Encounters in Calais: Welcome............... 156 9 2.4 What Is to Be Shown? European Migration Films as Transitional Representations...................................................................................164 Part II ...................................................................................................... 170 3. Curating Contemporary Migration: Politics of Representation at the Musée National de l’Histoire de l’Immigration and at the Memoria E Migrazioni Gallery ................................................................................. 172 3.1 Migration Museums and the Politics of Identity and Difference 174 3.2 Thorny Premises: Framing the MNHI and MEM in Colonial Discourses ........................................................................................... 182 3.3 Dissent and Solidarity within the Museum: Moving Towards “New” Migration Museums? ......................................................................... 203 3.4 Representing Migration: Negotiating between Institutional Discourse, Solidarity and Dissent ...................................................... 219 4. Mises en scène of Migration: “Rehearsing” Community at Italian and French Migration Festivals ................................................................... 226 4.1 Spectacles of Dissent, Spectacles of Community ........................ 229 4.2 LampedusaInFestival, or against the Border Spectacle .............. 238 4.3 Welcome!, or against the Spectacle of the “Other” .................... 255 4.4 Migration Festivals: ‘Agonistic’ Spectacles in the Public Space 266 Conclusion ............................................................................................ 272 Bibliography .......................................................................................... 284 Primary Bibliography ............................................................................ 284 Primary Filmography ............................................................................ 284 Secondary Bibliography ........................................................................ 284 Secondary Filmography ......................................................................... 317 Appendix 1 .............................................................................................. 319 Appendix 2 ............................................................................................ 323 10 List of Illustrations Page Fig. 1. Artist Ai Weiwei portraying himself in the pose in which drowned toddler Alan Kurdi was found on the shore near Bodrum (© Rohit Chawla). ............................................................................................. 125 Fig. 2. Opening scene of Crialese’s Terraferma .................................... 137 Fig. 3. The opposition