London School of Economics and Political Science Department of Sociology Naples in the Time of the Spider: Talk and Transcultural Meaning-Making in Neapolitan Markets Antonia Lucia Dawes A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Sociology of the London School of Economics for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, September 2014 1 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of 92, 745 words. Statement of use of third party for editorial help: I can confirm that my thesis was copy edited for conventions of language, spelling and grammar by Jonathan Leung, June Angelides, Kara-Louise Horne, Luigia Cuomo-Dawes, Nabila Munawar, Rebeca Hughes-Davies, and William Dawes. 2 Abstract This thesis explores the articulation of cultural meanings about belonging, entitlement and positionality that are emerging across transcultural boundaries in Neapolitan street markets. I conducted nine months of ethnographic fieldwork from licensed and unlicensed market stalls around Piazza Garibaldi central train station, working with Neapolitan and migrant street vendors. Street markets are an important part of the informal economy in Naples. High levels of unemployment and strict EU immigration rules have made market vending into a vital survival strategy for both Italian citizens and newcomers. Markets are thus a key site of encounter across racialised boundaries. My analysis of notes, photos and audio recordings gathered in the field reveals a compendium of multilingual language practices that are used by people in street markets as part of an everyday, pragmatic cohabitation with difference. My work contributes to the existing body of knowledge about ‘race’ and racism, in particular adding to the growing number of studies about postcoloniality in Italy and Southern Europe. In stressing the importance of language in intersubjective interactions I not only tell a story about the particular context and history of race relations in Naples – where different sorts of speaking are central to a fraught history of political, economic and cultural subordination – but also offer a key to understanding what is at stake generally in the complex and ambiguous multilingual reality that has resulted from intensified migration across the world. In addition, the thesis considers the models of collective organisation and resistance that come about amongst people subjected to informal, unstable and differential legal statuses and labour conditions. My research participants are struggling to find ways to live with and survive the fact of their own disposability within the global economy. I argue that this leads to both tactics of racialised closure, exclusion and division; as well as to the exploration of ambivalent transcultural solidarities, collaboration and struggle. 3 Acknowledgements Firstly I would like to thank my doctoral supervisors, Paul Gilroy and Suki Ali, for their inspiration, guidance and steadfastness over the last five years. I can’t imagine what intellectual journey I would have taken without you both. I am also immensely grateful to all the people who welcomed me onto their market stalls and shared their working day with me, in good times and bad: Gennaro, Alfonso, Serigne, Riccardo, Sohna, Elage, Moussa, Comfort, Ibra, Salvatore, Giovanni, Modou, Ciro, Titti, Alessandro, Giuseppe, Christopher and Ku. Thanks also to the scholars in Italy who supported me in numerous ways with organising the project, going into the field, and then writing it up: Iain Chambers, Lidia Curti, Gianluca Gatta, Fabio Amato, Nick Dines, Enrica Rigo, Gabriele Proglio, Silvana Carotenuto and Miguel Mellino. I am grateful to the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics for partially funding my studies and supporting me with all my other intellectual endeavours. Thanks, and great affection, also to my London intellectual community for stimulating, motivating and moving me over the years: Nabila, Helen, Jonathan, Liene, Malcolm, Richard, Sanjiv, Olivia, Linda, Angela, Katherine, Kristina, London NYLON, the editorial board of CCC, and the whole REPS group. In Naples I must thank my friends in antiracism for their help in setting up my fieldwork and, later on, their friendship, support and will to change things: Antonella, Omar, Pap, Serigne, Nicoletta, Wu, Alfonso, Asli, Maryam, Sasà, Pierre and Louis. 4 A very special thanks to my parents, Nonna Doris and my family in Italy for the example they have given me, as well as for their unfailing support and encouragement. Thanks to Nonna Lucrezia particularly for her stories and Zia Carmela for reading drafts and correcting my Neapolitan spelling. To my sister for her soothing presence, cat humour, and help in learning how to format. To my dear friends Chiara, June, Kara, Lina, Beca and Augusta for dragging me away from the books. And, finally, to Malle, who is on every page. 5 Contents Chapter One: Introduction............................................................................................... 10 What’s Going On in Naples? ...................................................................................... 10 The Research ............................................................................................................... 11 Culture, Language and Difference .............................................................................. 13 Chapter Summaries ..................................................................................................... 16 Chapter Two: Conceptualising the Multilingual in Naples............................................. 20 Language ..................................................................................................................... 20 A Short History of Language in Naples .................................................................. 21 Urban Sociolinguistics and Anthropological Work on Language .......................... 23 Theorising Transcultural Language Practices in Naples ......................................... 28 Dialogical Speech Genres and Ideological Creativity ........................................ 28 Language Tactics and Languages of Resistance ................................................. 31 Humorous Language and the Grotesque ............................................................. 33 Glissant’s Multilingual Counterpoetic ................................................................ 35 Difference .................................................................................................................... 37 Naples and the Nation: Unification, Colonialism and Migration ........................... 38 Naples as a Port City ............................................................................................... 45 The People: New Neapolitans and Old ................................................................... 47 Theorising Difference in Naples ............................................................................. 50 Belonging ............................................................................................................ 50 Hegemonic Masculinities .................................................................................... 51 The Urban.................................................................................................................... 53 Neapolitan Street Markets ....................................................................................... 54 6 The Impact of Power Structures on Street Vending................................................ 56 Theorising Street Markets ....................................................................................... 58 Solidarity in Street Markets ................................................................................ 58 Conflict in Street Markets ................................................................................... 62 Chapter Three: Managing the Multilingual in the Field ................................................. 65 Methods in Practice ..................................................................................................... 66 Participant Observation ........................................................................................... 66 Translating the Field ............................................................................................... 69 Photographic Methods ............................................................................................ 72 Negotiating Access...................................................................................................... 75 The Street Markets and the Market Personalities ....................................................... 85 Via Bologna Street Market...................................................................................... 88 Unlicensed Pitches .................................................................................................