Martina Giuliano (University of Oklahoma - Norman Campus)
mart@****.com (Log-in to reveal)
Mariagrazia De Luca (University of California - Berkeley)
mari@****.com (Log-in to reveal)
The New Italians session explores contemporary Italian literature, culture, media, music, and film through the lens of migration, mobility, and evolving forms of Italian identity in a globalized world. In dialogue with PAMLA 2026’s theme, “Our Ruling Classes: Culture, Power, Conflict,” the session considers how cultural production engages structures of power shaping belonging, citizenship, linguistic authority, and cultural legitimacy in Italy and its diasporic contexts.
While some papers will address the conference theme directly by examining cultural authority, hierarchy, and conflict, the session remains open to broader approaches to New Italian studies and contemporary Italian cultural production. We welcome diverse perspectives on migration, identity formation, and transformations of Italianness beyond a single thematic framework.
Papers may be presented in Italian, English, or both. Topics of interest include migration and diaspora, negotiations of identity, contemporary Italian studies, Mediterranean cultures, and approaches to decolonizing Italian cultural narratives.
The New Italians session invites proposals that explore contemporary Italian literature, culture, media, music, or film with particular attention to migration, mobility, national and linguistic identities, and evolving discourses of Italianness in a globalized context.
In keeping with the conference theme, “Our Ruling Classes: Culture, Power, Conflict,” we welcome contributions that examine how cultural texts engage with systems of authority, social hierarchies, and conflicts over representation, citizenship, and cultural belonging. At the same time, the session intentionally maintains a broader scope and invites proposals addressing New Italian cultural production more generally, whether or not they directly engage the annual conference theme.
Papers may be delivered in Italian, English, or a combination of both.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: migration, diaspora, negotiations of Italian identity, contemporary Italian studies, Mediterranean studies, cultural power dynamics, and decolonizing Italianness.