Emmanuelle I am so HAPPY I found your writing. I studied Italian history for a while and lived just across the border in Switzerland when I was in college and learned a Lombard dialect of old Italian (but badly). Italy and Switzerland are both very young countries that cling to their dialects and regional cultures fiercely. I too had a fantastic professor who taught us about the Grand Tour and the somewhat fetishistic and greedy gaze of the English and Americans, the regional kingdoms, the way the South was treated, the Risorgimento, etc. (I lived on a Via Giuseppe Mazzini at one point). I can’t wait to learn a lot more from your writings in all ways, as a longtime lover and student of history, Italy, migration, and realistic lenses into lives that people often gild (I think it’s so much easier to gild).
Hi Emmanuel, I did not know that Italy is a young country, but had assumed that Naples, Sardinia, etc were regions within Italy when referenced in historical contexts. Oof, the things one thinks one knows that are inaccurate! As with each of your series, I am eager to read this one and learn more. Your perspective, knowledge, and personal stories are always so interesting!
I bet you are not the only one! We are so used to be taught Italy has long rooted traditions - which is true - that it overshadows the fact that it is a relatively young state. Italian Constitution, civil law, the voting system are based on the French system, Napeoleon Ist was a big influence. I'll try to include some more accurate historical facts in my next stories.
It is always a pleasure to read you, and so you know, I am already writing the Almost La Dolce Vita 2!
I would love to hear more about your experience as a black woman in Italy Emmanuelle, especially in Apulia. The south of Italy is known to be close minded compared to other nothern regions. I hope you also have some nice stories! I am Italian and some of the closest people in my life are black, and unfortunately I heard from them how racist it can be. One of my best friends in Milan saw herself rejected by a potential landlord just for the colour of her skin and she's been fighting for her citizenship since she was 15.
However, I believe that the narration of an unrealistic Italy really comes from non-italians. Real Italians will complain about the struggles of the nation and they will tell you the the south is poor and the north is rich, they will tell you that the job landscape sucks and that their government is one of the worst in the Europe without any shame. I also would like to address the fact that the citizenship is inaccessible to all non-italians not just non-white.
Can't wait to read more about your Almost Dolce Vita!
Thank you for your comment and sorry in advance for the longest answer ever!
One of my intents with this series is to tell an honest story of my experience in Italy, which means at some point, I will talk about my life as a Black person in Italy which involves some good and bad experiences, but I don’t want it to be central to the narrative because what I live isn’t nearly close to what my Black Italians and Africans friends are living. Yes, I face racism but not in the same way as them.
As a French-Cameroonian in Italy, my experience is extremely privileged because I have a French passport which on a bureaucratic and professional level is a really big advantage. On the day to day, my experience is also different because again I am French, so not everyone will point out I am African or question my Frenchness, inded people would rather ask me about France. That’s the privilege of belonging to a country that is culturally powerful and whose colonial history is known.
I already write a series Black Europeans You Should Know where I’ll talk about Black Italians to highlight the issues regarding race in Italy, so stay tuned!
I used to host a podcast called Blackcoffee where, with my co-host who is Eritrean-Italian, we tackled Blackness in Italy. You can find it on Spotify, if you are interested :D.
Now regarding the unrealistic narration of Italy, I think class is involved in the conversation. If we just look at Italian fashion as an industry, it was created to reboost the economy after WWII as well as selling a dream to the Americans for them to buy their clothes. And this sterotype continues to this day, just looking at how American journalists talk about Italy. The narration of an unrealistic Italy started from there, in my opinion. A lot of businesses in Italy are all about luxury or hospitaly, with both promoting an idea of living well, but only for who can afford it. The marketing around Italy is responsible for that narration, not your average Italian. That’s my two cents. I hope my point is clear and not too confused.
For the citizenship, I am well aware it applies to all foreigners - and I will correct my article with an addendum - but those with weak passports who are often Nigerian, Ghanaian, Ivorian, Senegalese or from Albania, Georgia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines etc suffer differently this unnaccessibility to citizenship. Italian burocracy is already a nightmare for everybody, but when race is involved it is even more complicated.
No apologies needed considering I love reading you Em :)
Thank you for all the links to your content outside of Substack, it's something that interests me a lot so I would definitely take a look and give it a listen!
You made a good point highlighting the fact that the Italian economy is basically sustained by tourism so it kinda has to sell that image in order to survive. Even if the average Italian will complain about everything that does not work in the country, I feel like we still romanticise it quite a lot. That would be interesting to see in perspective, and I wonder if that's actually part of the narrative?
Tourism, hospitality businesses are made to romanticise the country. I feel it's part of a recent narrative born post war though Italy seems to have been THE destination for rich British writers and painters, in the XIXth century.
I am glad you are looking for reading more of this series!
Emmanuelle I am so HAPPY I found your writing. I studied Italian history for a while and lived just across the border in Switzerland when I was in college and learned a Lombard dialect of old Italian (but badly). Italy and Switzerland are both very young countries that cling to their dialects and regional cultures fiercely. I too had a fantastic professor who taught us about the Grand Tour and the somewhat fetishistic and greedy gaze of the English and Americans, the regional kingdoms, the way the South was treated, the Risorgimento, etc. (I lived on a Via Giuseppe Mazzini at one point). I can’t wait to learn a lot more from your writings in all ways, as a longtime lover and student of history, Italy, migration, and realistic lenses into lives that people often gild (I think it’s so much easier to gild).
Hi Emmanuel, I did not know that Italy is a young country, but had assumed that Naples, Sardinia, etc were regions within Italy when referenced in historical contexts. Oof, the things one thinks one knows that are inaccurate! As with each of your series, I am eager to read this one and learn more. Your perspective, knowledge, and personal stories are always so interesting!
Hello Sarah,
I bet you are not the only one! We are so used to be taught Italy has long rooted traditions - which is true - that it overshadows the fact that it is a relatively young state. Italian Constitution, civil law, the voting system are based on the French system, Napeoleon Ist was a big influence. I'll try to include some more accurate historical facts in my next stories.
It is always a pleasure to read you, and so you know, I am already writing the Almost La Dolce Vita 2!
I would love to hear more about your experience as a black woman in Italy Emmanuelle, especially in Apulia. The south of Italy is known to be close minded compared to other nothern regions. I hope you also have some nice stories! I am Italian and some of the closest people in my life are black, and unfortunately I heard from them how racist it can be. One of my best friends in Milan saw herself rejected by a potential landlord just for the colour of her skin and she's been fighting for her citizenship since she was 15.
However, I believe that the narration of an unrealistic Italy really comes from non-italians. Real Italians will complain about the struggles of the nation and they will tell you the the south is poor and the north is rich, they will tell you that the job landscape sucks and that their government is one of the worst in the Europe without any shame. I also would like to address the fact that the citizenship is inaccessible to all non-italians not just non-white.
Can't wait to read more about your Almost Dolce Vita!
Hello Giulia,
Thank you for your comment and sorry in advance for the longest answer ever!
One of my intents with this series is to tell an honest story of my experience in Italy, which means at some point, I will talk about my life as a Black person in Italy which involves some good and bad experiences, but I don’t want it to be central to the narrative because what I live isn’t nearly close to what my Black Italians and Africans friends are living. Yes, I face racism but not in the same way as them.
As a French-Cameroonian in Italy, my experience is extremely privileged because I have a French passport which on a bureaucratic and professional level is a really big advantage. On the day to day, my experience is also different because again I am French, so not everyone will point out I am African or question my Frenchness, inded people would rather ask me about France. That’s the privilege of belonging to a country that is culturally powerful and whose colonial history is known.
I already write a series Black Europeans You Should Know where I’ll talk about Black Italians to highlight the issues regarding race in Italy, so stay tuned!
I used to host a podcast called Blackcoffee where, with my co-host who is Eritrean-Italian, we tackled Blackness in Italy. You can find it on Spotify, if you are interested :D.
Now regarding the unrealistic narration of Italy, I think class is involved in the conversation. If we just look at Italian fashion as an industry, it was created to reboost the economy after WWII as well as selling a dream to the Americans for them to buy their clothes. And this sterotype continues to this day, just looking at how American journalists talk about Italy. The narration of an unrealistic Italy started from there, in my opinion. A lot of businesses in Italy are all about luxury or hospitaly, with both promoting an idea of living well, but only for who can afford it. The marketing around Italy is responsible for that narration, not your average Italian. That’s my two cents. I hope my point is clear and not too confused.
For the citizenship, I am well aware it applies to all foreigners - and I will correct my article with an addendum - but those with weak passports who are often Nigerian, Ghanaian, Ivorian, Senegalese or from Albania, Georgia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines etc suffer differently this unnaccessibility to citizenship. Italian burocracy is already a nightmare for everybody, but when race is involved it is even more complicated.
No apologies needed considering I love reading you Em :)
Thank you for all the links to your content outside of Substack, it's something that interests me a lot so I would definitely take a look and give it a listen!
You made a good point highlighting the fact that the Italian economy is basically sustained by tourism so it kinda has to sell that image in order to survive. Even if the average Italian will complain about everything that does not work in the country, I feel like we still romanticise it quite a lot. That would be interesting to see in perspective, and I wonder if that's actually part of the narrative?
I can't wait to read more soon!
Hello Giulia,
Glad you love reading because I tend to write A LOT ahah!
Here is the link towards the podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6755QN6OWd5ggR7AzMML7E?si=9c2399de099e4bf7
Tourism, hospitality businesses are made to romanticise the country. I feel it's part of a recent narrative born post war though Italy seems to have been THE destination for rich British writers and painters, in the XIXth century.
I am glad you are looking for reading more of this series!