Italy and the Islamic World: Culture, Identity and Representation (2001-2011)

The project sets out to examine how the Islamic world has been represented in Italy from 2001 to the present. It will look in detail at the work of writers, commentators and journalists who have written extensively on Italy's relationship with the Islamic world and it will examine the media - ranging from journalistic comment, foreign correspondence, collections of essays, autobiographies, travel writing and even fiction - in which their views have been expressed.

It will thus reveal the framework in which ideas on Italy and the Islamic world have been advanced; the range of concepts for understanding identity and difference that are relied upon; the rhetorical devices and figures of speech that are used most consistently. Through this kind of analysis, the project will show how, over an exceptionally dramatic period of time, the Islamic world has been presented as an internal actor within Italian society, as a neighbouring presence, as a site of alternative civilization or as a minatory other.

The project will examine how the rapid development of an easily visible Islamic presence within Italy impacts on the way in which the Islamic world in general is represented. It will show how writings on Italy's relationship with the Islamic world reveal underlying issues, questions and preoccupations concerning globalization, migration, and the meaning of national identity in an increasingly inter-connected and multicultural world.

The analysis of contrasting views and characterizations of the Islamic world in contemporary Italy will also look at the longer history of the representation of the Muslim world within Italian culture. By considering writing on the same subject that appeared at other key moments in modern Italian history, the project will place current views on the Islamic world in comparison/ contrast with previous ways of understanding similarity, identity and difference.

The outputs of the proposal will be three substantial articles. The first will examine the various currents of anti-Islamic feeling that have found expression in contemporary Italy and how they have represented the Muslim world. The second article will be concerned with more nuanced and reflective views on Italy and the Islamic world that have been expressed by various voices and through different media during the same period of time. The third will relate contemporary perceptions to the longer history of representing the Islamic world within modern Italian culture.

In examining the complexities of the representation of the Islamic world over an exceptionally dramatic period of time, the project will:

1. Provide a new perspective on the meanings that attach to constructions of Italian national identity. It will contribute significantly to the way in which the cultural reality of contemporary Italy is considered within the academy.

2. Through its examination of one country, the project will participate in the wider debate concerning Western Europe's relationship with the Islamic world.

3. The topicality of the issues that the project confronts is such that it will be of interest to the community outside the academy. Through a series of talks at the Italian Cultural Institute and through the British-Italian Society, the findings of the project will be broadcast widely.

4. The project will contribute to our understanding of an issue of crucial societal importance, namely the increasing porosity of national cultures. It will serve to inform the community as a whole of the series of issues and anxieties that lie behind one national culture's - Italy's - relationship with the Islamic world.