Tra identità culturale e identità nazionale – alcune rifl essioni sull’italianità in base ai romanzi di igiaba scego e Laila Wadia

Abstract

Between Cultural Identity and National Identity – some Refl ections on Italianness Based on the Novels of Igiaba Scego e Laila Wadia

The aim of this study is to examine a diff erentia specifi ca of Italian identity from the perspective of foreigners. The works of Igiaba Scego and Laila Wadia constitute an invitation to the multicultural microcosm that not only addresses issues related to the identity problems of immigrants but also allows for the analysis of the phenomenon of Italian identity not as a fi xed, immutable notion, but as the result of the functioning of an increasingly hybrid and pluralistic society in which natives and immigrants coexist and infl uence each other. The view of Italian reality, off ered by the novels of these writers who have their roots in other cultures (Scego’s parents are Somali, and Wadia has Indian roots), seems particularly important because it helps to understand not only the emotional feelings of immigrants but also a certain uniqueness of Italian national identity.