Italian Cultural Representation of the Eastern Adriatic: A Postcolonial Perspective (1910 – 1943)

This work aims to scrutinize the Italian cultural discourse concerning the Adriatic region during a period marked by rapid Italian expansion in that geographical area. The specified time-frame under consideration spans from 1910 to 1943, encapsulating pivotal Italian political endeavours aimed at establishing an empire in the Balkans. The thesis examines a diverse array of primary sources, including travelogues, autobiographies, novels and materials from colonial fairs. It analyses how the region was discursively constructed in Italian culture, and how the relationship between the two shores of the Adriatic was imagined and portrayed in Italian sources. The analysis is conducted through a thalassological perspective focusing on the Adriatic, employing a range of postcolonial concepts and methodologies in the study of primary sources. The thesis posits that Italians employed an imperialistic lens when characterizing the eastern Adriatic region. This involved articulating an unequal relationship between themselves, perceived as part of a Metropolitan collective, and the non- Italian inhabitants of the area, who were depicted as subalterns. The thesis underscores how these representations substantiated a discourse regarding Italian identity and expansionism by crafting a framework of images and narratives that endorsed the Italian occupation of the region. Furthermore, it investigates the role played by the Fascist regime in shaping and disseminating this Italian discourse on the Adriatic, highlighting how Fascism surfaces from this analysis, as a productive ideology, which deeply influenced this discourse.