This book explores Italian science fiction from 1861, the year of Italy's unification, to the present day, focusing on how this genre helped shape notions of Otherness and Normalness. In particular, Italian Science Fiction draws upon critical race studies, postcolonial theory, and feminist studies to explore how migration, colonialism, multiculturalism, and racism have been represented in genre film and literature. Topics include the role of science fiction in constructing a national identity; the representation and self-representation of "alien" immigrants in Italy; the creation of internal "Others," such as southerners and Roma; the intersections of gender and race discrimination; and Italian science fiction's transnational dialogue with foreign science fiction. This book reveals that though it is arguably a minor genre in Italy, science fiction offers an innovative interpretive angle for rethinking Italian history and imagining future change in Italian society.

Autorentext

Simone Brioni is Assistant Professor in the Department of English at Stony Brook University, USA. His research focuses on migration studies and postcolonial theory with a particular emphasis on contemporary Italian culture.

Daniele Comberiati is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Italian Studies at the University Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, France. His research fields include migration literature, postcolonial studies, comics and graphic novels, and eighteenth-century travel literature.

Inhalt
1 Introduction2 Explorations and the Creation of a National Identity
3 Futurism and Science Fiction
4 After the Apocalypse: Repression and Resistance
5 The Internal Other: Representing Roma
6 Aliens in a Country of Immigration: Intersectional Perspectives7 Dystopic Worlds and the Fear of Multiculturalism
8 The Questione Settentrionale: Reconfiguring Separatism9 Future Pasts: Revisiting the Colonial Legacy in Alternate History Novels10 Afterword: A Genre Across Cultures