Migrants, criminals and spies in the Italian Mediterranean

Joseph Viscomi (New York University):

Migrants, criminals and spies in the Italian Mediterranean

Moderator: Konstantina Zanou (Columbia University)

In what ways do the movements of subversive Italians during the twentieth century challenge historiography of the modern Mediterranean? What socio-political constellations emerge from their itineraries? Which boundaries are inverted or reinforced? I explore these questions through the microhistories of Italians in Egypt who evaded the law –or manipulated its ambiguity in their favor– between 1919 and 1940. Using documents that appeal either to Italian consular courts in Egypt or to Italian political leaders, in this talk I propose that these individual cases help us to understand the overlapping regimes of law, nationalism, and colonialism in what we could articulate as an Italian Mediterranean.

At the Department of Italian, Columbia University, 1130 Amsterdam Avenue