blog assignment #7

The past eight weeks of my stay here in Rome, my view of Italy has changed dramatically from what it was before coming. One issue that is very complicated and always up for discussion is the authenticity of something that is considered Italian, what and who is Italian? This can only be supported by the definition of culture and how it is a social construct that is not static and is always changing. Describing an Italian, especially a Roman, is probably very different then what it was 30 years ago than what it is now. In the past few decades there have been some major events that have and that are still happening where the result is reshaping Rome and Italy altogether; issues such as education, immigration, and the definition of the youth. These are all changing and it’s hard to say what is authentically Italian and what isn’t with the integration of the recent diaspora of migrants coming into Italy. Each issue is different and is happening on its own pace, although they are all intertwined with one another creating one web that I feel is what is “Italian” now.

Immigration has been a major issue impacting everything across Italy. Immigrants and refugees have been coming into Italy as they ultimately come looking for better opportunities for themselves and their families. This has been a recent occurrence but there is a certain group that has been over looked but has shown a presence for over 500 years, the Roma. Commonly mistaken and stereotyped as gypsies the Roma community has been completely other’d from anything Italian. But for how long they’ve been in Italy? It has to be long enough for native Italians to become accustomed to the their presence, isn’t that Italian? Immigrants and Roma both affect the education system here in Rome and Italy after the law that was passed to have students required to attend school, regardless of their legal status. The integration of their children is now being incorporated to Italy’s curriculum with Italian language and religion classes. Another aspect with the schools is the diversity of the classroom with all these students now apart of it; the next generation of Italians will be diverse. There has been some debate over this though, Gelmini has recently passed decrees effecting migrant students as one of the regulations is to have the demography of a classroom to not exceed 30% immigrant student.

Outside of education, the presence of different non-Italian communities is very well known. Another group that was oppressed by Italians were the Jewish. Here in Rome, home of the Vatican, the Jewish community was forced to live in a certain part of town which was literally walled off from the rest of the city, the Jewish ghetto. Although now the walls are gone, for the most part, and new buildings have been put up the Jewish community still congregate in the common area of the ghetto as their synogog is still located there. According to our tour guide at the synogog, other than religious difference, the Jewish community has completely integrated into Italian society. With the Vatican and the Jewish synogog, another place of worship for another group is the Muslim mosque. With members of the Islamic faith growing, Rome is actually home to Europe’s largest Mosque, although there were rules to completing such a project; it couldn’t be in the city walls, could not be higher or seen from St. Peters, in Vatican city. As the mosque is a place of worship for more immigrants of such faith, our tour guide there did mention a small group of Italian Muslims coming there. One problem that I am noticing here in Rome is that there is a presence of Chinese immigrants here, but no temple of any sort.

This could be a sign of the Chinese being sojourners and do not plan to consider Rome a home for them. With our visit to CARITAS today, another example of how the Chinese community here in Rome is not trying to integrate as most elder don’t speak Italian. But with a group a volunteers there has been an effort to incorporate the Chinese. This subject is very comparable to the history of the Chinese in America, as they first came strictly to work and planned to return with their earned money but with rules and taxes imposed on foreigners the Chinese could do nothing else but stay and live their lives there.

With all these conflicts with the diversity of Rome, I feel this is affecting the youth in different ways. I feel they are most tolerant to these recent changes in reshaping the definition of national identity of Italy, or they must not care. But it will only continue to change with all the controversy in north Africa and with more eastern European countries seeking better opportunities in Italy. So to answer the question: what and who is Italian? To me, all of this is. When I was first accepted to this program the only thing I could think about Italy is a hefty Italian with a big mustache speaking with his hands at a pizza parlor and “giodos” and “giedettes” from MTV’s Jersey Shore. But now, if I had to describe what and who is Italian, I’d say the native Italian walking around with shiny puffy jackets, the Bangladeshi vendors at the market in Pizza Victtorio, the Chinese selling clothes outside of the market, the Africans selling bootleg purses, the refugees at St. Paul’s are all Italian in my eyes. I feel language is a big factor to identity, as one can learn customs and traditions through the language. Italian is no different and a person knowing and speaking it regularly is only going to become more and more to the generalization of an Italian.