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

Abstract

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.