현대 이탈리아 영화에 등장하는 아프리카 여성의 재현 방식과 이탈리아 정치 문화의 도상

Abstract

This paper examines the change in the portrayal of “Black-African female” immigrants in contemporary Italian films. The two feature films lo. l’altro (2007) and White and Black (2008) will be used to analyze how the visual representation of African femininity relates to Italy’s colonial past and how the country’s politico-cultural stance in relation to immigrants is reflected in the films. The representation of African women observed in the Fascist era was developed through the ties between racism and gender colonization, creating a significant framework for the depiction of the black women appearing in Italian mass media today. The appearance of an African woman’s dead body in the film <lo. l’altro> serves not only as a catalyst for the discourse on contemporary Italian politics and media, but also as a reminder of a part of Italy’s colonial history that has been overlooked by films dealing with Italian expansionism in the post-Fascist era. However, it is worth noting that the body appearing in the film < lo. l’altro > is not a sexually symbolized reproduction of a being as was commonly presented in the propaganda of the Fascist era. In fact, it is important to note that its portrayal in the film places the female character in a different position, with the religious identity of a childbearing “mother”, in stark contrast to the typical sexual representation of women. This new approach to the portrayal of an African woman’s physical body is an attempt at challenging the conventional representation of African women, whose customary depiction had hitherto consisted of “sexual aberrations with African women” in traditional Italian films. Cristina Comencini’s “White and Black” (2008) presents a more dramatic shift in the way African female characters are represented in films. Nadine, an immigrant from Senegal, is portrayed more realistically as a cosmopolitan person, in addition to being a regular immigrant. In the movie, she is depicted as a character with a “palatable foreignness” - an immigrant who is expected to improve the nation’s well-being -, rather than an individual who poses a threat to social order. The film does not specifically mention Italy’s colonial past, but it does point out the emergence of a new form of imperialism over the course of globalization and continues to rebel against the sense of superiority induced by the increase in multinational capital, or the social atmosphere engendered by the international market with its transnational relations. The film suggests the idea that the respect multiculturalists have for the distinctive characteristics of others is in fact a form of assertion of their own superiority. Ultimately, the two films come to the conclusion that such an idea is a form of “cultural dialectic”. To borrow Hegel’s concept of the “master-slave dialectic”, accepting immigrants in modern society should mean treating others well by “me” offering my place to the weak. In doing so, I am helping the other but, at the same time, the other guides me beyond my own barriers by enabling me to cross my boundaries through such actions. To put it differently, I am helped by the other, though they be more vulnerable. This allows individuals to overcome the black-and-white idea of “the other” and “us” and gives thema new understanding of the concept as “the other in us” and “us within the other”. Furthermore, it shows a willingness not to give upon creating “a single space” as a harmonious human community, as mentioned previously.