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Explorations and the Creation of a National Identity

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Italian Science Fiction

Part of the book series: Studies in Global Science Fiction ((SGSF))

Abstract

This chapter argues that early Italian science fiction (sf) literature was pivotal in creating a sense of national belonging. Texts that imagined Italy’s future as a unified country, and warned of its enemies, aided in consolidating public opinion. Novels like Paolo Mantegazza’s L’anno 3000: Sogno (1897), Emilio Salgari’s La montagna d’oro (1901), and Enrico Novelli (Yambo)’s Gli esploratori dell’infinito (1907), featured exoticized Others in order to construct a cohesive national identity by contrast, and to justify colonial conquests. Explorers became the Italian literary heroes of the nineteenth century, making the terms “discovery” and “conquest” synonymous, thereby erasing the existence of indigenous people.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    On the history of Italian explorations in Africa, see Comberiati (2013), Dainelli (1960), and Gonzato (2015).

  2. 2.

    The analysis is limited to the first two years of this journal, from 1878 to 1880.

  3. 3.

    On the relation between anthropology and science fiction, see Collins (2003).

  4. 4.

    On this battle, see Jonas (2014).

  5. 5.

    Hereafter, David Jacobson’s English translation of L’anno 3000: Sogno, The Year 3000: A Dream (Mantegazza 2010) is referred to.

  6. 6.

    For further studies on Salgari’s Orientalism and his view of colonialism see Proglio (2011) and Galli Mastrodonato and Dionisi (2012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Simone Brioni

  2. Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France

    Daniele Comberiati

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Brioni, S., Comberiati, D. (2019). Explorations and the Creation of a National Identity. In: Italian Science Fiction. Studies in Global Science Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19326-3_2

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