Tra lontananza e vicinanza: gli italiani e gli sloveni nel romanzo contemporaneo sloveno in Italia

Abstract

Border places are of particular interest when it comes to identifying the way in which groups of different nationalities perceive the neighbour, the Other. One of these areas is also Friuli Venezia Giulia, where other nationalities, among which also the Slovenes, have coexisted near their Italian majority for centuries. Since the end of the 19th century until today, the Slovenes of this region have frequently addressed their national minority position through literature. Through it they formed a specific image of themselves and of the neighbouring populations in every period. Taking into consideration some contemporary Slovenian novels written in Italy in the last twenty-six years, the paper aims to investigate their representation of the Other seen as different and external to the community. The questions therefore are: do Slovenes living in Italy perceive as the Other mostly Italians or the members of other nationalities? What are the main reasons for the identification of a subject as different from them? What sort of hierarchy is being established between the various national identities within the examined literary texts? With the help of the imagological method, this article will offer some tentative answers to the questions raised, by considering also the socio-political context.