Italian National Branding

Italian national identity over the years has been expressed through various aspects of the country’s development from history, music, religion, language, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. Even though national identity defines how the nation views themselves as a whole, nation branding is how “others” perceive Italy. In the article, “National Identity and ‘the other,’” Anna Triandafyllidou states, “national identity is defined not only from within, namely from the features that fellow-nationals share in common but also from without, that is, through distinguishing and differentiating the nation from other nations or ethnic groups” (593). Triandafyllidou’s statement in her article defines national identity and with this understanding the difference between national branding and national identity can be attained.

Nation branding is an accumulation of many different aspects of the nation such as: culture, government, citizens, tourism, exports and immigration. In the article “Nation Branding: A Tool for Nationalism?” by Jordan he states, “Nation branding essentially communicates a nation’s policies and culture to an international audience, the public face of international diplomacy. Arguably one of the main goals of public diplomacy is to cultivate and communicate a certain image or reputation of the nation state to an international audience, and this is true of nation branding too” (Jordan).  The difference between national identity and national branding is that identity is the views from people within the country and branding is the perspective from people outside the country. Nation branding attracts tourists and shows what one nation stands for. For example, America's national brand is the land of opportunity and freedom which draws in many different cultures and ethnic groups. The Italian national identity aligns with what the Italians portray as their national brand; Not only a romantic getaway, but also an up and coming technological professional land of opportunity.

            In blog post one I explored the idea of Italy’s national identity and how Italians identify as a nation. Italy had several events that changed their path as a country, which helped shape how they identify with today. Italy identifies with religion; they are known as a Roman Catholic nation. Italians use their past to help solidify who they have become as a nation today. Italy used the “others” – outsiders from a specific nation or different ethnic background -- to help form their national identity and to create diversity throughout their nation. Blog post two went into further analysis on the Italian performances during the competition, Eurovision. It analyzed the lyrics of the songs pulling assumptions of what the lyrics were indicating. The way Italy portrayed themselves as a nation through the performers helped create an image of their national identity. All of the songs were sung in Italian showing that they are proud of their Italian heritage, as they were singing in their native language. The performances were diverse from the singers that were chosen to represent the country, to the outfits that were worn, and the style of music they sang. This indicated that they are comfortable with who they are and what they stand for as a nation. Although their national identity was explored through blog post one and blog post two, their Italian identity is solidified through the examination of their national brand.

            Nation branding is different than national identity in multiple aspects; it especially focuses on the country’s portrayal that forms the outsider’s view on one nation. Nation branding is crucial in making a nation’s external communication and interaction more compelling to others. Nation branding is a nation’s image abroad, but it is not always viewed in a positive fashion. Therefore, this has an effect on people in Italy and their self-perception, sense of belonging and national identity. When nation branding is applied to a country it can be positive or negative, depending on how the nation brands oneself. Through Italy’s performances in Eurovision, they have developed a sense of national identity along with devising a nation brand for outsiders to refer to. Italy has several aspects that they consider their national brand causing many tourists to travel there to experience what Italians portray their nation to possess.  In the article, Italy Distances Itself from Stereotypical Branding,” Nicole Winfield says, “Italy’s primary tourist attractions of food and monuments is already well known, but its other achievements are often downplayed and could attract a different kind of visitor for future growth. — Samantha Shankman” (Winfield 2015).  Tourist travel to Italy to experience the amazing architecture, historical monuments, study the romance language, visit the cathedrals such as the Vatican, museums full of art, delicious cuisine and much more.

National branding is something that Italy takes seriously, as they try to convey themselves as a strong independent nation to other nations. Italy has various aspects of their country that stand out compared to others, and fashion sense is one that is known across the world. In the article, “Nation Branding and National Brands,” Judd Mercer states,

“Italy is known for its high-quality fashion and trend setting culture and right there you have a nation brand attribute. So when a new boutique opens in the US with an Italian name and "Made in Italy" on their products, consumers will automatically make the connection of high quality and "trendiness" to the nation brand” (Mercer).

This attribute of having highly regarded fashion sense is something Italy proudly owns. This can be seen throughout the Eurovision videos and the various trendy styles that they used. This is one of Italy’s most obvious national brands.  Alongside this fashion brand name lies many misconstrued brands that the “other” has placed upon Italy. Italy chose to not stand by and allow their identity to be promoted contrary to their beliefs. Italy fought against the various distorted stereotypes of the world through a commercial that expresses the many things that Italy represents.

            Italians view themselves as much more than what they have been defined as by the “others.”  Many countries misconstrue Italy as a simple place made up of fashionistas, soccer players, Latin lovers, and pizza makers. But this is simply not true. This is demonstrated strongly in a commercial released by Italy promoting their nation in various aspects such as: technology, aerodynamics, medicine, science, architecture, and so much more. In the commercial presented on the website “Skift” Nicole Winfield gives further explanation on how Italy identifies as a nation; “Pizza makers? Italy is the world leader in the creation of major infrastructures -- 1000 construction sites in 90 countries” (Winfield).  In the commercial they are demonstrating, in a very clean and detailed fashion, how Italy is one of the dominant countries and in the run for the best nation brand in the world. This commercial is a very powerful Italian national brand maker. Not only is it defining who Italy envisions themselves to be, but it also debauches the “others” demeaning and racially misunderstood views of Italy in the process. In the article “Made in Italy,” Stina Lamm and Hanna Molne stated,

The purposes of nation branding are according to Fan (2010) to reform national identities, enhance competitiveness, embrace political, cultural and economical activities, promote these abroad and thus improve the image of a nation. It’s about communicating how good you are to the world (Lamm, Monle 6).

Italy stood their ground. They made a statement to the world, that they mean business.  Italy is no longer simply a romantic getaway or a fashion show playground, but they are beginning to be a productive economic competitor to be reckoned with among the other powerful countries.

            National branding is a quality that every country pertains. Each country develops a national identity which helps the nation develop a sense of a national brand. According to the article “Nation Branding: A Tool for Nationalism?” Jordan stated, “Nation branding can be defined as ‘the phenomenon by which governments engage in self-conscious activities aimed at producing a certain image of the nation state”’ (Jordan).  Jordan defines what national branding is and how it pulls the attention of the other nations to focus on one specific nation and their powerful qualities. National branding is formed from a nation’s identity; without a national identity it is hard for a country to define a brand for themselves. Italy’s brand as a romantic beautiful tourist destination is only small part of the national brand Italy proclaims. Italy also wants to attract more than simple tourists to their country. They are abundant in tourism, but they desire to grow in the professional field and this is easily seen through their Italy name brand commercial. Italy’s national brand is also shown through the performances of Eurovision through the performers and how they represent themselves on stage. The attire they wore, the instruments they used and the lyrics they sang all were in correlation to the national brand of Italy. Thus causing them to convey their love for their nation through the Eurovision competition by clarifying their national identity. Italy believes that national branding is important, because they have been wrongly stereotyped by other nations.  

Works Cited

Jordan, Paul. "Nation Branding: A Tool For Nationalism?". Journal Of Baltic Studies, vol 45, no. 3, 2013, pp. 283-303. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/01629778.2013.860609.

Lamm, Stina and Hanna Molne. "Made In Italy -The Nation Brand Of Italian Fashion". Academia.Edu, 2017, http://www.academia.edu/25292337/Made_in_Italy_-The_nation_brand_of_Italian_fashion.

Mercer, Judd. "Nation Branding | National Brands | Elevated Third". Elevatedthird.Com, 2017, https://www.elevatedthird.com/news-insights/nation-branding-and-national-brands.

Triandafyllidou, Anna. "National Identity And The 'Other'". Ethnic And Racial Studies, vol 21, no. 4, 1998, pp. 593-612. Informa UK Limited, doi:10.1080/014198798329784.

Winfield, Nicole. "Italy Distances Itself From Stereotypical Branding In New Marketing

Ad". Skift, 2017, https://skift.com/2015/01/29/italy-distances-itself-from-stereotypical-branding-in-new-marketing-ad/.

A Nation on Stage

Music is known as the universal language. Emotion can be expressed across language barriers through the art of music. For this reason, many artists tend to express their place of origin, feelings, and culture through music. Likewise, in the Eurovision competition the competitors use the music to express their national identity. Many countries in this competition sing about the history of their country, but while watching the Italian performances I discovered that they all sang about love. Each country's national identity is not only portrayed through the lyrics they sing, but often by their:  style of music,  setting and actions on stage, types of instruments used, outfits worn and lyrics of the songs.

Italy made a debut in the Eurovision competition in 2011 after a fourteen year absence. In 2011 Raphael Gualazzi performed the song “Madness of Love.” He started the performance by singing in his native language, Italian, then transitioning into English. The tempo of the song had classical jazz style tempo, slow in the beginning and then becoming fast towards the end. There were six men on stage and they were all wearing black with red suspenders except the lead vocalist, who was wearing a blue-grey suit. Italians in America are perceived in this way, well-dressed and brown toned skin. The singer in the 2011 competition followed suit. The lights shining down on the stage were the colors of the Italian flag: red, green and white. The Italian flag was also represented throughout the performance, with the use of the backdrop behind the pianist. The use of these colors throughout the performance gave a highly patriotic sensation and allowed the singers to express their Italian identity. The camera angles throughout the performance really gave emphasis on the lead singer. They were focused on the group together, but mainly circled around to get birds-eye views and side views of the lead singer, especially while he hit the high notes in Italian. The artists playing instruments were featured, especially during the saxophone, trumpet and piano solos. These camera angles lead to the home audience being drawn into the music and allowed for Italy’s popular musical genre to be shown. The lyrics of this song are about a lost love. It seems they are far apart as he says, “And you’ll fly over lands, Where your eyes can’t find the end, upon mountains down lanes, Being so far away from you just makes me feel so damned”(2011). This line is perceived as him speaking about leaving a loved one behind. He also is singing about her finding other men after he lives and to fill him with life as she did to him. He sings “I fell into your heart,” meaning fell in love with her. This also may be Italy being spoken of and how people can’t help but fall in love with Italy and its people.

The year following, 2012, Nina Zilli performed the song “L’amore e femmina (out of love).” She started the song in English and ended in Italian. The upbeat tempo of the song was one of the pop-rock genre. In this performance it was a lead singer accompanied by three backup singers. The lead singer was a light bronze skin tone, while the three backup singers were all African American. Nina Zilli was wearing a skin tight silver dress, while the backup singers were all in black outfits. Thus allowing for the Italian singer to stand out among the other three. The stage began lit up with the colors of the Italian flag but transitioned to a black stage with spotlights on the the singers. After she started to sing the stage was black and white throughout the whole performance. This background flows with the ethnicity of the performers Italy had on stage, Italian and black. The camera angles were focused mainly on the lead singer, constantly zooming in and out throughout the performance. Occasionally they would zoom in on the backup singers when they were singing. Although the representation of Italy through background and colors was less prominent in this song; it was more focused on the beautiful Italian woman as a representative of the Italian identity. Nina Zilli sang about an abusive relationship. In one line she says, “You knock me on the floor my heart goes Boom Boom Boom” (2012). The song goes on to sing about an unhealthy relationship and towards the end of the song she sings “But have you asked yourself why I bought a brand new shotgun.” This solidifies the idea about this song being about an abusive relationship. This also paints a picture of a strong  Italian woman in these circumstances.

This expression of Italian identity continued in the 2013 Eurovision competition, when Marco Mengoni performed the song “L'essenziale.” The whole song was sung in Italian. In the song he is singing about loving his country. A depiction of what he is singing about is shown in the verse, “to fight and then strive for peace” (2013). This song could be perceived as him singing about a loved one, as well as a loved nation. Mengoni repeats the line “While the world breaks into pieces I compose new places and desires which also belongs to you from the beginning you are for me.” This line shows that he has tried to go somewhere else but his love for Italy is too strong; Italy is the only place for him to be, his “origin.” The performance started off with a view of the audience covered in a purple light. Then, Mengoni was shown standing under a spotlight with a purple and blue stage behind him. The camera angles in this performance were constantly close to his face showing the viewers his facial expressions. Marco Mengoni stood in the middle of the stage stationary until the tempo picked up as he walked out towards the audience. This ballad song was slow until the end where a faster paced tempo appeared.  This singer being alone on stage represents Italy standing alone amongst their fellow “others” who are their competitors in the Eurovision concert.  The singer is a symbol of Italy and their national identity.

In 2014, Emma Marrone sang the song, “La Mia Citta.” The introduction began with an image of  italian food, before going to the stage. The stage was lit up, purple and blue, to appear as a geometric cube. When the song began fog descended from the top of the stage and the colors changed to white and gold.  Everyone on the stage was wearing white and gold, with the lead singer in a skin tight dress.  These colors paint Italy as pure and rich in culture, a treasure for all the world to relish.  The camera angles during this performance really captured the lead singer and her movements across the whole stage. Also including shots of all the performers together. Six people were on the stage, giving a strong band feeling. They had multiple instruments such as: bass, guitar, drums and a piano guitar.  The lead singer had a hair piece, like the crowns in the Olympic games held in Rome, Italy. These crowns represented a part of Italy that they were very proud of.  The whole song was sung in Italian in a medium rock style tempo. The lyrics are about a love for a city as well as a person. She makes this connection with a city in Italy clear when she sings, “ I love downtown traffic, I love parking inattentively” then she sings, “ I run away, I want I take... I think about myself with no control I push hard and I’m not scared of you I want it all I want you…” (2014). This song comes across as a love-hate relationship between her and an Italian city, with a slight appearance of  love for a person as well.

Last year in 2015, the group, II Volo, performed the song “Grande Amore,” meaning Grand love, which ties into Italy’s romantic language and culture. This was a group of three men singing a pop-opera song. The tempo of the song started slow, then after all three of the artists sang the tempo picked up. The whole song was sung in Italian like the famous Italian opera music. The men on stage were all tan, dark haired and were wearing dark blue-black suits, perfectly fitting the stereotypical persona of an Italian. The camera angles throughout the performance were focused on all three singers, zooming in on the soloists, and later returning to all three. The song is about a love for a woman. The group makes this clear when they sing, “I close my eyes and think of her the sweet scent of her skin” (2015). This line at the beginning of the song brings definite understanding to what the song is intended to be about. Throughout the song II Volo calls her great love this could even be a love for one’s country, Italy; or perhaps a deeper look into the views of love that Italian men have for women.

Italian music in the Eurovision competition has a pattern of singing in the native language, Italian. In these five performances, each year Italy has alternated between a man and women performer. Not only were they diverse sexually, but racially as well by their choice of singers.  The title of each song is in Italian and they are all focused on the idea of romance. This emphasis on love seems to tie in perfectly with the language of Italian being one of the prominent romance languages, and their country one of the most romantic places to visit. Not only did the Italian identity resonate through the songs and singers, but their identity was also expressed through the various backgrounds, costumes, colors and lighting used in each performance. Overall, through the Eurovision performances over the years, a clear representation of Italy and their national identity has been clearly painted.

Works Cited

II Volo. Grande Amore. 23 May 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TOMqZV2jA8(Links to an external site.). Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

Adams, William. “Marco Mengoni (Italy) L’Essenziale.” Wiwibloggs, Eurovision 2017 Predictions, Polls, Odds, Rankings | wiwibloggs, 18 Mar. 2013, http://wiwibloggs.com/2013/03/18/discuss-marco-mengoni-will-sing-lessenziale-in-italian/23349/. Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

“Emma - la Mia Città - Italy 2014.” Eurovision, http://www.eurovision.tv/event/lyrics?song=31353&type=English. Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

Eurovision Song Contest. “Emma - la Mia Città (Italy) LIVE Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Grand Final.” YouTube, 10 May 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W5ZlalAMV8(Linksto an external site.). Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

---. “Marco Mengoni - L’Essenziale (Italy) - LIVE - 2013 Grand Final.” YouTube, 18 May 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8oaxDV1q6o(Linksto an external site.). Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

---. “Nina Zilli - L’Amore È Femmina (out of Love) - Live - Grand Final - 2012 Eurovision Song Contest.” YouTube, 26 May 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0kGpDEvtbQ(Linksto an external site.). Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

---. “Raphael Gualazzi - Madness of Love (Italy) - Live - 2011 Eurovision Song Contest Final.” YouTube, 29 June 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE0uNLp3LuU(Linksto an external site.). Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

Gallagher, Robyn. “Grande Amore - Il Volo Italy Eurovision.” Wiwibloggs, Eurovision 2017 Predictions, Polls, Odds, Rankings | wiwibloggs, 15 Feb. 2015, http://wiwibloggs.com/2015/02/15/grande-amore-lyrics-il-volo-italy/79477/. Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

“Love Is a Girl.” Lyrics Translate, http://lyricstranslate.com/en/lamore-è-femmina-out-love-love-girl-out-love.html. Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

“Raphael Gualazzi - Madness of Love - Italy 2011.” Eurovision, https://www.eurovision.tv/event/lyrics?event=1553&song=25643&type=English. Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

Stretch, Owen. “Eurovision Song Contest.” MetroLyrics, http://www.metrolyrics.com/lamore-a-femmina-out-of-love-lyrics-eurovision-song-contest.html. Accessed 14 Feb. 2017.

National Identity

National identity of a country is a sense of a nation that is represented by history, music, ethnicity, religion, and language. “Others” in a nation help shape and form the country’s national identity. In the article,”National Identity and ‘the other,’” Anna Triandafyllidou states, “national identity is defined not only from within, namely from the features that fellow-nationals share in common but also from without, that is, through distinguishing and differentiating the nation from other nations or ethnic groups” (593). The idea of identifying a population as one, a nation, can be defined not only within a country’s borders, but through differentiating from other nations. This process of examination helps strengthen one nation’s idea of their national identity. In Triandafyllidou’s article it is stated that, “Most Nations existing today had to fight to secure their survival and to achieve their independence” (594). National identity stems from the nation’s beginnings and the various obstacles they overcame to reach their current status including full development from history, music, religion and language.

Defining Italy’s national identity starts with politics. According to Antonio Negri in the article Italy, Exile Country, “Italy, after all, is the country that invented the liberty of the moderns. Instead of enjoying that liberty, however, it has been enslaved. Italy is the country that invented capitalism” (43 Negri). Italy is currently a democratic nation, but it was previously a Monarchy. Italy was under other nations rule for many different periods of their upbringing as a country, thus causing it to be nearly impossible to form a national identity. Italy and their national identity began to form as an independent nation in 1859, when the second war for independence was fought against Austria. Finally, Italy was a nation after the risorgimento in 1861 and this marked the beginning of their national identity development.

In the years before Italy’s independence, the country went through many different transitions of power. Italy originated from Rome in 753 B.C. and was ruled for many years by Julius Caesar.  This time was followed by the Napoleonic era 1789-1848. Italy started to identify with the French, because their whole nation was under French control. As stated in History of Italy, “During the Napoleonic era, evidence of Italian nationalism began to appear in several guises, in some cases inspired by the ideals of French nationalism, in others reacting against Napoleon’s heavy-handed government” (98 Killinger). This goes to show how Italy’s identity was based on “the others” -- the French.  Italy’s national identity changed over the many different periods of rule, and this aspect is a large part of their identity today.

This constant change did not end with Napoleon, but was eminent in the years to come, during World War I and II. In 1925, after World War I, Mussolini declared himself president over Italy. During this time, Mussolini created a treaty with Hitler to be allies for World War II causing Italy to be the first of the axis powers to be invaded. The fascist party overthrew Mussolini and he was later executed in 1945. After the wars ceased Italy began to develop their current national identity, as a democratic republic. In 1949 they joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and later the United Nations. Thus giving them a new solid base to define themselves as Italians. Differentiating and identifying themselves as Italians was difficult in these continuous times of political change, since they were constantly defining and redefining themselves based on the “others.” Not only is the Italian identity based on the “the other,” but also off of their religion, music and language.

Religion is a big part of Italy’s national identity. Italy is predominantly a Roman Catholic nation. According to the Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion, Robert Wuthnow states, “The construction of Catholicism’s modern identity began in the immediate aftermath of the French Revolution” (Wuthnow). Religion is intertwined in much of Italy’s culture and national identity. 

Italy started defining themselves as a nation by initiating civil rights movements throughout the 19th century: legalization of divorce, the establishment of gender equality and the legalization of abortion. Italy recently began debating the idea of legalizing same sex marriage. In the article Italy Debates Gay Civil Partnerships, Gabriele Pileri states, “Italy's parliament has begun debating a proposal to give gay civil partnerships legal status, a bill that faces fierce resistance from the Roman Catholic Church” (Pileri). Roman Catholic traditions are a key component of Italian national identity. Thus the “other,” in this situation is further threatening to, yet again, change the Italian Identity. This is illustrated when Gabriele states, “Last week, Pope Francis appeared to weigh into the debate, defending traditional marriage as "the family God wants’” (Pileri). This Catholic piece of the Italian identity is very important and one that many Italians are unwilling to give up. Italy’s national identity not only involves religion, but music as well.

Music is part of Italian identity because it helps distinguish a nation among other nations and helps identify different social groups within one nation. Italy is mainly known for their Opera. Opera is a core part of Italian culture. In the journal Opera and Absolutism in Restoration Italy, John A. Davis says, “Opera’s popularity had powerful aesthetic reasons as well; Italian Romanticism found its most resonant voice in the music and themes of the opera lirica. In fact, opera provided the only opportunity for new sensibilities in painting, literature, and music to be expressed all together” (572 Davis). This genre of music not only is unique, but it bleeds through all artistic facets giving Italy a romantically artistic national identity. 

This romanticism is not only seen through their music, but in their national language, Italian.  In the book Language and Society in a Changing Italy, Arturo Tosi states, “Italian was imposed as the only language to be used in offices as well as in the press (Klein 1986)... it was hoped that minority languages would eventually disappear and minority populations would be rapidly italicised” (7 Tosi).  This not only speaks to the importance of the Italian language as the prominent language in Italy, but also to their disapproval of anything different than this romantic language. They seem to be successful in doing this.  Tosi explains,

The modernization of Italian society drew the dialects closer to the national language expanding the repertoire of their speaker, and also moved boundaries between Italian and the minority languages. (31 Tosi)

Thus Italian was defined as the national language, not only in the past, but in modern society as well. Italy’s national identity was clearly differentiated from “the other.”

Without Italy’s history, religious, musical, and language background they would not be the country they are today. As stated by Viscusi, “To call oneself an Italian meant, and still means, to have loyalties divided against themselves. ‘Mille Italie, una patria’ [A thousand Italies, one fatherland]” (50). Although, Italy was divided throughout the span of history and had different “others” forming it, Italians still found a national identity.  

Works Cited

Mary, et al. Revisioning Italy : National Identity and Global Culture. Seattle University Proxy Authentication, translated by Allen et al., University of Minnesota Press, Dec. 1997, http://site.ebrary.com.proxy.seattleu.edu/lib/seattleu/reader.action?docID=10159604. Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.

Davis, John. “Opera and Absolutism in Restoration Italy.” Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1 Apr. 2006, http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=42a98671-c639-4867-8613-6d9b450a0802%40sessionmgr104&vid=28&hid=128. Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.

Killinger, Charles L. The History of Italy. United States, Greenwood Press, 30 July 2002.

Pileri, Gabriele. EUR: Italy Debates Gay Civil Partnerships. 29 Jan. 2016, http://search.proquest.com.proxy.seattleu.edu/docview/1765931072?accountid=28598&rfr_id=info%3Axri%2Fsid%3Aprimo. Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.

Serra, Ilaria. Teaching Italy Through Its Music. The Meaning of Music in Italian Cultural History. 1 Mar. 2011, http://web.a.ebscohost.com.proxy.seattleu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=45b3a05f-7a6e-42a6-818f-ce0327ee7595%40sessionmgr4006&vid=1&hid=4204. Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.

Tosi, Arturo. Language and Society in a Changing Italy. Multilingual Matters, 1 Jan. 2001, https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=UAqiVT9d0FQC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=italy+and+language&ots=MAVa-AVGpj&sig=tFGxL_RZlIPfFIFjqU3egFIPKJ4#v=onepage&q&f=false. Accessed 2 Feb. 2017.

Triandafyllidou, Anna. “National Identity and the “other.”” Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 21, no. 4, Jan. 1998, pp. 593–612, 10.1080/014198798329784.

Viscusi, Robert. “Son of Italy: Immigrant Ambitions and American Literature.” MELUS, vol. 28, no. 3, 2003, p. 41, 10.2307/3595259.

Wuthnow, Robert. CQ Press - Catholicism, Roman. SAGE, 2017, http://sk.sagepub.com.proxy.seattleu.edu/cqpress/encyclopedia-of-politics-and-religion/s47.xml?term=Italy. Accessed 1 Feb. 2017.