The Migrant’s Corner

This book engages with the cultural representations of migrant subjects circulating over the past two decades in Italy and France, two European countries deeply affected by the so-called migratory crisis, to contend that, although based on an urge to express solidarity, the ways Italian and French authors, filmmakers and curators have represented the figure of the migrant are loaded with ethical complexities that urgently call for deeper analysis. Indeed, this body of artistic engagements, which has grown exponentially in recent years, aims at relating the migrant’s story and experience, while still from a Western, European viewpoint which is problematic. Stemming from the belief that the way transnational migration is represented in contemporary culture has the power to influence individual and public perceptions, this study sets out to investigate the paradoxes implicit in narrating the migrant’s story from an Italian and French viewpoint. In particular, it aims to: reveal the significant absence of migrant voices in the European cultural sphere; investigate the ambiguities and the issues in ‘speaking for the other’ in the context of the European ‘migration crisis’; understand the hegemonic and colonial implications of these representations which often ultimately reproduce, rather than challenge, the power dynamics between Europe and non-European migrants; and explore the possibility of alternative, more inclusive ways to bring the contemporary experience of migrants to the fore of cultural imagery. In other words, the book stresses the need to find new ways to discuss the experience of migrating in the contemporary age, reflecting on key terms such as agency, solidarity and humanitarianism, and on the need to decolonize one’s perspective.

And so, the continuing violation of human rights on Europe’s borders has by now become the norm, rather than an exception dictated by extreme circumstances. Indeed, forced removal, arbitrary detention and police violence are everyday occurrences in France, Italy, Greece and other EU countries. It is by now clear that the protraction of the ‘Mediterranean crisis’ year after year is instrumental in justifying and maintaining a reactive ‘closed border’ policy towards heavily racialized ‘others’, discriminated against on the basis of their origins and citizenship status (De Genova 2018; Cuttitta 2018), rather than in the adoption of more humane, long-term measures in response to the numbers of people attempting to reach EU states. The cynical statement made back in 1989 by the then French prime minister Michel Rocard – ‘La France ne peut pas accueillir toute la misère du monde’ [France cannot welcome all the misery of the world] – still seems to reflect the position adopted by Europe and most ‘Western’ countries over thirty years later. In France, as in Italy, the government has targeted migration as a crucial theme for its populist rhetoric in order to increase voter support, thus encouraging an attitude of ‘zero tolerance’ towards undocumented migrants.

These recent events in Italy and France are the historical result of the progressive development of xenophobic feelings and a lack of openness towards the migrant. Since the 1990s, the perception of a migrant ‘invasion’ has occupied the forefront of the public sphere in Europe, inflated by mass media such as television, press and, increasingly, social media, and encouraged by the alarmist tones of conservative parties and xenophobic movements, by now major actors in the political life of both Italy and France. Such phenomena are part of a global trend amongst ‘developed’ countries across the globe to treat the transnational migration of unauthorized migrants as a crime, justifying strict pushback policies at land and sea borders. As Lynda Mannik (2016) observes, this is particularly the case for migrants travelling by boat who, despite being exposed to the highest risk of death in a journey that is often their last resort for a better future, are still perceived as the most ‘threatening’ kind of displaced individuals both in mass media discourse and public opinion. Suffice to think of the case of Australia and its offshore processing centres, repeatedly exposed by human rights activists for their arbitrary imprisonment of asylum seekers, or of the aggressive campaigns to reduce the number of ‘illegal’ immigrants on US or UK territory, or of the charter flights, organized by Western countries, to forcibly repatriate individuals fleeing persecution in their homeland, to realize that migrating is far from being considered an inalienable right of the individual. For its part, over the past five years, Europe has externalized border controls to third countries with appalling human rights records, reaching economic deals with countries such as Libya, Niger and Turkey, in order to obtain their assistance in reducing the number of displaced individuals attempting the Mediterranean crossing. Ultimately, Europe as a potential host society seems to have rapidly transformed into a society of rejection in which the foreigner is considered a threat to be expelled.